Staff
Filomena Acevedo, Community Organizer
(212) 825-0028 x221 l facevedo@nyccah.org
Filomena coordinates the East Harlem and the Bronx Food Action Boards (FABs), which mobilizes low-income community members concerned about hunger and other anti-poverty initiatives in their communities.
She has worked for over ten years at the Morrisania Health Center with the City of New York. She also worked at the Department of Refugee and Services, and the Immigration and Naturalization Services. She has lived and worked in New Orleans, where she was selected as a Representative of the Children’s Health Insurance for Low Income Children (C.H.I.P) to address the State Legislature in Baton Rouge, which resulted in the children being awarded with health insurance. Filomena studied Sociology at Herbert Lehman College in the Bronx.
Joel Berg, Executive Director
(212) 825-0028 x204 l jberg@nyccah.org
Joel Berg is a nationally recognized leader, and media spokesperson in the fields of domestic hunger, food insecurity, obesity, poverty, food-related economic development, national service, and volunteerism. He is executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress. He is also author of All You Can Eat: How Hungry Is America?, the definitive and most well-reviewed book on American hunger of the last decade.
Since 2001, Berg has led the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, which represents the more than 1,100 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City and the nearly 1.5 million low-income New Yorkers who live in households that cannot afford enough food. The Coalition works not only to meet these residents’ immediate food needs but also to enact innovative solutions to help society move “beyond the soup kitchen” to self-sufficiency. The Coalition recently launched pilot national service projects in 17 states from coast to coast, making the work of the organization national in scope.
Prior to his work with the Coalition, Berg served for eight years in the Clinton Administration in senior executive service positions at USDA. For two years, he acted as USDA Coordinator of Community Food Security, a new position in which he created and implemented the first-ever federal initiative to better enable faith-based and other nonprofit groups to fight hunger, bolster food security, and help low-income Americans move out of poverty.
In addition, Berg worked as USDA Coordinator of Food Recovery and Gleaning for two years, working with community groups to increase the amount of food recovered, gleaned, and distributed to hungry Americans. Also while at USDA, he served as Director of National Service, Director of Public Liaison, and as acting Director of Public Affairs and Press Secretary. From 1989 to 1993, he served as a policy analyst for the Progressive Policy Institute and as a domestic policy staff member for then President-elect Bill Clinton’s transition team.
Berg has published widely on the topics of hunger, national and community service, and grassroots community partnerships, including recent papers on childhood hunger and poverty, obesity, and practical solutions to end hunger as a Visiting Fellow for the Center for American Progress. He has also recently published papers on creating food jobs and other topics for the Progressive Policy Institute.
A native of Rockland County, NY, and a graduate of Columbia University, Berg now resides in Brooklyn. He is the past winner of the US Secretary of Agriculture’s Honor Award for Superior Service (one of the Department’s highest honors) and the Congressional Hunger Center’s Mickey Leland National Hunger Fighter Award.
Amanda Cowgill, National AmeriCorps*VISTA Program Co-coordinator
(212) 825-0028 x222 l acowgill@nyccah.org
Amanda Cowgill is co-coordinator of the Anti-Hunger and Opportunity Empowerment Corps, a national AmeriCorps VISTA project in conjunction with the US Dept. of Agriculture and the Corporation for National and Community Service. She directly oversees one AmeriCorps VISTA leader and daily strategic operation of 17 host sites with a total of 28 VISTA members working towards capacity building efforts around benefits outreach, fund development and volunteer generation.
Amanda is a former AmeriCorps member with the American Red Cross and VISTA Leader with the Ohio Community Service Council. As the AmeriCorps VISTA Program Coordinator with the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, she managed a full time anti-hunger and anti-poverty program of 74 members and 5 VISTA leaders and during peak season, a 100 member AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate project working with the Summer Feeding Site Program.
Victoria Dumbuya, National Service Program Coordinator
(212) 825-0028 x219 l vdumbuya@nyccah.org
Victoria Dumbuya manages the Coalition’s AmeriCorps*State program. In this capacity, she is responsible for managing this program which places 26 full- and part-time members at soup kitchens, food pantries, and anti-poverty organizations throughout New York City. She joined the Coalition in Fall 2006.
A graduate of Rutgers University, Victoria previously served as an AmeriCorps national service Team and Service Leader at Hands on Atlanta, a non-profit that coordinates tens of thousands of volunteers with service opportunities in over 400 organizations and schools throughout Atlanta, Georgia.
Theresa Hassler, Director of Communications, Government Relations, and Community Organizing
(212) 825-0028 x212 l thassler@nyccah.org
Theresa is the Director of Communications, Government Relations, and Community Organizing. In this position she is responsible for coordinating all communication with media and news outlets, serves as an advisor on policy issues, and manages all community organizing activities. Before receiving her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Drake University Law School, Theresa worked for a number of years in state government as a lobbyist for public and private interests and as a economic development policy advisor. She also has significant experience managing political campaigns and served as the executive director of a service-based nonprofit organization in St. Louis, Missouri.
Terence Kelly, Associate Director of Benefits Access
(212) 825-0028 x211 l tkelly@nyccah.org
Terence works on Benefits Access as a strategic partner in the United Way of New York City's Food Card Access Project, managing outreach and public/private partnerships on behalf of thirteen community-based organizations. In addition, he serves at NYCCAH in several different capacities, running the spectrum from screening clients for benefits eligibility and serving as an advocate for applicants, to coordinating citywide food stamps outreach campaigns. Terence is also responsible for assisting in policy research and running NYCCAH's social media (www.twitter.com/NYCCAH).
Terence received his BA in Politics from New York University and worked for several years in corporate consulting before joining the Coalition staff. He is currently an MPA candidate studying Political Economy at the Graduate School of Public Affairs - Baruch College, and a contributing writer to the international broadcast service Voice of America.
Reggie Miller, VISTA Program Coordinator
(212) 825-0028 x206 l rmiller@nyccah.org
Reggie Miller manages the Coalition’s AmeriCorps* VISTA Program. He provides oversight and assistance to the 15 VISTA members building the organizational capacity of soup kitchens and food pantries through volunteer management, grant writing, community organizing, and technical assistance at emergency food programs across the city and within the Coalition's office.
Reggie is a former VISTA who comes to the Coalition from a homeless services provider where he managed a network of over 100 volunteer-run emergency overnight shelters for homeless men and women housed in churches, synagogues, and community organizations. He is a graduate of Boston University.
Carrette Perkins, Director of Programs
(212) 825-0028 x217 l cperkins@nyccah.org
Carrette Perkins directly manages NYCCAH’s Farm Fresh Initiative, Summer Meals Outreach, and Capacity Building and Technology Projects. Carrette also manages the Coalition's Information Technology infrastructure.
With a B.A. from Queens College, CUNY, and M.A. from The University of California at Los Angeles, Carrette brings a range of experience to the Coalition. She came to NYCCAH directly from a 2 year service in the Peace Corps in Mongolia, where she was a Teacher Trainer and also taught English as a Foreign Language, and prior to that, she spent a year as an Americorps VISTA. Before venturing into the nonprofit field, Carrette worked as an Editor at the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in their Corporate Communications department and as a Publisher's and Editorial Assistant at John Wiley and Sons.
Ivonne Salazar, Director of Development
(212) 825-0028 x208 l isalazar@nyccah.org
Ivonne Salazar is the Director of Development and manages the Coalition’s fundraising activities. She has seven years of experience working in development and non-profit communications and has extensive experience in grant writing, event planning, and project management. She has worked for multiple organizations including the International Planned Parenthood Federation, The Bronx News Network, and Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a community development organization in the Bronx. Ivonne graduated from Skidmore College with a double major in Sociology and Women’s Studies and completed The Developing Leaders Program at Columbia University.
Joann Shanley, Program Director
New York City Hunger Free Communities
(212) 825-0028 x207 l jshanley@nyccah.org
Joann Shanley is the Program Director of the New York City Hunger Free Communities Consortium, a collaboration of NYC's leading not-for-profit anti-hunger, nutrition and aging organizations and their government partners. Joann manages the activities of the Consortium as it strives to reduce hunger and improve nutrition throughout New York City for households with children, working poor and senior citizens by increasing the availability, accessibility and affordability of food.
Joann comes to the position with over 25 years of experience in the human services sector. She has been instrumental in building and managing public-private partnerships that address social issues in underserved communities throughout the city. Most recently, Joann served as Vice President of Operations for United Way of New York City, where she was responsible for overseeing the Community Investment Department.
George Spira, Director of Finance and Administration
(212) 825-0028 x203 l gspira@nyccah.org
George Spira is currently the Director of Finance and Administration for the Coalition. He coordinates NYCCAH's administrative, financial, and office support work, processing a range of financial reports for federal, state and city offices. George also oversees the Coalition's operating budget and billing for various grants.
Prior to his work with the Coalition, George spent over thirty years in the finance sector. He has worked on various projects for the Food Bank for New York City as well as St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church-Community Ministry, and is an active member of United Jewish Appeal’s Commission on the Jewish People.
Jim Wengler, Director of Benefits Access
(212) 825-0028 x218 l jwengler@nyccah.org
Jim Wengler has been with NYCCAH since July 2003, previously serving as the Coalition's Benefits Outreach Consultant. He manages projects that help to connect low-income New Yorkers with the public benefits available to them. This includes the innovative Paperless Office System, a collaboration between NYCCAH, the City’s Human Resources Administration and other community partners whereby city residents can apply for food stamps online at neighborhood food pantries and soup kitchens.
Jim is a graduate of Rutgers University and has 13 years experience in the social service field, previously working with agencies serving those affected by HIV / AIDS. He also spent a year in Nicaragua as a volunteer for an organization that served impoverished and orphaned children.
