Welcome New Trustees
We are excited to welcome the New York Foundation’s six newest trustees! This great group reflects the communities and movements we aim to support and includes committed leaders with experience in organizing, advocacy, mission-aligned investing, capacity-building, social justice philanthropy, and more.
Our work will be strengthened by their commitment to the values of the foundation and our mission to advance racial, economic, gender, and climate justice in New York City.
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Carl is a policy and communications strategist, organizer, and movement leader who has worked at the intersection of immigration, criminal law reform, and racial justice for nearly 20 years. Previously, Carl led national policy, communications and research initiatives as Deputy Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. A Bronx native, Carl’s experience also includes time as a public defender at The Bronx Defenders; leading advocacy and communications efforts for local and national coalitions focused on workers’ and immigrant rights; coordinating a citywide nonpartisan voter engagement table; and working as a security guard and street vendor. Outside of his work at Envision Freedom Fund, Carl teaches in the MPA program at The City College of New York and serves as a fellow at the Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights. Carl earned a B.A. in philosophy and urban policy at Brooklyn College and a law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
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Fizah (she/her) has extensive experience in facilitating, designing, and holding spaces for groups to translate abstract concepts, values, principles and strategies into action. In both her paid work and community organizing, she has led co-design processes involving multiple stakeholders, centering those who are most impacted. Her most recent co-design process was the building of Living Cities’ current signature portfolio – the Closing the Gaps Network, a network for people in local government to push for an anti-racist vision and action in local governments and beyond. In all the work that she does, she sees herself first and foremost as an anti-racist organizer which means that she works towards organizing other gatekeepers to build a network of support that can ongoing interrogate and push institutions to shift.She calls Centro Corona her political home and space of transformation, and also organizes with Survived & Punished NY to free criminalized survivors from NY prisons. Fizah graduated from the University of Michigan in 2010 with a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Comparative Literature (French and English) and holds a MSc Degree in Urban Policy and Leadership from Hunter College Urban Planning and Policy school.
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Michael Partis is currently the Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative: a Brooklyn-based organization facilitating social change through education, youth development, and local hiring. Previously, Michael was the Executive Director of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI), a nonprofit focused on community wealth building. His experience in the education sector includes co-founding The Bronx Brotherhood Project, a college success and mentorship program for Black and Latino teens at the New Settlement College Access Center, and serving as the Director of South Bronx Rising Together (SBRT), a “cradle-to-career” initiative. Michael also is a researcher at Fordham University’s Bronx African American History Project, and professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and Department of Anthropology at Brooklyn College. Michael’s nonprofit service includes being Co-Chair of the Federation for a Manufacturing Renaissance, and serving as a Board Member for the New Economy Project, the New York Foundation, and the Youth Power Coalition.
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Marcela brings her background in the integration of environmental, social, and governance risks and impacts into active investing. As Director of Sustainable Investing for Zevin Asset Management, she extends this discipline into her advocacy work, collaborating with investors, NGOs, experts, and fellow advocates to address core business activities that pose deleterious impacts on society or the environment and to stimulate positive change.Previously, Marcela worked with Mercy Investments as Director of Shareholder Advocacy, CBIS as Director of Sustainable Investing, and Boston Trust Walden leading ESG research. More recently Marcela has, on her own and with BSR, consulted for various Fortune 500 companies. With BSR, she also advised on and supported ESG and impact due diligence for KKR’s Global Impact Fund. Marcela is a born New Yorker from Panamanian and Nicaraguan parents and grew up in Mexico City. She is deeply committed to social and environmental justice, both on the streets of her Brooklyn neighborhood and in her corporate advocacy work serving clients at Zevin Asset Management. Marcela earned an MS in International Health Policy & Management and an MBA with a focus on Sustainable Development, both from Brandeis University. Marcela serves on the ESG Committee for Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (Mass PRIM), advising the board.
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Sean Thomas-Breitfeld co-directs the Building Movement Project, a national organization that develops insightful research and practical resources to support nonprofit organizations, networks and movements. Prior to joining the BMP staff, Sean spent a decade working in various roles at Community Change, where he developed training programs for grassroots leaders, worked in the communications and policy departments where he coordinated online and grassroots advocacy efforts, and lobbied on a range of issues, including immigration reform, transportation equity, and anti-poverty programs. Before joining Community Change, Sean worked as a policy analyst at UnidosUS, where he focused on employment and income security issues. Sean holds a Master’s in Public Administration from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and a bachelor’s degree in social work and multicultural studies from St. Olaf College in Minnesota.
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Helena Wong has almost three decades of experience playing different roles in social justice organizations in New York City and nationally. She got her start as a high school intern at CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, and played different roles throughout her 18 years there, organizing and winning campaigns in low-income Asian immigrant and refugee communities around gentrification, community development/land use, participated in coalitions around police violence, and was a former Executive Director of the organization. Since then, they have organized and developed leaders in national organizations around climate, gender, and racial justice. Currently Helena serves as the Associate Director at the Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing.