DEVEL-URBAN.COM - Key Persons
For 15 years, Abdullah (he/him/they/them) has worked as an artist and socially engaged designer in Philadelphia, New York, Bangkok, and London. Through various modes of community engagement and co-design, Abdullah supports the development of holistic platforms and projects which promote long-term sustainable economic and cultural growth. working in partnership with a wide range of socio-economic groups, , delivering projects in collaboration with public and private institutions, galleries and grassroots organizations
Abdullah is currently an integral part of the Flatbush Caton Market team, where he is developing the Mangrove incubator, and supporting the interior and operational design of the future market. He is accustomed to driving impact by working in partnership with a wide range of socioeconomic groups and delivering projects in collaboration with public and private institutions, galleries, and grassroots organizations.
Abdullah also provides creative support for the Philadelphia Equitable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Study and the Builty by Philly microsite where they are acting as the photographer and videographer for the initiative's interview series.
Abdullah has facilitated the strategic and conceptual development of community-led projects such as the Peckham Palms Afro Hair and Beauty Hub, Peckham Food Hall on behalf of Southwark Council, the Tomorrow's Market vendor program on behalf of the Greater London Authority, and A Common Ground community garden installation for the Tate Britain.
Abdullah stopped attending school at 15 years old when he moved to western Thailand to work for an NPO along the Burmese border which supported Karen, Rohingya and Mon refugees and orphans that were displaced due to the Burmese regime. During his time there he supportted a number social enterprise and community ventures including a sustainable clothing company, a natural brick company, and a foraged coffee roastery.
Abdullah currently resides in Philadelphia, and you can check out his creative portfolio, including his work with West Philly's Common Knowledge Collective here.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Founder
- Founder and CEO of Iimpact Capital
- Founder and CEO of Iimpact Capital View Ada Arevalo
- Founding Chair of REAL
Ada Arevalo is the Founder and CEO of iimpact capital, a purpose-driven, women- and minority-owned investment firm redefining equity through regenerative investments in underserved communities of color. As the leader of the organization, she directs the overall strategy, vision and culture of the firm.
Ada has over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate with the last 12 years focused on impact & sustainable investments. Prior to founding iimpact, she was the Chief Impact Officer at Alliant Strategic Investments, a national private equity firm focused on the preservation and impact of affordable housing. In this capacity, Ada led the firm's capital raising and investor relation strategies while also being responsible for the development, implementation, and measurement of sustainable and social impact programs across the portfolio. As a member of the investment committee, Ada brought over 15 years of real estate investment experience and a unique perspective and passion for ESG and DE&I to the investment thesis.
Prior to joining Alliant Strategic Investments, Ada was part of the executive team at Avanath Capital Management. Serving nearly 9 years in several capacities, Mrs. Arevalo most recently served as VP of Fund Management, in that role she led multiple initiatives and was responsible for fund performance, capital raising, investor relations as well as impact and sustainable initiatives. Ada also focused her efforts on creating a national and global presence for the firm by participating in multiple industry conferences as both a speaker, moderator, and general delegate.
In 2020, Ada became the Founding Chair of REAL, the first and only commercial real estate organization focused on increasing visibility, advancement and equity for Latinx professionals. Ada also serves in multiple private and nonprofit boards in various capacities.
Job Titles:
- Founder & Executive Director, Detroit Justice Center
- Founder & Executive Director, Detroit Justice Center View Amanda Alexander
- Founding Executive Director of the Detroit Justice Center
Amanda Alexander, founding Executive Director of the Detroit Justice Center, is a racial justice lawyer and historian who works alongside community-based movements to end mass incarceration and build thriving and inclusive cities. Originally from Michigan, Amanda has worked at the intersection of racial justice and community development in Detroit, New York, and South Africa for more than 15 years.
Amanda is a Senior Research Scholar at University of Michigan Law School, where she has taught Law & Social Movements and was an attorney in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic. She was a 2015-2018 member of the Michigan Society of Fellows with appointments in Law and Afro-American & African Studies. As a Soros Justice Fellow, Amanda launched the Prison & Family Justice Project at University of Michigan Law School to provide legal representation to incarcerated parents and advocate for families divided by the prison and foster care systems.
Amanda regularly provides assistance and training to community organizations, advocates, and government agencies working to promote successful re-entry, community safety, and economic equity. Amanda serves on the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to develop ambitious and innovative strategies to reduce Michigan's jail population. She has served on the national steering committee of Law for Black Lives, and is a board member of the Center for Constitutional Rights and the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership.
Amanda received her JD from Yale Law School, her PhD in international history from Columbia University, and her BA from Harvard College.
Ana shepherds the team to develop and cocreate high quality products in a streamlined manner, and provides essential support to employees and vendors alike, as Team Urbane has nearly doubled in size in a relatively short period. In addition to direct client support, she aids the company's development by enhancing operational procedures and systems in the areas of information flow and management, business processes and development, and enhanced reporting.
In addition to providing design guidance on inumerable external client deliverables and internal marketing collateral, Ana has also provided bilingual project support for a multi-year engagement for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), who entrusted Urbane in their continued efforts to reduce chronic illnesses, particularly in Fall River, a community with a longstanding Portuguese immigrant population. During the final portion of this engagement, Mrs. Hoepfner served as an on-site bilingual project manager, developing content for a written report, and a short bilingual video feature in English and Portuguese, which highlighted the projects successes and learnings.
Ana holds a B.A in Architecture and Urban Design from Faculdade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil and a Masters of Science in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from Milano Graduate School at The New School, where she developed a Professional Decision Report (PDR) for The Robins Project, designing and executing an independent analytic project to provide tools and alternatives to promote equitable development thorough creative placemaking - a catalyst of the redevelopment of Downtown Warren. The PDR lays out aspects of equity in the context of economic and social development and, based on these, it proposes recommendations to advance neighborhood revitalization, prioritizing community and youth led initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner, Freeform Deform
- Managing Partner, Freeform Deform View Anaele Owunwanne
Anaelechi Owunwanne is an American born Nigerian architect raised in Kuwait with over 20 years of professional experience within the fields of architecture, design and construction. Anaelechi Owunwanne is the founding partner of Freeform Deform LLC and has overseen its day to day design work for the past 12 years.
He has worked on several New York City projects ranging from high rise hotels, affordable residential projects, brownstone renovations, private homes, and restaurants and bars.
Androniki Lagos brings over 15 years of cross-sectoral community and business development experience to Urbane, translating community knowledge and market analysis into creative place-based initiatives.
As a Senior Consultant, Androniki leads and contributes to projects across the Urbane portfolio. Her role includes community and commercial facility strategy for Urbane's development pipeline, stakeholder engagement design and execution, business technical assistance and program design. Since early 2019, Androniki spearheaded the crafting of pilot programs to connect NYCHA residents to NYC's tech workforce, managed the design and implementation of business curriculum for high-barrier entrepreneurs at Flatbush Caton Market, and co-leads the development of the Caton Flats holistic business incubator.
Prior to joining Urbane, Androniki directed the launch of a North Brooklyn community food platform, creating new urban agriculture space, fresh food access points, culinary education programs, and economic opportunity in the NYC food ecosystem. She played a key role in the U.S. launch and expansion of Divine, the world's first farmer-owned, Fairtrade chocolate company creating wealth for Ghanaian cocoa producers as owners of a branded specialty product.
Androniki holds a M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation. The daughter of immigrant entrepreneurs, she hails from the coastal community of Sitka, Alaska where she learned how to face a grizzly bear and walk away to tell about it.
Job Titles:
- Director of Special Projects
- Researcher
- Resident
- Specialist
Chiara Passerini is Urbane's resident researcher and community engagement specialist. As an anthropologist, she gathers and synthesizes knowledge about the communities she works with to inform Urbane's applied research practice.
In her current role, Chiara oversees some of Urbane's most complex projects, bringing the same research-driven and rigorous approach to manage multi-year, multi-stakeholder projects for a range of clients, across a range of issues. Since joining, she has successfully led engagements with the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs, to develop indicators of neighborhood financial wealth; Detroit Design Core, to assess Detroit's design economy and leverage it as a pathway for inclusive economic development; and with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to understand ways in which small businesses can improve the economic mobility of low-wage workers.
Chiara previously spent two years at Accenture, a consulting firm with a global presence, where she designed innovative digital experiences, including websites and mobile apps, for financial institutions and other Fortune 500 clients. Prior to joining Urbane in 2015, Chiara conducted fieldwork in Mumbai where, in partnership with Slum/Shack Dwellers International, she mapped the inter-generational and informal transfer of knowledge amongst women.
Chiara holds a B.A. in Arts and Visual Culture from Bates College; an M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from University College London; and an M.S. in Public Policy from The New School. In 2019, she held a visiting professorship at The University of Cincinnati's School of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. She is a native of Italy and currently lives in Seattle, WA, with her husband and son.
Job Titles:
- Founder, Project Forward
- Founder, Project Forward View Christyn Freemon
Christyn Henson is a creative economic development professional and develops actionable strategies that assist clients in growth through business planning, operational support, marketing, and sales strategies.
Job Titles:
- Independent Consultant, Food Retail
- Independent Consultant, Food Retail View Corey Woods
- Urbane Development in 2011 As a Retail Consultant
Corey Woods joined Urbane Development in 2011 as a Retail Consultant. As a veteran of the supermarket and food retail industry for over 20 years, Mr. Woods marries retail store management, operations, and workforce training expertise in high-volume urban retail environments. Corey provides strategic support for Urbane in its grocery and retail development services, including direct technical assistance in product sourcing, handling, and quality control; equipment and machinery training; visual and promotional merchandising, and customer service.
Corey has worked with Urbane on its grocery advisory services in Minneapolis and Detroit, facilitating hands-on curriculum. Mr. Woods also worked extensively with a local, family-owned Portuguese chouriço maker in Fall River, MA on their journey to make healthier sausages for the community that still respected cultural traditions and expectations.
In 2021, Corey completed ShopRite/Brown's Superstores' prestigious Meat Apprenticeship program, where managers receive specialized training on a variety of butchery techniques, including carcass quartering and the processing of primal and sub primal cuts. The apprenticeship program targets managers preparing to manage high-volume store departments.
Prior to the apprenticeship, Corey was a Seafood Department Manager at ShopRite/Brown's Superstores from 2006-14. In his time as manager, Mr. Woods managed departments of up to 40 employees and with annual sales of over $1.5M. With typical department margins of 36%, Corey departments consistently achieved over 45% profit margins in extremely high-volume departments throughout urban and suburban Philadelphia.
Corey has developed seafood departments from the ground-up at new ShopRite stores, but specialized in department repositioning of existing stores. Servicing up to 2000 unique customers daily, Corey managed department budgets of over $500k annually while responsible for employee training and reviews, inventory management, pricing integrity, product merchandising, and all other operational processes.
Corey received his AA from the Community College of Philadelphia in 2003 and is a SafeServ Certified Food Handler.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Clinical Professor of Urban Planning and Public Service at New York University 's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
- Founder & CEO, Pinchina
- Founder & CEO, Pinchina View Dr. Vanessa Deane
Dr. Vanessa Deane is the Chief Executive Officer of Pinchina Consulting and Assistant Clinical Professor of Urban Planning and Public Service at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (NYU Wagner), where she is also serving as the Director of Urban Planning. For about a decade, she undertook an in-depth analysis of Haiti's institutional development over the past 30 years in order to evaluate the country's post-earthquake capacity for improved local governance and public service delivery.
Dr. Deane's prior experiences include serving as the lead consultant on a multi-year strategic planning and resource mobilization project in earthquake affected Petit Go ve, Haiti where she oversaw the execution of an environmental stabilization and reforestation initiative. As part of this effort, she also facilitated an interactive community mapping project where she and her team trained community members to geolocate the most environmentally vulnerable areas of their neighborhoods. Moreover, she was one of five Haitian-Americans selected by the Haitian Embassy in Washington D.C. to live and work in Haiti advising the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation in 2015.
In recognition of her teaching, Dr. Deane was named the 2020 Professor of the Year by the NYU Wagner graduating class - the first in the school's history to have received this distinguished award in just their first year as a faculty member. Other accolades include receiving the 2018 Impact Award - Young Women Rising from the American Women for International Understanding as well as being inducted into the Haitian Roundtable's 1804 List as one of the Top 5 Haitian-Americans to Watch in 2015 for her professional contributions.
She holds a doctorate in Public and Urban Policy from The New School and a Master of Urban Planning from NYU Wagner. Dr. Deane graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with her Bachelor of Arts in African and African American Studies as well as in American Studies, along with double minors in Education Studies and in Social Justice and Social Policy.
Job Titles:
- Director, Chisenhale Gallery
- Director, Chisenhale Gallery View Zoe Whitley
- Is Director of Chisenhale Gallery
Dr. Zoé Whitley is Director of Chisenhale Gallery in London's East End, a leading non-profit space founded by artists. Chisenhale produces and commissions new works of art with emerging British and international artists. In 2020, Zoé curated Frieze London's special themed section, Possessions, exploring spirituality and contemporary art, and co-curated Elijah Pierce's America at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
Previous exhibitions to her credit include curating the British Pavilion presentation of Cathy Wilkes at the Venice Biennale in 2019 and co-curating the award-winning international touring exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. She writes widely on contemporary artists and 20th century designers, including a children's book on Frank Bowling and a forthcoming title in the same series on Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
She serves on the 2020-21 Arts Council Collection committee in the UK. Zoé also serves on the boards of Creative Access, the only organisation in the UK dedicated to recruiting under-represented talent in the creative industries, and Decolonising Arts Institute, University of the Arts London. She's formed part of international arts juries for Turner Prize (2021), Preis der Nationalgalerie Berlin (2021) and Future Generation Art Prize selection committee, among numerous others.
Her prior roles include Senior Curator (Hayward Gallery), Curator, International Art (Tate Modern) and Curator of Contemporary Programmes (V&A).
Job Titles:
- Independent Consultant
- Independent Consultant View Flore Floret
Flore provides over a decade of experience in financial products structuring and senior level project management as founder of Ventitrenta LLC, a boutique consulting firm advancing innovative solutions that improves our environment, communities, and the economy of our cities.
Currently, Flore manages New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's (NYSERDA) Climate Finance strategy, where NYSERDA seeks to launch programs that green the financial system in New York, increase data transparency in the financial sector, activate credit unions for clean energy finance, develop novel finance and insurance products, and enable the innovation needed in the financial sector to meet the state's nation-leading climate goals.
Prior to starting Ventitrentra, Flore was a Director in the Global Markets Division at Société Générale (SG), one of Europe's leading financial services groups. At SG, Flore focused on debt issuance programs, equity derivatives, and cross-asset solutions for the Americas. Then, Flore spearheaded strategic business development, scarce resource allocation, process improvement and implementation of large regulatory programs, such as DFA or MiFID II. She also executed and fostered the Sustainable Business Strategy for 2020-2023 for the region.
At Urbane, Flore leverages her finance expertise in research and project design for our Just Impact division. Flore is a member of Urbane's Boston Impact Initiative Fund-Building Cohort team of emerging fund managers building community-centered financial offerings, including place-based REITs and REICs in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, respectively. Flore also supports Urbane research on utilizing 529 college savings plans to expand impact solutions that further community investing.
Flore holds a J.D. from Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and holds a Certificate in Sustainable Strategies from The New School. Flore is a member of the Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy Network - NYC Chapter.
Job Titles:
- Founder of Quarks
- Founder, Quarks View Homero Radway
Homero Radway (he/him) is Founder of Quarks, a family-run media production company specializing in audio and visual art through a Black Queer lens. Homero's passion for storytelling and twenty years of financial industry experience intersect at connecting people through stories and connecting communities with capital.
Homero engages in the structuring of creative financing for projects and intiatives that catalyze solutions driving: poverty elimination, racial and gender equality, health and well being, sustainable cities, and a peaceful and just world. Homero is a financier, producer, writer, podcaster and actor. His production work includes The Cheat Code, #Triggered, HBO Between The World And Me and Birthright. His family can be heard on the Raising Rebels podcast.
Previously, Homero served as Managing Director at Neighborly, an investment platform focused on democratizing access to capital. Before entering the FinTech industry, Homero worked at several large financial institutions - JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, Credit Suisse, and Lehman Brothers - as a leader in municipal finance and fixed income products as a portfolio manager, bond trader, and underwriter.
Homero received his MBA in Finance and Financial Management Services from Georgetown University and his BS in Applied Economics from Cornell University. He enjoys exploring the world with his wife, Noleca, and their daughters Blu, Moxie and Glory.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Principal
- Principal and CEO of Urbane Development
As founding Principal and CEO of Urbane Development, James Johnson-Piett is an evangelist for a new kind of community development that emphasizes community anchor businesses and institutions as agents of change - solving local problems and elevating the quality of life for underserved communities.
With over 15 years of experience in various facets of economic and community development, James is responsible for the overall management of operations and strategic vision for Urbane Development. His work focuses on strengthening small businesses and community anchor institutions operating in underserved communities through market intelligence, technical assistance, access to capital, and place-based investment strategies.
James and his team have provided feasibility and market intelligence for light manufacturing-, arts/culture anchored-, and mixed- use real estate concepts for government, non-profit, for-profit economic development and real estate development clients in many locales - New York City; Philadelphia, Hartford, Sonoma County, CA; Detroit; Honolulu; and Lincoln, NE.
Currently, James is part of an 11-city cohort of BIPOC fund managers sponsored by the Boston Impact Initiative, Amalgamated Bank, and the Surdna Foundation. Representing Philadelphia and Brooklyn, respectively, James and the cohort are developing place-based blended capital funds that will invest in diversified assets focused on racial and economic justice.
Job Titles:
- Board Member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
- Chief Executive Officer, Highbrid Media
- Chief Executive Officer, Highbrid Media View Juan Perez
- Co - Founder of Highbrid Media and Managing Partner of Peremore LLC
Juan C. Perez is the co-founder of Highbrid Media and managing partner of Peremore LLC. Juan has over 20 years of experience in grassroots, digital and multicultural marketing and brand management.
Juan has managed marketing campaigns for brands like AT&T, MetroPCS, Western Union, McDonalds, MoneyGram, Caribbean Airlines, Jamaican Tourist Board, and others. In 2015 Juan spearheaded the launch of Highbrid's #TeamGrassroots Digital Street Team, a proprietary database of over 250 multicultural millennial tastemakers from ten top ethnic markets. Juan is certified in 10 different Hubspot digital marketing and sales disciplines.
Juan has been featured in Inc. Magazine, Black Enterprise, Crain's, New York Post, New York Daily News, New York Business Journal, National Public Radio, amongst others, and was awarded the YGB Strategic Marketer of the Year Award in 2011 and the Home Reporter's Rising Star 40 under 40 award in 2013.
Juan is also a board member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Brooklyn Alliance Capital and the Greater New York YMCA. In 2013, Juan became a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Scholar as a member of its highly competitive Cohort VIII. Juan is the President of the Brooklyn Alumni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and Catholic Big Sisters, Big Brothers mentor for over 9 years. Juan resides in Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn with his wife, Lana
Kathy brings a background in urban economics and strategic planning to Urbane's research and consulting team. She has prioritized equity throughout her career, identifying opportunities and bridging the gaps between groups to lead meaningful change in communities and organizations.
At Urbane, Kathy leads and supports a variety of economic development projects. Since joining, she has worked closely with the Community Economic Development Center in New Bedford, MA to plan a multi-faceted placed-based strategy for the economic empowerment of an immigrant community, with the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia to craft a strategic plan for the organization that broadens and enhances its impact in the regional business ecosystem, and with New York City Kids RISE to design strategies that divert private spending towards college savings accounts and build family and community wealth in public school districts.
As a graduate student, Kathy created a comprehensive economic development strategy for the City of Mount Vernon's Department of Planning and Community Development and helped establish the first policy campaigns at the non-profit law firm Her Justice. Kathy also spent nearly three years at Community Solutions, where she managed fundraising and partnerships for neighborhood initiatives and real estate projects and also established and led the organization's diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts.
Ms. Del Beccaro holds a B.A. in Economics and Radio/Television/Film from Northwestern University and a Masters of Urban Planning from New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where she specialized in housing and economic development and crafted a secondary focus on the management of public and non-profit organizations. Kathy was raised in Philadelphia and now lives in Brooklyn.
Job Titles:
- Principal and CEO of Balance Consulting Group LLC
- Principal and CEO, Balance Consulting Group LLC View Kersy Azocar
Kersy Azocar is the Principal and CEO of Balance Consulting Group LLC, a practice focused on the economic development field and providing performance standards to maximize implementation of processes. Balance Consulting is the project manager of the Pennsylvania COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP), a $17Million dollar Grant program created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support businesses in the hospitality industry.
Prior to working at Balance Consulting, Kersy worked for 13 years at FINANTA, a Community Development Financial Institution, as a Sr. VP of Microlending. She was responsible for managing FINANTA's microlending department, SBA microloan programs, consumer lending and the national expansion of the microlending department. Under her leadership, FINANTA became the #1 SBA Microlender in the region and the top 8 in the nation for 10 consecutive years, closing over 1,800 microloans and over $6Million dollars.
Job Titles:
- Director of Flatbush Caton Market
- Planning and Economic Development Strategist
Lisa Thompson is a purpose-driven Urban Planning and Economic Development Strategist on a mission to support the incubation and growth of minority and immigrant-owned small businesses in historically underserved communities.
Lisa is deeply committed to leveraging entrepreneurship as a vehicle for wealth creation while fostering the long-term growth of the microentrepreneur ecosystem. As the Flatbush Caton Market Director at Urbane, Lisa is responsible for stewarding the market into the future by improving vendor sales and profitability. Lisa's core responsibilities include interacting with vendors daily to interpret their needs and managing market staff and operations. She also various aspects of the new market build and serves as the team's liaison with diverse community groups and stakeholders to ensure an optimal experience.
Before Urbane, Lisa spent the previous 16 years of her career driving economic renewal and urban investment initiatives for public markets, food halls, and business improvement districts in Philadelphia and New York City. With the NYC Economic Development Corporation, Lisa led the successful redevelopment of New York City's historic Essex Street Market, going on to manage the Moore Street and La Marqueta public retail markets. At Urbanspace, Lisa served as General Manager for Turnstyle, a 40-store Columbus Circle underground retail concourse, which she successfully converted to a destination food hall. Before moving into market management, Lisa led area improvements to produce an attractive District for investing, living, recreation, and working as Deputy Director for the Bedford Stuyvesant Business Improvement District, facilitating public space and streetscape interventions resulting in $120 million in public investment.
Originally from Jamaica, Lisa earned a BA in Economics from Bard College and a Master of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. She is also an alumna of Coro's inaugural Neighborhood Leadership program. Lisa enjoys traveling - especially during her favorite season - mango season.
Maggie Clark Bachiri is an urban planner with a background in neighborhood economics and financial inclusion. Her work elevates community-driven processes for equitable development and small business support.
Maggie's role at Urbane includes project management, stakeholder engagement, data synthesis, and solution design. She has led projects such as an assessment of the small business resource landscape in Philadelphia, which involved conversations with 150+ entrepreneurs and business support providers; the design of an equitable economic development strategy for an update to the master plan of the Navy Yard in Philadelphia; a report for the NYC Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC on ways for business and workforce intermediaries to collaborate toward job quality and small business success; and a study for PIDC examining opportunity for capital deployment to stimulate entrepreneurial growth, asset ownership, and infrastructure investment in SW Philadelphia.
Maggie previously led housing needs assessments with M&L Associates, quantifying needs across neighbhorhoods and helping identify policies and development strategies. She has also crafted strategies to scale financial empowerment tools at Commonwealth and supported grantees within an independent media-focused nonprofit in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Maggie has an M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute and a B.A. in International Affairs and Social Entrepreneurship from Northeastern University. She grew up in Peoria, IL and lives in Brooklyn with one two-eyed cat and one one-eyed cat.
Job Titles:
- Community Engagement and Relations Manager
Marijo Montrose brings over 20 years of management, health care advocacy, community engagement, and diaspora entrepreneurship experience to Urbane.
Marijo presently serves as the Community Engagement and Relations Manager to FCM where she liases with our vendor population to proactively address concerns and uplift opportunities. She also dispenses technical assistance as an instructor and facilitator of the Business Training Skills Workshop and provides translation services to our Kreyol speaking vendors.
Marijo previously served as Administrative Director of Community and Government Relations at Interfaith Medical Center. She is a certified French/Kreyol/English translator and a certified "English Second Language" instructor. Her work has centered on a) ensuring compliance with regulatory agencies b) using performance based metrics to increase health care access, customer satisfaction and training opportunities in underserved communities and c) providing hometown associations access to diverse programs in order to grow their businesses and make sustainable impact throughout their local communities.
She holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from Long Island University and an Executive Certificate from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Consultant View Mina Addo
Job Titles:
- Director of Place - Based Investment
Naim provides real estate advisory and development expertise in residential and commercial real estate for a range of clients from small for-profit developers to public housing agencies.
Naim holds over a decade of development experience, orchestrating and working collaboratively with a team of consultants including lenders, attorneys, architects, engineers, contractors, as well as managing and training junior staff in real estate development and finance.
Naim's role at Urbane includes working with local and regional elected officials and boards to advise development strategy; managing and leading the real estate development process including predevelopment, financing, closing, construction administration, and placement into service; obtaining capital from a variety of public and private sources including municipal, state, federal, and tax credit opportunities, often through competitive RFP processes.
Naim previously served as strategic development partner and program design support for the future world headquarters of FC Harlem Leaders in Our Neighborhoods (LIONs), a youth soccer league and leadership development organizations fostering opportunities for black and brown adolescents. He led the FCHQ build-out strategy and tenant composition plan with a focus on balancing long-term youth advancement and cultural preservation goals with financial viability of the project.
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations and Business Development
Over two decades, Sunil Narayan has empowered organizations and communities to make an impact, influencing strategy and driving results through a balanced quantitative and qualitative approach, fostering a culture of excellence and innovation.
His primary responsibilities include cultivating and nurturing business development pipelines, acquiring the human capital necessary to exceed client expectations, and providing tactical business insights to both internal and external clients. Sunil has also successfully led and coordinated project teams for a diverse array of engagements, including retail projects and feasibility studies from the Bay Area to Detroit to New England, and has led data analysis efforts on topics such as impact investing in Philadelphia and the economic impacts of nightlife in New York City.
Sunil previously worked at General Mills, one of the largest food companies in the world, providing HR Generalist support and interfacing with corporate business partners in a continuous 24/7 convenience and food services manufacturing facility, as well as at Junior Achievement, the world's largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.
Mr. Narayan holds a B.A. in Mathematics from New York University and an MBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. He did not win the spelling bee at Pea Ridge Elementary in Huntington, WV; that school has since closed - these events, decades apart, may not be related. He is currently a recently transplanted deciduous tree amidst the conifers of Denver, Colorado.
Job Titles:
- Founder & CEO of Equitable Cities Consulting
- Founder & CEO, Equitable Cities Consulting View Sylvie Gallier Howard
Sylvie Gallier Howard is Founder & CEO of Equitable Cities Consulting, a practice focused on expanding the field and impact of inclusive, equitable economic development. Sylvie has extensive experience leading organizations and diverse teams in the non-profit, private and public sectors. Sylvie has worked on projects related to digital equity and tech workforce development, best practices for embedding workforce development in innovation districts, building workforce development pipelines between schools and employers for the US Navy supply chain, and building a course for the Federal Reserve targeting small cities cohorts to develop equitable small business recovery strategies embedded in racial equity.
In her most recent tenure as Acting Commerce Director and as a cabinet member of Philadelphia's City government, she spearheaded strategic planning and implementation processes for the City in areas of inclusive growth, workforce development, equitable entrepreneurship and economic recovery. Just weeks after the COVID-19 shut-downs and the successive civil unrest, she oversaw the creation of two distinct emergency grant programs to support small, Black and brown businesses. Other notable accomplishments include serving as co-lead for the city's bid for Amazon's HQ2, spearheading the development of a public-private partnership to develop the region's global identity and overseeing the City's first comprehensive incentive analysis. She also initiated the launch of Kiva City Philadelphia, a zero-interest micro-business loan program, and was part of a small team that led the City's successful effort to become the first World Heritage City in the U.S.
Sylvie serves on the board of directors of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. She has a B.A. in International relations from Barnard College of Columbia University and an M.A. in Sociology from Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Ecuador - a graduate school started by the United Nations Development Program to promote development in Latin America. Sylvie is fluent in Spanish and French.