STAFF
Nora McCarthy, Director
Nora began working with parents affected by the child welfare system in 2003 and founded Rise in 2005. She previously edited the youth publications New Youth Connections and Represent, a magazine by teens in foster care, both published by Youth Communication. Under Nora’s co-leadership, Represent earned top awards from the Association of Educational Publishers and Mental Health America. Nora has written for Newsday, Child Welfare Watch and City Limits and graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. nora@risemagazine.org
Jeanette Vega, Training Director
Jeanette has contributed to Rise since 2008 and became a Parent Leader in 2016. In 2018 she was promoted to Training Director. Jeanette specializes in presenting to child welfare professionals about her experience and about parents' perspectives and leads Rise's work consulting with the Administration for Children's Services and other agencies on their internal staff trainings. Jeanette graduated from the Child Welfare Organizing Project's Parent Leadership Training in 2005 and was one of the first parent advocates to staff Child Safety Conferences in New York City. Jeanette worked as a Parent Advocate at Episcopal Social Services for three years and is also certified as a visiting coach/ host. jeanette@risemagazine.org
Bianca Shaw, Public Speaking Director
Bianca has been the training project manager at Community Connections for Youth, overseeing 25 Transformational Mentoring programs for justice-involved youth, and was a caseworker at the West Side Center for Senior and Supportive Housing, where she created opportunities for formerly homeless adults to speak about the complexities of navigating the social service system. Bianca is a graduate of the College of New Rochelle and Hunter College School of Social Work. bianca@risemagazine.org
Genevieve Saavedra Dalton Parker, Development Director
Genevieve began their work in nonprofit development research and advocacy in 2014. They are a critical adoption scholar, activist, and organizer committed to ensuring support and resources flow toward people impacted by the child welfare system. They are a Masters student at The Graduate Center, The City University of New York and contributing scholarship to an emerging field of Critical Adoption Studies. They are also a graduate of New York University. Genevieve joined the Rise team in July 2019. genevieve@risemagazine.org
Tracy Serdjenian, Editorial Director
Tracy previously worked at national organizations on child welfare systems improvement for over 10 years and has also supported youth-led community organizing and political advocacy efforts to change the foster care system in New York City. Her background includes community organizing, research and policy, and work on digital storytelling and oral history projects. Tracy is a graduate of Vassar College and the Hunter College School of Social Work. tracy@risemagazine.org
Teresa Bachiller, Rise & Shine Coordinator
Teresa is the former assistant director of the Child Welfare Organizing Project and has been a family coach at Graham and the assistant coordinator of the East Harlem Community Partnership. Teresa runs Rise's annual parent leadership program for parents affected by the child welfare system: teresa@risemagazine.org
Nancy Fortunato, Senior Parent Leader
Nancy is a Parent Advocate at JCCA and graduate of the Child Welfare Organizing Project who joined Rise's Leadership Team in 2015. Nancy completed Rise's Public Speaking Skills Training and Advanced Public Speaking workshops, as well as our Advanced Writing Workshop and Reporting Group. She was promoted to Senior Parent Leader in January 2018. nancy@risemagazine.org
Robbyne Wiley, Parent Leader
Robbyne joined a Rise writing workshop in 2002, before the organization formally began, and has been a member of the Rise Advisory Board since it started in 2007. Robbyne is a graduate of the Child Welfare Organizing Project Parent Leadership Curriculum and has been a parent advocate at Child Safety Conferences. Robbyne is a member of Rise's Leadership Team and completed Rise's Advanced Writing Group and Public Speaking Skills Training and Advanced Public Speaking Program. robbyne@risemagazine.org
Keyna Franklin, Parent Leader
Keyna joined Rise in Fall 2017 as a participant in two workshops to develop Rise TIPS and a presentation on service planning. She was previously a volunteer parent advocate at Episcopal Social Services. She came on staff as a Parent Leader in January 2018. Keyna co-facilitates the Rise & Shine writing workshop series. Keyna writes and reports for Rise and coordinates and co-facilitates the Rise reporting group. She also works on social media at Rise. keyna@risemagazine.org
Ashanti Bryant, Program Assistant
Ashanti has been involved with nonprofit justice work since 2017. She previously volunteered and worked with LGBTQ+ organizations, and most recently worked at an educational institution geared towards uplifting gifted low-income boys to excel. She is committed to working with teams that help vulnerable communities and dismantle oppressive systems. Ashanti earned a master of arts in sociology from Brooklyn College, with a focus on understanding masculinity among boys of color. ashanti@risemagazine.org
SUPPORTERS
Rise is a partner project of the Fund for the City of New York. Foundation support is provided by Child Welfare Fund, JPB Foundation, North Star Fund, New York Community Trust, New York Women’s Foundation, Pinkerton Foundation. Rise also contracts with child welfare, policy and advocacy organizations. We are grateful to our partners, subscribers and generous individual donors.
ADVISORY BOARD
Hope Newton, Board Chair, Parent Advocate, Center for Family Representation
Bonnie Kornberg, Board Vice Chair, Chief Performance Officer, Graham Windham
Keith Hefner, Board Acting Treasurer, Executive Director, Youth Communication
Digna Denis, Parent Advocate, Children's Aid
Dana Guyet, Director, Prevention and Community Support, HRA Homelessness Prevention Administration
Linda Genereux