The City Year Philadelphia Associate Board is a group of young professionals who advance our mission by building social and professional network engagement and creating a pipeline of donors and champions.
Elizabeth is a manager on Aramark's Growth Enablement team. She got involved with City Year shortly after graduating Lehigh University in 2015 and has served on the Associate Board since 2016. In addition to City Year, Elizabeth also volunteers with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) walking dogs.
Eli is a servant leader who is tapped into the education network here in Philadelphia! He’s a big fan of music, burgers, and green spaces. Eli currently works as Community Schools Coordinator for the City of Philadelphia. He served as a City Year Philadelphia AmeriCorps member during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.
Dino Zagami is a Project Manager for the Responsible Sourcing Group at Aramark. He helps to identify, contract, and track diverse and sustainable suppliers to help Aramark achieve the ESG initiatives outlined in their Be Well. Do Well.® sustainability plan. He designed his own undergraduate degree, Environmental Business, at the University of Maryland, College Park, and previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in northwest China. When he isn’t taking bachata classes to try and overcome his fear of dancing, he loves to exercise, learn new things, and explore the city he recently started calling home.
Annie Blankemeyer serves as a Program Manager at Junior Achievement of Southeastern Pennsylvania. In this role, Annie partners with educators and volunteers to provide learning experiences in financial literacy, work and career readiness, and entrepreneurship for students. Prior to starting her current role at JA, Annie began her career serving in the 19-20 City Year Philadelphia corps. She then went on to become an elementary school educator in Camden, NJ before transitioning back into the non-profit space.
Annie holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology & Urban Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. She spends her free time exploring the city, cooking, and painting.
Shenelle Brooks (She/Her) is Aramark’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Manager with 8+ years of HR experience, inclusive of talent management, DEI, and training & development. In her current role, she manages the 11 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) by providing oversight and input to drive the execution of their strategic objectives. She also uses her knowledge and expertise to support her team in executing Aramark’s global DEI strategy, centered around professional development, diverse representation, and business growth.
Shenelle has a BA in Business Administration/Communications, MS in Human Resource Management, along with a SHRM – CP certification. She continues to leverage her education, expertise, and practical approach to drive key DEI strategies at major corporations and non-profits. Shenelle is passionate about advocating for equal opportunities, finds joy in driving education around the importance of inclusion, and celebrates the diverse experiences that make us all unique. As a Bronx, NY native, Shenelle understands the inequities that create barriers for underserved communities and continues to use her platform to challenge the status quo.
Shenelle believes in the power of story sharing and is proud to tell her personal and professional journey as a testament to her passion, ambition, and determination. One of her many mantras is, “You can do it too”. Shenelle continues to blaze a trail for self-identifying diverse women through her career coaching services and when she isn’t working, she enjoys traveling, exercising outdoors, and volunteering.
Joseph Catuzzi focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, representing corporate and institutional clients in a range of business litigation matters, including commercial disputes, real estate issues, employment matters, insurance coverage issues, and general liability defense. His client representation includes preparing pleadings and legal memorandum, managing cases, and attending depositions, conferences, hearings, and mediations.
Joe has extensive experience appearing before local governmental agencies to obtain zoning relief, land development approvals, and address historic designation issues. Joe’s clients have included real estate developers, public and private corporations, religious organizations, nonprofits, individuals, and local governments. Joe is well versed in Pennsylvania’s land development process and leverages his diverse experience to efficiently resolve regulatory issues for clients in a cost-effective manner.
Joe also regularly counsels businesses of all sizes on a wide array of employment issues, including hiring, restrictive covenants, human resource policies, disciplinary and termination matters, and social media issues. He also represents clients in employment-related litigation in federal and state courts as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Elise Corbett serves as a Senior Communications Consultant for Wells Fargo covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New Hampshire and Maine. In this role, she manages media relations and advises on strategic internal communications, working cross-functionally with the Bank’s lines of business to leverage trending events and timely pop culture moments into earned media coverage.
Prior to Wells Fargo, Elise worked in various roles, most recently as director, at Ceisler Media and Issue Advocacy, a full-service public relations and issue advocacy firm.
Elise graduated Maxima Cum Laude from La Salle University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in Leadership and Global Understanding. While in college, Elise devoted much of her time to La Salle University’s Lasallian Immersion and Volunteer Experience (LIVE) program – participating in immersion trips with Habitat for Humanity, as well as a Christian Brothers school in Nyeri, Kenya.
Abby is a Senior Communications Manager at the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, an international nonprofit working with companies to champion criminal justice reform measures and expand inclusive hiring practices. Prior to serving in her current role, Abby spent several years working in electoral politics and in the Pennsylvania State Senate. Abby served with City Year Seattle/King County from 2015-16.
Abby holds a bachelor’s degree with high honors from Swarthmore College and will be attending the University of Chicago Law School in the fall. She is passionate about data-driven public policy, rock climbing, and baking her way through Claire Saffitz’s cookbooks.
Tiffany Flippen is a Senior Diversity & Inclusion Specialist at Princeton University, and her work focuses on developing, supporting, and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies to further cultivate an inclusive Princeton. Tiffany is a Philadelphia native and believes educators have the ability to positively impact the lives of young people. As a graduate of the Philadelphia public school system, Tiffany had firsthand experience with programs, such as College Access, that provided supplemental resources to schools that were resource constraint. Thus, she excited to serve on the City Year Associate Board and support City Year’s mission in serving students, schools, and communities to build a more equitable future.
Tayza has experience in both corporate and nonprofit workplaces elevating internal teams through philanthropic work, financial budgeting, and marketing support. Currently, she is an Executive Assistant in the Philadelphia office of Schultz & Williams (S&W), where she serves as a liaison between firm partners, vice presidents, consultants and associates. Previously, Tayza worked as an Administrative Assistant for the United Nations Association (Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area). She was also actively involved in the research, fundraising and marketing efforts of Human Trafficking Collaborative Network (HTCN). More recently, Tayza has taken active role on a fundraising committee for Mission Kids, a nationally-accredited Child Advocacy Center that serves victims of child abuse in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
As City Year Philadelphia Alumna (2021-2022), Tayza’s firsthand experience working with Philadelphia school students has continuously impacted her efforts to promote educational equity, providing safe spaces for youth, and community empowerment.
Born and raised in a low-income neighborhood in Philadelphia, from a young age Phillip experienced the discrepancies between different parts of the city, which sparked his passion to improve the urban fabric of Philadelphia and the quality of life for those who live there. This passion led him to the world of architecture and the built environment, and is now an Architectural Design Technician at NK Architects. Phillip earned his Bachelor of Architecture and minored in Landscape Architecture at Philadelphia University. Phillip is an artist, a builder, a mentor, an athlete, a lover of “all you can eat” sushi, an awesome uncle and a terrible karaoke singer. In his free time, he fills it up with the people he loves.
Zachary is an Internal Sales Consultant within Macquarie Group's Asset Management division. Having served with City Year Philadelphia in 2021-22, Zachary is determined to continue the work he started as an AmeriCorps Member. Zachary is passionate about student success and equity, citing how his firsthand experiences helped him better understand how incredible students can be and how much they can achieve with the right resources and support. Zachary received a bachelor's degree in finance from Bloomsburg University.
Damon Rankin is a Senior Vice President, Credit at Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, a leading originator of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD multifamily commercial mortgages. In this role he reports directly to the Chief Credit and Risk Officer, oversees a 90 person team of credit staff based in Hyderabad India, leads efforts to improve worldwide underwriter productivity, and provides ongoing strategic decision support to the firm’s c-suite.
Prior to Berkadia, Mr. Rankin worked at Deloitte Consulting in the Strategy & Operations practice. At Deloitte he developed and implemented cost reduction strategies for large life sciences companies. Mr. Rankin started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers' external audit practice where he covered consumer products and utility clients.
Mr. Rankin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Drexel University where he graduated magna cuma laude and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of work, Mr. Rankin enjoys travel, long form journalism, and supporting City Year Philadelphia an education focused non-profit.
Jordan Reaves is a Philadelphia native and serves as an Associate Controller for Mosaic Development Partners. As a controller, Jordan manages Mosaic's financial reports, oversees the accounting operations, and helps guide the company's strategic financial decisions. Jordan was originally connected to City Year through his role as a Team Leader in AmeriCorps where his service focused on STEM curriculum development for under-resourced middle schools in Kansas City.
After serving two terms of service through AmeriCorps, Jordan pursued a Master in Business Administration concentrating in Finance & Strategy at Tulane University. At Tulane, Jordan served as the President of the Black Business Student Association and, facing unprecedented times, graduated eager to make a difference in a corporate setting. After an internship with a small retail startup, Jordan came to Mosaic looking to blend his passion for finance and development, and to continue examining the economic impact of real-estate projects on its immediate community.
Jordan is excited about curriculum development, equity and bringing STEM programming to diverse student communities. He hopes to continue delivering on City Year's mission of "student support through equitable programming." In his free time, Jordan plays flag football, does DIY projects, and travels, with recent trips to Portugal and Morocco.
Hannah is a Credit Risk Officer at Wells Fargo, where she focuses on driving and optimizing acquisition risk strategies with the goal of growing the firm’s portfolio. Prior to Wells Fargo, she began her career at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and served in a variety of credit risk positions within the credit card space.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Risk Management with a minor in Accounting from Temple University, where she graduated summa cum laude. As a native of the Philadelphia area, Hannah is passionate about enhancing educational equity throughout the city. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing soccer, trying new restaurants, and playing the piano.
Scott is a personal injury attorney at Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, P.C. He graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Maryland in 2014 and with a J.D. from the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law in 2019. He enjoys spending time with his family, watching sports, and cooking. Scott is excited to work with his fellow Associate Board members.
Young Friends of City Year Philadelphia
The Young Friends of City Year Philadelphia is a group of young professionals who are passionate about the success of students across the city. Members ages 18-40 have the opportunity to directly support the Coaches serving students, engage with City Year and our school communities, and meet peers who are similarly aligned and motivated to make a difference.
