Financial Stability Contacts
Local Office Directory
Financial Stability Contacts
Financial Stability Contacts
Seung Kim, Vice President of Economic Development
As the Vice President of LISC’s Economic Development Programs, Seung leads the strategy and expansion of LISC’s national workforce and asset building initiatives, and supports the operations and development of LISC’s growing network of business development organizations. Under her leadership, LISC has employed a community-focused and data-driven approach to pilot, test, and scale promising programs. Prior to joining our national staff in 2012, Seung was a consultant for LISC Chicago’s Centers for Working Families and worked with the national office on FOCs. Seung was also a VP of fixed income analytics for ANB Financial Group, an analytics associate for Performance Trust Companies and a financial coach. She has a bachelor’s from Northwestern University and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
Laura D'Alessandro, Director of Financial Health
As co-director of the national Family Income & Wealth Building program, Laura leads LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® and Bridges to Career Opportunities work, with a focus on wealth building strategies—including access to safe and affordable financial products, building short- and long-term savings, and creating opportunities for credit-building through accessible, fairly-priced financial products—micro entrepreneurship, and FOCs’ role in creating pathways to asset building and homeownership. Prior to joining LISC, Laura worked at Helen Keller International and has a breadth of experience in program design, non-profit capacity-building and grants management. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a master’s in public administration from New York University and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
Katrin Sirje Kärk, Director of Workforce Innovations
Katrin Sirje Kärk, Director of Workforce Innovations
As co-director of the national Family Income & Wealth Building program, Katrin leads LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® and Bridges to Career Opportunities work, with a focus on program sustainability and innovations including employer partnership development, retention and advancement, digital skilling, and FOCs’ role in creating pathways to homeownership. After starting her career in communications at PolicyLink, she joined LISC to help grow the FOC and Bridges models, then launched a $32M financial capability grant program at NeighborWorks America, and spent time in Rural LISC collaborating with local partners to expand workforce and asset building innovations in rural America before rejoining LISC’s national team in 2019. Katrin earned a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and a master's degree in public administration from the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College-City University of New York.
Lorena Avillaneda, Assistant Program Officer
Lorena Avillaneda is a Houston native with over five years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She co-manages two Salesforce platforms for LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC), Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC) Network, Business Development Organizations (BDO) Network, and the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) by providing ongoing system maintenance, customizations, custom reports & dashboards, and any other program data needs. In addition to this, she facilitates virtual trainings and provides technical assistance to users. Before LISC, Lorena worked at a former Financial Opportunity Center® in Houston where she held roles as a Career Coach, Executive Assistant, and Program Support Specialist while acting as the back-up Salesforce Administrator for the agency-wide platform. Lorena earned a Bachelor of Science in human development and family studies from the University of Houston with a credential as a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP).
Candi Blake, Program Officer
Candi supports the Family Income and Wealth Building (FIWB) team by providing a range of grants management and compliance functions. She also assists with development and implementation of the FIWB program initiatives. Candi joins LISC after serving as Program Specialist for the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Superstorm Sandy Blue Acres Buyout Program. She also has over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector. Candi has a passion for community action and service. She holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in political science from Rutgers University.
Thomas Brande, Program Officer for Communications
Thomas Brande executes marketing campaigns for LISC’s Economic Development and Family Income & Wealth Building teams. This includes managing the website, newsletters, social media, client stories, and other promotional content. Thomas has over eight years of experience as a communications professional, serving at non-profit organizations on the local, regional, and international levels. He is passionate about magnifying the voices of community members and creating a more equitable society through his work. Most recently, he acted as Marketing and Communications Manager at Phipps Neighborhoods, a community development organization based in the South Bronx. Thomas holds a Bachelor’s in Peace and Justice Studies and a Master’s in Public Communications from Fordham University. He currently lives in Queens, New York with his family.
Julia Brown, Program Officer
Julia Brown, Program Officer
Julia provides technical assistance, grants management and program support to LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® and Bridges to Career Opportunities networks, with a focus on workforce development. Julia has over 10 years of experience in nonprofit and corporate responsibility, including program and grant management, capacity building and cross-sector partnerships. Julia joined LISC from the Corporate Social Responsibility team at Prudential Financial where she led pro bono capacity building programs that connected employee talent to nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Prior to Prudential, Julia worked at two different nonprofit organizations that focused on financial literacy training and career development programming. She holds a BA from Lafayette College and a master’s degree in public administration with a focus on Public and Nonprofit Performance Measurement from Rutgers University-Newark.
Lisa Cockerham, Program Officer
Lisa has more than 15 years of experience managing local, state, federal and foundation funded programs in underserved communities throughout Chicago. Lisa oversaw various workforce development programs serving career changers, college students, high school youth and job seekers with justice-involvement. Prior to joining LISC, she was the director of a construction training program sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation at City Colleges of Chicago. Other sector experience includes coordinating and implementing contextualized training programs in healthcare and manufacturing at Moraine Valley Community College. Lisa supports program development, grants management and technical assistance for workforce development programs within the FOC Network.
Ana Gross, Assistant Program Officer
Ana supports both the Family Income & Wealth Building (FIWB) team and Economic Development work by providing a range of administrative, grants management, and reporting functions. She also provides general operational support and technical assistance. Ana brings her experience with Salesforce and her background working in public service and the nonprofit sector to this role. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and is a lifelong New Yorker.
Jacqueline Guzman, Program Officer
Jackie supports the data management and technical assistance efforts of the FOC network through co-management of and training on the Family Financial Tracking (FFT) template via Salesforce. She also is leading the way in the development of systems to boast and streamline opportunities for additional training for the FOC network to support local capacity building. Jackie brings over seven years of experience with—and passion for—the nonprofit sector. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and master’s degree in urban planning and public policy with a special interest in community and economic development.
Carolina Rendon, Senior Program Officer
Carolina has over 14 years of experience working in nonprofit in the Chicago area, including in grants management, data evaluation, contract regulations, fiscal management, programmatic design, and CRM administration. Carolina supports multiple LISC national programs including the Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC) Network, Business Development Organizations (BDO) Network, and the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) as the Salesforce System Administrator managing over 750 users. In addition, Carolina provides the FOC network with technical assistance and model implementation support. Carolina holds a dual bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in finance and management and is a Certified Salesforce Administrator.
Local Office Directory
Local LISC Office Contacts
Office Location | Contact Person |
| Atlanta | Amit Khanduri, Program Officer |
| Boston | Emily Jones, Senior Program Officer Silvana Bastante, Program Officer |
| Charlotte | Hiba Asalih, Program Officer Harold Lloyd, Program Officer |
| Chicago | Jennifer McClain, Financial Opportunities Director Sarai Garza, Program Officer |
| Cincinnati | Valerie Daley, Senior Program officer |
| Connecticut | Farhana Arif, Program Officer Christina Dellaventura, Assistant Program Officer |
| Detroit | Jackie Burau, Program Officer Karista Gallick, Assistant Program Officer |
| Duluth | Emily Mowchan Drevlow, Assistant Program Officer |
| Flint | Juan Zuniga, Executive Director Shaina Tinsey, Assistant Program officer |
| Houston | VanNhi Nguyen, Senior Program Officer Madeleine Chaisson, Program Officer Sandylane Oquendo, Assistant Program Officer |
| Indianapolis | Natalia Rodriguez Hilt, Assistant Program Officer Brandon Taylor, Program Officer |
| Jacksonville | Anikka King, Program Officer Kathie Silva, Program Assistant |
| Kansas City | Trese Booze, Program Officer Kelli Hearn , Assistant Program Officer |
| Kalamazoo | Sonja Dean, Program Officer |
| Los Angeles | Shona Sen, Program Officer |
| Milwaukee | Christopher Kemp, Deputy Director Celia Benton, Program Officer Gabrielle Charles, Assistant Program Officer |
| New York | Ibrahima Souare, Program Officer Leah Martins-Krasner, Program Officer |
| Newark | Senia Cuevas, Program Officer |
| Peoria | Angela Bolden, Executive Director |
| Philadelphia | Jessica Collazo, Program Officer |
| Phoenix | Mariana Torres, Assistant Program Officer |
| Rhode Island | Claudia Staniszewski, Program Officer Sue Leonardi, Program Assistant |
| Rural | Emily Avery, Director of Rural Financial Opportunity Centers Justin Burch, Program Director Francesca Santos, Assistant Program Officer |
| San Diego | Avital Aboody, Program Officer |
| San Francisco (Bay Area) | Max Lelu, Assistant Program Officer |
| Seattle/ Puget Sound | Brian Surratt, Executive Director |
| Tacoma | Mandy Lee, Program Officer |
| Toledo | Valerie Moffitt, Director of Financial Opportunities Shaulonda Jones, Program Assistant |
| Twin Cities | Kumar Balasubrahmanyan, Program Officer Rachel Speck, Program Officer Orissa Ramnarine, Program Assistant |
| Virginia | Jane Ferrara, Executive Director |
| Western New York | Julie Barrett O'Neill, Executive Director Kate Rehban, Program Officer |