Executive Director

Kensington Corridor Trust

Adriana Abizadeh is the executive director of the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT) in Philadelphia. The mission, duty, and purpose of the KCT is to utilize collective ownership to direct investments on the corridor that preserve culture and affordability while building neighborhood power and wealth in Kensington. Adriana is also a policy fellow at Princeton University and Rutgers University. With deep interests in public policy, Adriana has taken every opportunity to utilize her privileged position as a nonprofit leader to speak out for what she believes in and to lift the voices of impacted community members. Immersed in policy initiatives, she has facilitated community collaboration to address the intersectionality between immigration status, housing, poverty, and race. Adriana believes lasting change comes when power rests with those most affected. Investing in impacted communities fosters ownership, pride, and sustainable, ground-up solutions— replacing temporary fixes with true, community-driven transformation

Professor

Boston University School of Social Work

Dolores Acevedo-Garcia is a professor of Human Behavior, Research, & Policy and director of the Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development at the Boston University School of Social Work. Her research focuses on the social determinants of racial and ethnic inequities in health (e.g., residential segregation, neighborhood inequality, immigrant integration) and the role of social policies in reducing those inequities (e.g., housing, anti-poverty, immigrant policies). She received her PhD from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. 

She is project director of diversitydatakids.org, a comprehensive research program on racial and ethnic equity in child opportunity and well-being.  Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the project produces rigorous equity-focused data tools and research, including its flagship Child Opportunity Index and Policy Equity Assessments, and collaborates with researchers, organizations, and agencies to expand children’s opportunities to reach their full potential.

Founding President

Live the Life Ministries, Inc.

Richard Albertson is the Founding President of Live the Life, a non-profit organization founded in 1988 and dedicated to strengthening marriages and families.  Live the Life has provided relationship and marriage education programs and services to more than 186,000 individuals in 15 countries and 39 states.  Live the Life is recognized internationally in the RME field, and has documented more than 5,700 saved marriages, saving taxpayers more than $228 million. Richard is Board Chair and co-Founder of the National Alliance for Relationship and Marriage Education.  Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Richard to the Florida Faith-Based and Community-Based Advisory Council in 2013, where he was elected him Chairman in 2017.  He has also served as Chairman of the Florida Commission on Marriage and Family Support and Chairman of the Florida Commission on Responsible Fatherhood. Richard graduated from Florida State University with a double major in History and Political Science in 1985.

Senior Director of Strategic Communications, Development, and Operations

The EdRedesign Lab at Harvard Graduate School of Education

Julie Allen is Senior Director of Strategic Communications, Development, and Operations at The EdRedesign Lab at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Most recently, Julie was director of strategy and communications at EdRedesign from February 2023 to May 2025 and senior advisor at EdRedesign from January 2022 to February 2023.  Previously, Julie was a Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative 2020 fellow and 2021 senior fellow.  Prior to her fellowship, she had a distinguished career in corporate law, focusing on capital markets, public company M&A transactions, and boardroom governance and counsel. Most recently, she was a senior partner at Proskauer Rose, where, in addition to her practice, her management roles included practice group leadership, new business intake, and risk management. Julie is a member of the board of directors of The Trevor Project, the largest suicide prevention and mental health organization serving LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. and Mexico.

Managing Director Place Based Initiatives

Stand Together Foundation

Daron Babcock is a nationally recognized social innovator and transformative leader who has spent more than 15 years building bridges between business, philanthropy, and community development. As Managing Director of Place-Based Initiatives at Stand Together Foundation, Daron leads Radius, a national initiative dedicated to removing systemic barriers in areas of concentrated poverty and creating the conditions for human flourishing. Daron’s leadership has been recognized by the United Nations, the George W. Bush Institute, and D CEO’s Dallas 500 for its innovative, relational approach to social change. Known for combining visionary execution with deep humility, he brings together investors, civic leaders, and grassroots entrepreneurs around a shared goal: empowering people and communities to lead their own transformation.

President

Congress for the New Urbanism

Mallory B.E. Baches, AICP LEED-AP CNU-A brings twenty-five years of celebrated international practice as an urban designer to her role as the President of CNU, as well as a wealth of experience in nonprofit leadership, having served as a staff member, a special advisor, and on the governing boards of organizations making an impact through urban change.

Mallory is accredited with the American Planning Association (AICP), the U.S. Green Building Council (LEED), and the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU-A). She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Science in Sustainable Urban Development from the University of Oxford, which is delivered in partnership with the King's Foundation for Building Community. Her original research on the intersection of historic preservation and social sustainability received honorable distinction and was included in CNU’s New Urban Research selection in 2019.

Co-Founder

Commons Steward Collective

Blaise has over two decades of experience in urban place management, bringing neighborhood-level and citywide expertise to commercial district revitalization and public realm stewardship. He currently serves as co-founder of Commons Steward Collective and principal of Community Steward Solutions, assisting neighborhood-based organizations, parks and public space groups, and civic tech companies in forging shared solutions for decentralized, locally governed place management. As former Deputy Commissioner of Neighborhood Development at NYC Department of Small Business Services, he oversaw the nation's largest network of BIDs while transforming city support for commercial corridors through multi-year grant programs, data collection tools, and capacity-building initiatives. His ten-year leadership of Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership demonstrated the transformative potential of community-driven economic development. Prior to NYC, Blaise was an information technology consultant working in Washington D.C., Düsseldorf, and Madrid. He holds degrees from NYU Wagner and University of Virginia.

Co- Founder, President

The Voices Project

Leroy Barber has dedicated 40 years living and working towards what Dr. King called “the beloved community.” In 1989 he and his wife, Donna, founded Restoration Ministries to serve homeless families and children living on the streets. Leroy was licensed and ordained at Mt Zion Baptist Church where he served as Youth Director with Donna, and also served as Associate Minister. In 1997 joined FCS Urban Ministries in Atlanta, GA working with the Atlanta Youth Project to serve as the founding Executive Director of Atlanta Youth Academies, a private elementary school providing quality Christian education for low-income families in the inner city. Leroy helped found DOOR Atlanta, Community Life Church, South Atlanta Marketplace, and Community Grounds Coffee shop in Atlanta, as well as Green My Hood and The Voices Project. Leroy is an innovator, entrepreneur and lover of the arts. Leroy has a Masters Degree in Divinity and D. Min.

Co-Founder and Executive Director

The Neighboring Movement

Adam is a co-founder and Executive Director of The Neighboring Movement (TNM) in Wichita, Kansas. TNM is a non-profit on a mission to nurture a culture-changing movement toward more connected communities. We offer training, leadership development, and resources for individuals through a lens of Asset Based Community Development.

President & CEO

Main Street America

Erin Barnes is President & CEO of Main Street America, a national nonprofit that leads an inclusive, impact-driven movement dedicated to creating vibrant commercial corridors in big cities, small towns and everything in between. For 15 years, Erin was co-founder and CEO of ioby, a national nonprofit focused on resident-led neighborhood change. She has worked as a journalist, writer, and community organizer. President & Mrs. Obama selected Erin to be an inaugural Obama Foundation Fellow in 2018, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Erin the Jane Jacobs Medal in 2012. Erin holds a B.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University. Erin previously served on the boards of the Bronx and Manhattan Land Trusts, EcoDistricts, and Resource Media. Erin lives with her family in Brooklyn, NY, just off Myrtle Avenue.

President & CEO

Educational Alliance

Rich Baum has experience leading large, complex organizations across the educational, nonprofit, and government sectors, including at the largest private university in the United States and within New York . He recently served for 11 years as Chief of Staff to the President of New York University, working under two university presidents. Previously, he was COO at the New York Academy of Sciences, one of the nation’s premier scientific academies.

Rich spent nearly a decade in New York State government as Secretary to the Governor and Chief of Staff to the Attorney General. He also managed two successful statewide political campaigns, one a razor-thin upset victory and the other achieving the largest gubernatorial margin in state history.

Rich began his public service career as the youngest member elected to the Orange County Legislature, where he served four years as Minority Leader. He holds a B.A. in history from Cornell University.

CEO

Spartanburg Academic Movement

Russell W. Booker is a lifelong champion of education and community, with 30 years of experience. He leads the Spartanburg Academic Movement, advancing Movement 2030, a bold plan for economic mobility benefiting thousands of children. Formerly Superintendent of Spartanburg County School District Seven, Dr. Booker chairs the StriveTogether Board and serves on boards including Purpose Built Communities, Wingate University, the Mary Black Foundation, and Spartanburg Regional Hospital Foundation. His honors include the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Humanitarian Award, SC Superintendent of the Year, the Order of the Palmetto, and OneSpartanburg Inc.'s 2023 Neville Holcombe Distinguished Citizen Award. A proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi and the SC Liberty Fellowship, he holds degrees from Wingate University and the University of South Carolina, plus two honorary doctorates. He is a past Senior Fellow at Harvard’s EdRedesign Lab in the Graduate School of Education.

Lead Pastor

Lawndale Christian Community Church

Jonathan Brooks is a lifelong resident of Chicago, IL and currently serves as Lead Pastor at Lawndale Christian Community Church and the Chief Inspiration Officer for Lawndale Christian Ministries which includes Lawndale Christian Health Center, Lawndale Christian Development Corporation and Lawndale Christian Legal Center.

Pastah J, as he is affectionately called, is a sought-after speaker, writer, artist, organizer and community developer.  He has contributed to numerous blogs, articles and books and is the author of the book Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods published by Intervarsity Press.  

Jonathan has a Bachelor of Architecture from Tuskegee University, Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University, as well as a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Northern Seminary with an emphasis in Christian Community Development. He is married to Micheál Newman-Brooks, has two beautiful children and lives in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago.

Interim VP, Community Initiatives

NeighborWorks America

Elizabeth Druback Celaya currently serves as Interim Vice President, Community Initiatives for NeighborWorks America, a national intermediary working to create opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.

Within NeighborWorks America, the Community Initiatives Department supports efforts to build vibrant local communities that provide equitable opportunities for people to thrive, with a focus on advancing comprehensive, place-based, and resident-led strategies. Elizabeth joined the NeighborWorks America team in 2022 after twenty years with Hudson River Housing, Inc., a nonprofit housing and community development organization based in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Elizabeth is a graduate of Vassar College and holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from The New School.

Associate Director

Center for Urban Reserach

Dr. Ishita Chordia is the Associate Director of the Center for Urban Research. She is an equity-driven urban researcher and data analyst dedicated to alleviating the systemic conditions that perpetuate poverty. As Associate Director, she collaborates with the City of Atlanta to measure and evaluate the city's neighborhood revitalization initiative. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of the "Beloved Community," her work integrates social justice principles, data-driven policymaking, and community engagement to support neighborhood flourishing. Ishita has a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Washington, a Master's in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Duke University.