Staff
Cassandra Bolden, Organizer
Cassandra Bolden is an organizer with the Human Rights Project. She is a human services professional with experience in client intake, needs assessment and data management. Previously she worked as an organizing intern at Groundwork, Inc. in the East New York section of Brooklyn where she mobilized parents to address education, health and other community concerns. She received Outstanding Performance and Quality Service awards at Smith Barney and Lehman Brothers respectively. She also studied at John Jay College for Criminal Justice. Cassandra received her undergraduate degree from Hunter College, and is currently in the Hunter School of Social Work’s graduate program.
Nicole Bramstedt, Research Intern
Nicole Bramstedt is a Research Intern with the Human Rights Project where she assists with research, drafting, outreach and dissemination for the 2011 New York City Council Human Rights Report Card. Previously, she worked as a Senior Policy Analyst at Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, an Agency Attorney at New York City Department of Homeless Services, and a Superior Court law clerk with the State of Connecticut. She holds a Masters in Public Policy from UCLA and a J.D. from CUNY School of Law where she received the CUNY Public Interest Fellowship and the Angelo Papa Fellowship.
Teena Brooks, Supervising Social Worker
Teena Brooks is Social Work Supervisor at the Human Rights Project. She is also an Adviser at the Columbia University School of Social Work, and previously was Director of Social Work at the Mental Health Project of the Urban Justice Center. She is a consultant to the National Association of Social Workers and New York's Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. She is currently a doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate Center. She holds a Master of Social Work from Fordham University School of Social Service.
Ejim Dike, Director
Ejim Dike is Director of the Human Rights Project at the Urban Justice Center. She has worked on social policy issues for over twelve years and in the domestic human rights arena for the past ten years. Her human rights work focuses on addressing poverty and discrimination using a human rights framework. She has been cited in articles appearing in Harper’s Magazine (by Naomi Klein), The Daily News, Gotham Gazette, and City Limits. Ejim has also contributed to articles published by the Center for American Progress and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute. She received her undergraduate degree from Berea College and a Master of Urban Planning from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.
Sueann Godfrey, Research Intern
Sueann Godfrey is a Research Intern with the Human Rights Project. Sueann is researching disparities among women of color in New York and how human rights law can be used to reduce disparities. Sueann is currently pursuing her MPH degree at SUNY Downstate’s Graduate School of Public Health. She received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in 2004. Upon completion of her public health studies, Sueann aspires to apply her knowledge about health disparities among minorities to a career in policy advocacy.
Naomi Kramer, Organizer
Naomi Kramer is an organizer with the Human Rights Project. Previously she has worked in international grant-making, direct social service, and professional fundraising. Naomi received her undergraduate degree in International Development Studies from McGill University, and is currently a Community Organizing major in the Hunter College School of Social Work’s graduate program.
Erin Markman, Policy and Research Coordinator
Erin Markman is Policy and Research Coordinator at the Human Rights Project. She wrote and conducted outreach for the 2011 New York City Council Human Rights Report Card. Previously she worked as an organizing fellow for the project. She is the recipient of the Dorothy North McNeal Fund for achievements as a student in the Community Organization sequence at Hunter College School of Social Work. She graduated Cum Laude from Columbia University for her undergraduate studies, and a Masters of Social Work at Hunter College School of Social Work.
Aden Munassar, Development Manager
Aden Munassar is the Development Manager for the Human Rights Project, as well as three other projects at the Urban Justice Center. Prior to her current position, Aden worked in fundraising at the DreamYard Project, a community-based arts and education organization in the Bronx. In 2008, Aden graduated cum laude from Fordham University with a B.A. in Political Science and Middle East Studies. She was awarded a Mateo Ricci Fellowship to spend a summer semester in Yemen, where she studied Islamic history. Aden served as a 2010 fellow at NYU Wagner and the Research Center for Leadership in Action’s Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service. She also volunteers as a member of the Grants Advisory Committee at the New York Women’s Foundation (spring 2011) and as a non-voting member of Community Board 10. She is a fluent Arabic speaker and proud Yemeniah.
Advisory Board
Dana-Ain Davis, Purchase College
Debra J. Liebowitz, Drew University
Alvin Starks, NAACP
Urban Justice Center Board of Directors
Chairman Mitchell A. Lowenthal, Esq. | Partner Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Secretary Arnold B. Peinado III, Esq. | Partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
Treasurer Jeffrey D. Haroldson, Esq. | President, HDG Mansur Capital Group, LLC
Felipe Aransaenz | Managing Director, York Stockbrokers
Michael A. Barasch, Esq. | President, Barasch McGarry Salzman & Penson
Pat Budziak | Board of Trustees, Newark Academy
Marc Falcone, Esq. | Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Beth L. Golden | General Counsel, Retail Operations, Chase Bank, N.A.
Jyotin Hamid, Esq.| Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Helen Hershkoff, Esq. | Professor, New York University School of Law
Raquiba LaBrie, Esq. | Program Director, Open Society Institute
Maggie Lear | President, Frances Lear Foundation
Stephen Loffredo, Esq. | Professor, CUNY School of Law
David A. Singleton, Esq.| Executive Director, Ohio Justice & Policy Center
Howard Sontag | Founder & Managing Member, Sontag Advisory LLC
David Tobis, Ph.D. | Executive Director, Fund for Social Change
