Leadership

Araceli
Lopez-Andrade
Deputy Director, LIFT-Los Angeles & National Race, Equity & Inclusion (REI) Advisor

Allison
Olson
Executive Director, LIFT-Los Angeles

Michelle
Rhone-Collins
CEO

Neils
Ribeiro-Yemofio
Executive Director, LIFT Washington D.C.

Helah
Robinson
Chief Program and Strategy Officer

Xiomara
Romain
Executive Director, LIFT-New York & VP, Organizational Impact

Rebecca
Ross
Chief Operations and Finance Officer

Gabe
Scheck
Chief Advancement & Cities Officer

Sarah
Spunt
Executive Director, LIFT-Chicago

Cheryl
Wadhwa
Talent and Culture Director
Staff

Alex
Arenz
Development Director, LIFT-Los Angeles

Melissa Marcial
Benitez
Senior Program Coordinator, LIFT-Los Angeles

Olivia
Byrd
National Program Manager, Coaching, LIFT

Bibhiam
Cabral
Program Manager, Coaching, LIFT-DC

Laura
Campbell
National Senior Program Director, Coaching & Technical Assistance, LIFT

Patrease
Douglas
Program Director, LIFT-DC

Lauren
Fox
Senior Director, Development & Operations, LIFT

Darius
Goldsby
Development Manager, LIFT-Chicago

Anaé
Goodwin
Finance and Accounting Director, LIFT

Alex
Graves
Technology Director, LIFT

Michael
Greer
National Program Manager, Training and Technical Assistance, LIFT

Izzie
Hunsberger
Senior Coordinator, Parent Training, LIFT-DC

Monique
Johnson
Program Coordinator Parent Engagement Specialist, LIFT-DC

Casey
Kaldahl
Senior Development Manager, LIFT

Jennifer
Lambert
Program Director, LIFT-Chicago

Abril
Lopez
Operations Associate, LIFT-Los Angeles

Michael
Lopez
Program Manager, Coaching, LIFT-Los Angeles

Marco
Ortega
Senior Coordinator, Entrepreneurship, LIFT-Los Angeles

Maria
Paz
Program Associate, LIFT-Los Angeles

Jazmin
Perez Garibald
Program Manager, Training, LIFT-Los Angeles

Georgia
Petersen
Development and Operations Manager, LIFT-DC

Elena
Pinzon O’Quinn
National Program Learning and Evaluation Director, LIFT

Rachel
Ray
Senior Program Manager, Coaching, LIFT-Chicago

Leilani
Rivera
Office Manager, LIFT-New York

Jaylene
Romero
Development Coordinator, LIFT-Los-Angeles

Angela
Rubalcava
Program Manager, Coaching, LIFT-Los Angeles

Naomi
Runder
Program Coordinator, Training, LIFT-Chicago

Katy
Salce
Program Manager, LIFT-New York

Abigail
Shirley
Communications Coordinator, LIFT

Lucy
Smart
Senior Manager, Policy & Economic Mobility, LIFT

Pedro
Suarez
Program Director, Strategic Partnerships, LIFT-New York

Carlos
Vasquez
Director of Entrepreneurship, LIFT-Los Angeles

Giselli
Veloz
Program Manager, Parent Engagement, LIFT-New York

Rolonda
Washington
Program Coordinator, LIFT-Chicago

Khadijah
Williams
National Director, Policy and Advocacy, LIFT

Tiersa
Winder
Talent & Culture Coordinator, LIFT
Board Members

Akin
Aliu
Agent, Creative Artists Agency

Beki
Bahar-Engler
Chief Administrative Officer, Graduate Management Admission Council

Diana
Banks
Vice President & Senior Counsel, American Bankers Association

Jordan C.
Brown
Founder, One Blue Hill

Jon
Budington
CEO, MoreVang

Dannielle
Campos
SVP/Philanthropy Program Director, Bank of America

Sharyn
Church
Managing Director, Arabella Advisors

Gina
Coburn
Founder, RallySkin.com, LIFT National Board Chair

Will
Darman
Managing Director, Eden Capital

Laurie
Davis
Senior Vice President – Wealth Advisor, Neuberger Berman

Caroline
Degenaars
Philanthropist

Tamara
Dervin
Senior Auditor, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Founder/CEO of Money Basics

Emilio
Diez Barroso
Chairman and Founder, NALA Investments, LLC

Stephanie
Eidelman
Owner & CEO, The iA Institute

Arlene
Ford
Founder & CEO, Equity Inquiry Project Inc.

Bari
Goldmacher
VP Recruiter and Account Manager, Bloom Capital

Billy
Hallock
Managing Director, ICM Speakers; DC Board Chair

Brendan
Hanley
Head of Emerging Growth and Regional Coverage, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Alison
Heyman
Philanthropist

David
Heyman
Director, Foreign Exchange (FX) and Interest Rate Risk Management, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch

Susan
Hirsch
Hirsch Family Foundation

S. Malik
Husser
Director of Communications, MGM National Harbor

Carrie
Johnson
Founder, Twigtale; LIFT-Los Angeles Board Chair

Elizabeth
Kendall
Philanthropist

Brent
Kessel
CEO, Abacus Wealth Partners

Erich
Klein
Senior Vice President, City National Bank

Amy
Lenander
Head of Auto Buying Platform, EVP, CapitalOne

Channing
Lenert
Program Officer, Polk Bros. Foundation; LIFT-Chicago Board Chair

Jose
Leon
Senior Relationships Associate, Capital Group Private Client Services

Michelle
Martinez
Philanthropist, Board Member

Abby
Mead
Senior Vice President and Wealth Advisor, Chilton Trust

Marne
Obernauer, Jr.
LIFT Board Emeritus

Dele
Oladapo
VP & Chief Enterprise Architect and Technical Innovation Officer, Prudential

Michael D.
Pinckney
Partner & Wealth Advisor, Cresset

Ellen
Pinschmidt
Chief Operating Officer, DMGT US Group

Bill
Richards, Jr.
Senior Vice President, Bank of America

Dr. Peggy
Roberts
CEO, Trust Women's Healthcare

Adam
Rodriguez
Actor

Deanna
Singh, Esq.
Founder and Chief Change Agent, Flying Elephant

Ty
Stiklorius
Founder & CEO, Friends At Work

Vicky
Story
Co-Founder and CFO, The Story Company, Inc.

Jordan
Tabach-Bank
Owner and CEO, Beverly Loan Company

Mark
Uible
Vice President, Marketing, Threekit

Adam
Verstandig
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP

Rohit
Vishnoi
Board Member, Eitan Medical

Alexandra
Walsh
Founder, Walsh Law PLLC

Cash
Warren
Founder, Pair of Thieves

Azlina
Wetmore
Head of Policy and Innovation, Capital One
Our Story

Kirsten Lodal
LIFT Founder & Senior Advisor
Over the past 23 years, LIFT has empowered thousands of families and individuals across the U.S. to break the cycle of poverty.
What began in October of 1998 as a student movement in New Haven, CT has since grown into a national poverty-alleviation network that connects families with the people and resources they need to achieve economic mobility and prosperity.
Struck by the absence of social services and resources available to underprivileged parents in their college town, Kirsten Lodal and Brian Kreiter set out to build a human-centered approach aimed at meeting the diverse needs of families living in poverty.
Founded in the wake of welfare reform, LIFT’s program was designed around a powerful but simple idea. What if rather than telling parents what they need, we instead listened to them and partnered with them to make their families’ dreams a reality? Thus, LIFT (at the time called National Student Partnerships, or NSP) was born.
Since then, LIFT has moved from a small dorm room to offices all over the U.S., with sites currently operating in New York City (est. 1998), Chicago (est. 2000), D.C. (est. 2001), and Los Angeles (est. 2012).
What we knew when we first opened our doors 23 years ago holds true to this day – that when you invest in families in an environment of dignity, respect, and love, big things are possible.
The Lavine Family Innovation Fund

Jeannie & Jonathan Lavine
In 2017, Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine made a $4 million gift to LIFT to launch the Lavine Family Innovation Fund, dedicated to developing and scaling services to help families achieve social and economic mobility.
The goal of the fund is to accelerate LIFT’s efforts to drive economic and social mobility for families, and most importantly children, by supporting innovative direct service pilots and demonstrations; evaluation, research, and learning from on-the-ground work; and dissemination of findings and solutions to achieve sector-level systems change. Learn more about the Lavine Family Innovation Fund.