Staff

Michele Lord,
Executive Director
Applying her 15 years of philanthropic experience, Michele helped PIP create its six collaborative and partner funds, which have raised more than $40 million in new funds and have engaged more than 91 national, state and local foundation, family foundation and individual donors. Michele is also Director of the Ottinger Foundation, and has directed several national family foundations. She served six years as the Director of the Norman Foundation, and has overseen program evaluations on behalf of the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and the Open Society Institute. Michele has also served as the chair of the Funders' Committee on Civic Participation, and sits on the board of the National Immigration Law Center.

Prior to her work in the philanthropic sector, Michele held positions in city and national government. She was Deputy Director in New York City's Mayor's Office of Operations under Mayor David Dinkins, where she oversaw the city’s health and human services agencies. Michele served in the U.S. Congress as the Director of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, managing a policy agenda for the Women Members of Congress. Michele began her career as a legal services lawyer in Houston, specializing in immigration and welfare law. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown University, and a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law.

Berta Colón,
Deputy Director
Berta’s 13 years of experience in philanthropy has focused primarily on building and managing funding collaboratives. Berta joined PIP as the program officer for the Racial Justice Collaborative, the organization’s first collaborative fund, and also managed the Fulfilling the Dream Fund. At the national Ms. Foundation for Women, she was program officer for the Woman’s Economic Development Collaborative Fund and also managed the foundation’s Economic Justice portfolio, Rapid Response Policy grants, and the Institute for Women’s Economic EmPOWERment. Prior to her work at the Ms. Foundation, Berta worked as a program associate at the Norman Foundation and at several nonprofit organizations, focusing primarily on women’s issues and childcare. She holds an undergraduate degree from Barnard College and a master’s in public administration from Columbia University.

Naomi Abraham,
Program Officer: Four Freedoms Fund
Prior to joining PIP, Naomi worked at Women’s eNews where she assisted on various projects including a special report on women in Africa. Previously, she worked with refugee resettlement groups in the New York tri-state area. Naomi currently serves on the Advisory Committee of African Federation Inc. and previously served on the Grantmaking Allocations Committee of the New York Women's Foundation. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, received her M.A. in international relations from CUNY and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. Naomi is an Ethiopian-Eritrean immigrant, who has traveled across and resided on five continents.

Tasha Amezcua,
Program Assistant: Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation
Before joining PIP Tasha co-founded and facilitated the Children’s Rights Summer Institute at the International Center for Tolerance Education, a pilot program of the Third Millennium Foundation. She also worked as the Teen Education Coordinator for the Santa Ana (CA) Boys and Girls Club and served on the public affairs team of Planned Parenthood of Orange County, CA.. She has also managed two successful election campaigns in Santa Ana. Tasha’s interests include anti-oppressive education, liberation theology, and queer people of color organizing.

Ingrid Benedict,
Program Officer: Fulfilling the Dream Fund
Prior to joining PIP, Ingrid was fund coordinator for Tides Foundation’s California Fund for Youth Organizing, which works with practitioners and funders to promote youth organizing as an effective strategy for developing a new generation of social-change leaders. Previously, she worked in the youth- and community-organizing sector of the social justice movement as co-director of the School of Unity and Liberation at the Youth Empowerment Center, as a school-site organizer with Youth Together, and as a trainer with the Institute for Multiracial Justice. Ingrid earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at San Diego and her master’s in public administration from San Francisco State University.

Robert Bray,
Director of Communications: Public Interest Projects
Strategic Communications Director: Four Freedoms Fund
Robert’s career spans more than two decades in the field of strategic communications and social justice. Prior to PIP, he was director of communications for the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund in San Francisco. In 1997, Robert founded the SPIN Project, a media-training, coaching and strategizing nonprofit for social change organizations. In the late 80’s and 90’s he played a central role in increasing the media visibility of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, serving as the first director of communications for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and later as director of communications for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Robert is the author of several publications on communications, including the media guidebooks “SPIN Works” and “Winning Wages.” Prior to his social justice career, he was a public relations executive for the IBM Corporation. Robert is a graduate in journalism and public relations from the University of Florida.

Cynthia Brothers,
Program Associate: American Dream Fund
Cynthia has worked in research, advocacy and direct services in a wide range of areas that includes workforce development, public-benefits access, mental health, and race and gender issues. She has worked in various capacities in limited-English proficient voting rights, Asian/Pacific Islander community leadership and civic engagement, mentorship, and tutoring for low-income immigrant children in New York's Chinatown. Prior to joining PIP, Cynthia worked as a project assistant with the Women of Color Policy Network and an advocacy associate with the New York City Employment and Training Coalition. Cynthia holds a master's in public administration from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

Tanya E. Coke,
Program Manager: U.S. Human Rights Fund
Before joining PIP in 2007, Tanya was an independent consultant providing strategic planning and program-development assistance to major philanthropic foundations and social justice organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Brennan Center for Justice, Ford Foundation and the Public Welfare Foundation. Her areas of expertise include racial justice, criminal justice and human rights. From 1998 to 2002, Tanya was a program director at the Open Society Institute, where she supervised grantmaking on criminal defense, death penalty and sentencing reform. Before entering philanthropy, Tanya was a trial attorney in the Federal Defender Division of the Legal Aid Society in New York City. She is a graduate of Yale College and New York University School of Law, where she was a Root Tilden scholar and Editor-in-Chief of the NYU Law Review.

Henry Der,
Senior Program Officer: Four Freedoms Fund
Prior to joining Four Freedoms Fund, Henry served as the senior program officer at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, establishing its immigrant rights program. For more than 22 years, Henry was the executive director of the San Francisco-based, membership-supported Chinese for Affirmative Action, working to promote the civil rights of Asian Americans and other racial minority groups in employment, education, voting and access to public services. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, Henry has also served as Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction at the California Department of Education. He was appointed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to be the State Administrator to bring Emery Unified School District out of fiscal bankruptcy. Long active in community affairs, Henry most recently led coalition efforts to promote equal educational opportunities and access for immigrant students at the City College of San Francisco, including the construction of a permanent Chinatown/North Beach campus facility.

Puja Dhawan,
Senior Program Officer: U.S. Human Rights Fund
Before joining PIP, Puja was an associate legal affairs officer at the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women, where she supported the Committee to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women during their biannual sessions and assisted with the preparation of the Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Women. Puja received her bachelor’s in political science and women’s studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her J.D. from New York University School of Law. Following law school, she joined the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, and later worked as a Staff Attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid.

Barbara El Shehawi,
Executive Assistant
Prior to joining the PIP team, Barbara was the Executive Assistant at Catholic Charities, Diocese of Brooklyn for 10 years. In addition to her role as Executive Assistant, she was the Regional Coordinator of the agency’s annual blood drives, United Way campaigns and fundraising events. Barbara also worked as the Training Coordinator for a reinsurance company, and legal secretary to Joseph Kellner, Esq. (author of “The Kent State Coverup”). Barbara attended Pace University majoring in Business Management/Human Resources.

Maritza Guzmán,
Program Manager: Fulfilling the Dream Fund
Maritza has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and public sector, and a track record of designing strategic responses to unmet community needs. She brings more than 12 years of experience in providing technical assistance to nonprofits to improve outcomes and enhance programmatic and organizational capacity. Maritza spent nine years working in philanthropy, where she oversaw the design and implementation of several initiatives addressing unequal access in areas such as community and economic development, education, youth services and housing. At the Wallace Funds she managed a $20 million grantmaking portfolio focused on education and youth development. Maritza earned a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University and her master’s in public administration from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Allison Johnson,
International Organizer: Dream for Darfur
Prior to PIP, Allison was a program associate in the Law & Security Program at Human Rights First, where she worked to help ensure that U.S. national security and counter-terrorism policies reflect human rights protections under law. She also spent time in Northern Ireland conducting fieldwork for her thesis about women's grassroots peace movements. Allison graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University, where she majored in peace and justice studies and political science.

Channapha Khamvongsa,
Program Officer: American Dream Fund
Founder and Director: Legacies of War
Prior to joining PIP, Channapha worked in the Peace and Social Justice Unit of the Ford Foundation, the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University, the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, The Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholars Program and at the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging in Seattle. In 2004, she founded Legacies of War, a special initiative of PIP. She received her master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. Channapha was six years old when her family fled Laos to the U.S. in 1980.

Julie K. Kohler,
Program Manager: Communities for Public Education Reform
Director: Evaluation and Program Assessment
Julie brings more than 10 years of experience in philanthropy and higher education to her work at PIP. Prior to joining PIP, Julie directed the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s National Venture Fund. At Knight, she worked on immigrant civic participation, the voting system and community revitalization, and helped launch early childhood, youth-development and education-related programs. Julie served on the Planning Committee for the Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees’ (GCIR) 2006 National Convening and, from 2004-2006, as a board member of the National Council on Family Relations. She also worked for the University of Maryland’s Department of Family Studies as a teacher and researcher. She holds master’s and doctorate degrees in family social science from the University of Minnesota.Her work has appeared in the Journal of Marriage and Family and Family Relations and other publications

Nicky Lazar,
International Director: Dream for Darfur
Nicky was Campaign Manager for the Hope for Darfur campaign at Human Rights First prior to joining PIP. She was also a producer on Michael Moore's “SICKO” and “Fahrenheit 9/11,” and has worked on several documentaries for outlets such as PBS, MSNBC and HBO on topics including the war on terror, HIV/AIDS and child rape in South Africa, the execution process in Arizona, repercussions for doctors performing abortions in New Hampshire and the promotion of entrepreneurship in South Africa. Nicky has a bachelor’s in history and English with distinction from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and a master’s in journalism from New York University.

Isaac Leamer,
Program Assistant: Communities in Public Education Reform and Fulfilling the Dream Fund
Isaac joined PIP in October 2006. He graduated from University of Virginia, with a double major in foreign affairs and psychology and a strong interest in education and equity issues. After graduation, Isaac taught 8th-grade Language Arts in inner-city New Orleans through Teach for America.

Elizabeth Lee,
Program Officer: Communities in Public Education Reform and Racial Justice Collaborative
Since joining PIP in 2004, Elizabeth has provided administrative and programmatic support for several PIP initiatives, including the Four Freedoms Fund and the Racial Justice Collaborative. Elizabeth holds a B.A. in Environmental Science/Public Policy from Wells College.

Mario Lugay,
Program Director: Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation
Before joining PIP in 2006, Mario was the development coordinator for CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, where he continues to coordinate CAAAV's volunteer committee, Asian Resistance Media. In 2003, Mario served as the National Coordinator of Racial Justice 911: People of Color Against the War. In 2005, he consulted with Listen, Inc. to help bring a delegation of U.S. youth organizers to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Mario has served on the Community Funding Board of the North Star Fund. He graduated from Columbia University in 2003.

Selvin Osbourne,
Chief Financial Officer
Selvin brings over 20 years of experience in providing financial and fiscal oversight to public sector organizations. Prior to joining PIP, he was Director of Finance/Controller at Progress of the People’s Management Corporation, an affiliate of the Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens. He was also the Chief Financial Officer for the Coalition for the Homeless and Director of Finance for The Women’s Prison Association. Selvin worked for more than a decade as Director for Financial Affairs for Weston United Community Renewal, Inc. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in public administration.

Justin Restauri,
Program Assistant: U.S. Human Rights Fund
Before joining PIP, Justin worked as an organizer at the United Steelworkers Union and as a research assistant at the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative. Justin graduated from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a bachelor’s degree in individualized study concentrating on globalization, immigration and community organizing.

Lori Rosenblatt,
Director of Operations
Fiscal Sponsorship Manager
Prior to joining PIP, Lori worked as a licensed fertility nurse in New York, where she also served as executive assistant, managed the medical office staff, and provided patient assistance and trainings. Lori, a native New Yorker, graduated from Queensborough Community College and Mandel Medical School.

Deb Ross,
Executive Director: Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation
Prior to joining PIP in October 2006, Deb served six years as National Field Director for Public Campaign, an organization dedicated to advancing the public financing of elections. In the 1990s, she did regional social- and economic-justice work with the Western States Center, where she developed its signature leadership training programs and provided strategic support, training and technical assistance to community organizations. In the 1980s Deb founded and directed one of Oregon’s early battered women’s shelters, was co-director of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, chaired the board of the Funding Exchange and served as interim director of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon.

Margarita (Magui) Rubalcava,
Program Manager: Four Freedoms Fund
Director: Capacity Building and Development
Prior to joining PIP, Margarita worked in organizational development with foundations and nonprofits as principal of NVision Consulting. She also served as program director for Hispanics in Philanthropy, where she managed the Funders’ Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities. She has worked with the New York Community Trust, Otto Bremer Foundation and the General Mills Foundation doing program work and communications. Magui worked on an evaluation of the Grants for Schools program of the Mongolian Foundation for Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) and helped create the publication “Snapshots of Philanthropy” for the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (NYRAG). A first-generation Mexican-American, Margarita holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego. She has also studied at Keski-Suomen Opisto in Finland. In 2003, she was honored as a co-recipient of the Council on Foundations’ Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking.

Jill Savitt,
Executive Director: Dream for Darfur
Prior to taking on responsibility for the overall strategy of Dream for Darfur, Jill worked six years at Human Rights First, first as Communications Director and then as Director of Public Programs. Under Jill’s leadership, Human Rights First developed the End Torture Now campaign and supervised the HOPE for Darfur campaign. She spent six years as a consultant, advising nonprofit clients on communications and policy campaign strategies. Prior to this, Jill was the Communications Director of the Ms. Foundation for Women, where she supervised the national Take Our Daughters to Work Day public education campaign, and organized the communications efforts of the U.S. women's NGO community at the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. In the early 1990s, Jill was a freelance reporter for WAMU, the NPR affiliate in Washington, D.C. For several years, she was an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) where she taught a course entitled “Media Strategies for NGOs.” Jill graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University.

Meg Shoemaker,
Program Associate: Four Freedoms Fund
Before joining PIP Meg provided administrative and research support to the progressive public affairs firm, M+R Strategic Services. Previously she worked as an AmericorpVISTA, organizing volunteers for Employment Action Center. Meg also worked with the Sudan Interest Group to promote conversations within the Twin Cities’ Sudanese immigrant and refugee populations. She holds a degree in international studies with a focus on religious studies from Macalester College.

Delmarie Williams,
Accounting Assistant
Prior to joining PIP, Delmarie was Finance/Human Resources Associate for the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. She also worked as the publishing administrator for The Royalty Network, Inc., which educates artists, songwriters and producers about issues in the music business. She earned her master’s in business administration in accounting from the University of Phoenix and her bachelor’s in business administration from Baruch College.

Consultants and Expert Advisors

Henry Allen, Consultant: Communities for Public Education Reform

James Dunham, Campaign Associate: Dream for Darfur

Mia Farrow, Chair of the Board: Dream for Darfur

Ellen Freudenheim, Olympic Sponsor Outreach: Dream for Darfur

Jay Halfon, Legal Counsel: Public Interest Projects

Helena Huang, Senior Program Consultant: Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation

Emily Tynes, Communications Consultant: Fulfilling the Dream Fund

Ted Wang, Research Consultant: Public Interest Projects

Monona Yin, Program Consultant: Four Freedoms Fund Capacity Building Initiative