Meet FAC’s dedicated Management Circle and Board of Directors.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Michelle de la Uz
Executive Director
Michelle de la Uz is a leading nonprofit comprehensive community development executive with over 25 years of experience and has been the Executive Director of Fifth Avenue Committee since 2004. Michelle oversees FAC’s mission and impactful programs that serve thousands of low-and-moderate income New Yorkers annually, several non-housing affiliate corporations, real estate assets, and an affordable housing development pipeline of over 1,600 units. She serves on several boards including the national board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Additionally, Michelle was appointed as a City Planning Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission from 2012-2021.
Michelle is an alumna of Connecticut College, Columbia University, and of Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education Program.
MANAGEMENT CIRCLE
Sarah Batchu
Director of Programs
Sarah Batchu joined FAC in 2023 as Director of Programs. In this role, she oversees our programs including adult education, public benefits eligibility screening and access, financial coaching, homeownership programs, and organizing and advocacy. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff and Interim Director of the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness at the Lower East Side Girls Club (LESGC), where she launched an innovative intergenerational space focused on tackling the root causes of health inequities and empowering BIPOC communities with holistic solutions. Before LESGC, Sarah held roles in the NYC Mayor’s Office and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, advising on policies to improve the lives of New Yorkers, especially those in public housing, and launching programs to create a fairer, more just city.
Sarah graduated with a master’s from Columbia University and a bachelor’s from Barnard College
Read Bio Emily Blank
Deputy Director of External Affairs and Strategy
Emily Blank
Deputy Director of External Affairs and Strategy
Emily Blank is FAC’s Deputy Director of External Affairs and Strategy. She directs the organization’s fundraising, communications, evaluation, and strategic planning. Emily has over 25 years’ experience working for and with New York Community based organizations. She joined FAC in 2021. Prior to her work at FAC, she served as a Senior Community Development Officer at LISC NYC, and at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, first as Director of Community Organizing and then as Director of Planning and Development.
Emily is a graduate of Brown University and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.
Yannerys Castillo
Community Services Manager
Yannerys serves as the Community Services Manager and has been with FAC since 2011. In this role, she oversees all referrals, intakes, and outreach for benefits and support, including public benefits, financial coaching, legal services and tax preparation assistance. Previously, Yannerys worked at the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership as the Shelter Plus Care Program Representative.
Yannerys earned her associate degree in Business Administration from Hesser College in Salem, New Hampshire.
Anthony Coker
Homeownership Programs Manager
Bora Lee
Chief of Staff
Bora Lee serves as FAC’s Chief of Staff, managing organizational development and special projects, including FAC’s Race, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts. She joined FAC in 2019. Bora’s non-profit management experience includes administration, operations, fundraising, communications, and special projects management at Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, the Center for an Urban Future, and the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. Bora started her career in the public sector as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the MinKwon Center for Community Action.
Bora received her BA in Sociology and Urban Studies from Queens College, CUNY and her MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service.
Read Bio Charmaine Marizan
Affordable Housing Marketing and Leasing Manager
Charmaine Marizan
Affordable Housing Marketing and Leasing Manager
Charmaine Marizan is FAC’s Affordable Housing Marketing and Leasing Manager. She oversees our work to market affordable housing, developed by FAC or other partners, and to support housing applicants through NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s lottery process. Charmaine has been with the organization since 2016. She previously worked as an executive administration assistant at Peachtree Enterprises in Long Island City.
Charmaine completed several courses at SUNY Brooklyn, NeighborWorks and the Department of Housing and Preservation and is Tax Credit Certified. She also holds a New York State Notary License.
Lavina Maykut
Senior Fundraising Manager
Lavina “Viney” Maykut joined FAC in January 2018 as Development and Communications Coordinator. In January of 2021, she was promoted to Senior Fundraising Manager. Prior to FAC, she served as the first Director of Development and Communications for UPROSE, a grassroots environmental justice and youth organizing non-profit in South Brooklyn. In 2012, she transitioned to providing grant writing and development supports on a consultancy basis to a range of NYC based education, social service, social justice, and environmental justice nonprofits and institutions including Queens Library, Kingsborough Community College, the Arab American Family Support Center and Damayan Migrant Workers Association.
Lavina serves on the board of City Growers, a New York City-based grassroots environmental education nonprofit. She holds an MA and BA in Environmental Studies with a focus on the Urban Environment from the University of Pennsylvania.
Aura Mejia
Tenant Organizing and Advocacy Manager
Aura has been a member of NHN’s organizing and advocacy staff since 2013. In her role, she leads a team of organizers and advocates who assist neighborhood residents to maintain or obtain stable affordable and decent housing, and to engage in building, community and citywide organizing campaigns. Prior to NHN, Aura served at FAC as a Tenant Advocate & Organizer, Housing Advocacy Associate, and a VISTA Housing Management Associate.
Aura graduated from City College of New York and Drake School of Manhattan.
Brian Mendes
Director of Adult Education
Brian Mendes joined FAC in 2008. As the Director of Adult Education, he supervises all Adult Education classes including ESOL, GED, digital literacy, and our Bridge program, which provides contextualized instruction to prepare students to enter sector-based workforce development programs with FAC’s affiliate, Brooklyn Workforce Innovations (BWI). In the 20-plus years he has been involved in Adult Education, he has been a teacher of ESOL, ABE, HSE, and Mathematics for Construction Workers, Carpenters, Caretakers, Pesticide Applicators, Electricians, and Cable Installers. In his time with FAC, he has been the Family Literacy Coordinator, ESOL Coordinator, HSE Coordinator, and Associate Director. He has developed and implemented curricula for a wide variety of Adult Basic Education and Workforce Development programming at BWI, New York City Small Business Services, New York City Housing Authority, New York City College of Technology, and Pathways to Apprenticeship.
He has a BA in Education from Boston College.
Roy Nielsen
Director of Finance and Information Technology
Roy joined FAC’s staff in 2000, after serving as Director of Financial Services for The Nonprofit Connection (formerly Brooklyn In Touch) from 1995-1999. He oversees the fiscal operations for FAC and affiliates Neighbors Helping Neighbors and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, as well as all housing corporations managed under FAC. He also schedules audits and review audit preparation work for all corporations and ensures FAC’s compliance with tax and fiscal reporting requirements.
Roy graduated from Baruch College in 1995 and received a BBA in Accounting.
Andrew Parkes
Associate Manager of Asset & Property Management
Andrew serves in the role of Associate Manager of Asset and Property Management. This department manages and maintains over 500 units of affordable, mixed-use, cooperative and commercial housing in Brooklyn. Andrew has worked in the Asset & Property Management unit in FAC since 2006, including initially as an AmeriCorps VISTA, then eventually as a Management Associate and Compliance Manager.
Andrew received his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from St. John’s University.
Zully Rolan
Director of Asset and Property Management
Zully oversees the management of FAC’s portfolio of affordable housing, including capital improvement projects. Zully joined FAC in 2008 after more than twenty years of experience working in a range of non-profit housing development and management capacities at St. Nicks Alliance (formerly St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation) and UHAB as well as the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Zully oversees FAC’s management of over 500 units of affordable housing in over three dozen properties throughout South Brooklyn.
Aaron Shiffman
Executive Director of BWI
Aaron has served as BWI’s Executive Director since the organization’s inception in 2000, growing BWI from a single neighborhood‐based program into a well‐respected citywide non‐profit workforce development organization serving more than 850 individuals annually. BWI’s mission is to empower low‐ and moderate‐income people by creating living‐wage employment opportunities and access to career paths. Aaron remains closely involved in BWI’s continual program development efforts and new, collaborative initiatives to match unemployed New Yorkers with career‐path jobs.
Prior to launching BWI, Aaron served as FAC’s Director of Economic Development for five years and as an urban planner with Abeles Phillips Preiss & Shapiro, a Planning and Real Estate consulting firm. Aaron is a member of the Executive Committee of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition’s Board of Directors.
Aaron received his M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute and his B.A. in Political Science from Vassar College.
Denise Torres
Director of HR and Administration
Denise is FAC’s Director of HR and Administration. She oversees the recruitment and staffing for the organization including the compensation and benefits administration. She also oversees all oversight of communications and workflow between FAC and affiliates’ multiple offices, ensuring common identity and effective teamwork among all staff. Denise joined FAC in 2012 and started her current position as Director of HR & Operations in 2014.
Denise graduated from Baruch College.
Bill Yates
Director of Housing Development
Bill is FAC’s Director of Housing Development. He joined the organization in 2020, with more than 15 years of experience in NYC community development and affordable housing. Bill’s professional life includes eight years as Director at Citi Community Capital. In this role, he helped finance new and existing multifamily affordable housing developments and community facilities throughout NYC and the Northeast. Bill also served as VP and Director of Strategic Planning with Citibank Community Development.
He is a graduate of Columbia Business School and Connecticut College. Bill serves on the Board of the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society.
Pictured: (Back Row) Eric Magnus, Erik Paulino, Melanie Ash, Michelle de la Uz, Julio Peña, III, Juan Barahona.
(Front Row) Kate Gilmore, Pristine Johannessen, Ayana Muhammad, Jessica Yager, Carolina Gonzalez
Not Pictured: Dany Cunningham, Sam Marks, Gawain Patterson, Mariadele Priest, Christine Zinnel, and Cesar Zuniga
FAC & NHN Board Members
*Melanie Ash, Co-Chair
*Juan Barahona, Treasurer
*Dany Cunningham
**Carolina Gonzalez
*Pristine Johannessen, Co-Chair
Jared Watson, Staff Representative
*Sam Marks
*Ayana Muhammad
*Gawain Patterson
**Erik Paulino, NHN Board Treasurer
**Julio Peña, III, NHN Chair
*Mariadele Priest
**Jessica Yager, Secretary
**Catherine Zinnel
***Cesar Zuniga
*FAC board member
** FAC board member and Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) board member
*** NHN board member
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