Staff

(if you have a general inquiry, please follow our instructions here)
Anna Baker-Heans
Housing Organizer
Abigail Ellman
Director of Planning and Development
Steve Herrick
Executive Director
Cindy Hwang
Housing Organizer
Brandon Kielbasa
Director of Organizing and Policy
Alex Lee
Resiliency Coordinator & Housing Organizer
Jodie Leidecker
Lead Organizer
Michael Maddalena
Bookkeeper
Zainab Musa
Artistic Director of Performing Arts
Harriet Putterman Center
@ Cooper Square Committee
Valerio Orselli
Project Director, This Land Is Ours Community Land Trust
Carmen Perez
Director, Neighborhood NORC Program (Senior Program)
Illapa Sairitupac
Housing Organizer
Yonatan Tadele
Deputy Director of Organizing
Christian Valerio
Housing Specialist
Daniel Weinberg
Operations Manager
(generally serves as Intake Coordinator,
but regardless new clients should e-mail
csc@coopersquare.org to ensure their inquiry
is handled efficiently)

Board

Joyce Ravitz Chair/President
Melissa Hope Ditmore Vice Chair
Shawn Dahl Treasurer
Yuh-Line Niou Member at Large
Tito Delgado Member at Large
Hank Dombrowski Member at Large
Jasmine Garcia Member at Large
Alana Sivin Member at Large
Jean Kuo Member at Large
Blair Baldwin Member at Large

Partners and Supporters

The Cooper Square Committee greatly appreciates the partnership and financial support of the following public agencies, private foundations, elected officials, many of whom have been long-standing supporters.

Government

  • NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
  • NYC Small Business Services
  • NYC Department for the Aging
  • NYS Homes and Community Renewal
  • NYS Office of Children and Family Services
  • NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
  • Councilmember Carlina Rivera
  • Councilmember Christopher Marte 
  • Assemblymember Deborah Glick
  • Assemblymember Harvey Epstein
  • Senator Brad Hoylman

Foundations and Corporations

  • Enterprise Community Partners
  • Creatives Rebuild New York
  • Montefiore Hospital
  • New York Community Trust
  • North Star Fund
  • Capital One
  • M&T Bank Foundation
  • Apple Bank
  • Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development

Small Businesses

We receive many monetary and in kind donations from small businesses and nonprofit organizations, and we want to acknowledge their support: 

Anme, Block Drugs, The Bowery Hotel, Clove Hair Salon, Cornerstone Cafe, Donnybrook, East Village Vintage Collective,  El Castillo de Jagua, 11th St Bar, Exit 9, Frances Goldin Literary Agency, Genco Resources Development, Guerra Paint & Pigment Corp, H.F. Hewitt Realty, Kadidja, La Palapa, Loisaida Realty, Mud Coffee, Pageant Print Shop, Random Accessories, 3rd & B’Zaar, Veniero’s, Veritas Property Management, Veselka

Non Profits

The Ali Forney Center, Brooklyn Legal Services Corp A, Chinese American Planning Council, Coalition for a District Alternative, Community Access, Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association, Good Old Lower East Side, Grand Street Settlement, Henry Street Settlement, Housing Works, La Mama, Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union, Lower East Side Ready, National Resources Defense Council, Picture the Homeless, Sixth Street Community Center, Take Root Justice, This Land is Ours Community Land Trust, University Settlement, Works in Progress. 

Individuals

Cooper Square Committee is grateful for the hundreds of donations, large and small, that we receive from our members and the general public. If you wish to make a donation to support our work, you can do so at www.coopersquare.org/donate