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Our Staff The Making Connections Team is comprised of both independent consultants and staff members from partner organizations. Key Team members include: Robyn Frye is the Local Site Coordinator for Making Connections Providence and leads the Management Team. Previously she served as Director of Community Relations for West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation. In addition to volunteering at the ACI prison ministry, Frye serves as a mentor to women returning from prison. She is a 2002 Graduate of Leadership Rhode Island and recently was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award 2004 by Volunteer Center of Rhode Island. Frye has also been nominated for the Volvo for Life Award twice. She was appointed by Mayor David N. Cicilline as a member of the Providence Public School Board and the Eli Broad Institute for School Boards where she was conferred the title of Broad Fellow. Frye has also served the on the Mayor's Council of Religious Leaders. Most recently, Frye was appointed to serve as Co-Chair of the City of Providence's Reentry Steering Committee. She has spent many years living and working in the Making Connections neighborhoods and has been active with Making Connections Providence since its inception. Wendy Chun-Hoon serves as the Site Team Leader to Making Connections Providence. In this role, she serves as the primary liaison between Making Connections Providence and the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, MD. She advises the work of the site with an extensive background in community building and policy reform. She has championed for issues such as: welfare reform, youth volunteerism, and researched policies and programs that help low-income working families. Here experience as a teacher for the Children's Media Project in New York led her to work with long term prisoners at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York to facilitate discussions on fatherhood, welfare policy and the history of prison reform movements. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards. Ms. Chun-Hoon has also served as a member of the Research Committee, Council of Foundations and with the Poughkeepsie Institute. Bert Cooper serves as the Family Economic Success Coordinator for Making Connections Providence. He previously worked as the coordinator of the Making Connections Providence Local Learning Partnership, the research, evaluation and data division for the intiative. Prior to joining the Making Connections Providence team, he served as an independent consultant and for the Seattle Housing Authority where he designed and coordinated community and workforce development related services, including Jobs Plus, a congressionally mandated public housing workforce development initiative. Cooper has received recognition from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the American Society of Public Administration for his community building work. Maryclaire Knight serves as theChildren Healthy and Prepared to Succeed in School Coordinator and Sustainability Coach for Making Connections Providence. Her work includes insuring that all children ages 0-8 in the Making Connections Providence neighborhoods are healthy and prepared to succeed in school and that they are reading at grade level by 3rd grade. Most recently she worked for the YMCA of Greater Providence developing programs to assist children and families to live healthy and successful lives. Engaged in the work of Making Connections Providence for five years, she is dedicated to the residents, parents and children of our neighborhoods. Knight serves on the Board of Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services, West End Community School, and the Rhode Island After School Alliance. She has received recognition from the Association of Professional Development; RI Chapter 3, and the YMCA of Greater Boston, as well as numerous awards for partnership, outstanding achievement and leadership. Sabina Matos is the Administrative Coordinator for Making Connections Providence. Prior to Making Connections, Sabina worked at both PODER 1110 am and at Citizens Bank. Outside of Making Connections, Sabina is active with the RI Latino Civic Fund, the RI Latino Political Action Committee and the Educational Center for the Arts and Sciences. Juanita Mobley is the Executive Assistant to the Local Site Coordinator at Making Connections Providence. Juanita came to the initiative through service on various committees as a resident of the West End of Providence. In addition to her administrative duties, she serves on the Making Connections annual awards planning committee, Community Data Team Committee, Website Committee, Inclusionary Zoning Committee and other groups. Juanita has been working with Making Connections Providence since its inception. Elmer Stanley is the Resident Engagement and Leadership (REAL) Coordinator with Making Connections Providence. Previously he served as Director of Project Hope/Providence Esperanza in Central Falls and worked in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections as a counselor for 8 years. He is a recent graduate of Leadership Rhode Island. He has appeared on behalf of a national reentry campaign on Rhode Island Public Broadcasting System’s channel 36 as an expert panelist on reentry issues. Sally Turner is the Communications Consultant for Making Connections Providence. Previously she served as Executive Director for Groundwork Providence where she created and developed environmental programs in education, job training and community outreach in the Making Connections Providence neighborhoods. Turner has received recognition for her work in urban revitalization and community building from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri. REAL TEAM Yania Marcelino began as a resident- volunteer for Making Connections Providence going door to door to find out what residents felt were the critical needs in the Making Connections Providence neighborhoods. Now, she serves as a community organizer providing support to residents on issues such as: parent involvement in the schools; adult education; access to the Earned Income Tax Credit; and workforce development Mendrid Peralta is a Community Organizer for Making Connections Providence and a resident of South Providence. She is a graduate of our Making Connections Leadership Institute (MCLI) and now provides support to several of our projects, including: School Readiness, Workers Co-op, and the Making Connections Leadership Institute. John Prince is a Community Organizer for Making Connections Providence and long time resident of the Making Connections Providence neighborhoods. He manages our Community Grants Program and is actively involved in supporting our neighborhood and housing strategies. Prince serves on the boards of the Family Life Center, Stop Wasting Abandoned Properties (SWAP) and Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE). |
