Urban Habitat Staff

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Allen Fernandez Smith, President & CEO, has been committed to issues of social, racial and environmental justice since his early years growing up in Chicago, where he got a firsthand look at inequality and the systematic exclusion of low-income families and communities of color from economic and political opportunities.

Fernandez Smith worked most recently as the Executive Director of the California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC), a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the professional development of youth workers across California through high-quality trainings, policymaking, and advocacy. As President of the Board of Directors and then as Executive Director, he led the organization in developing and implementing a multi-year strategic plan that culminated in a realignment of CalSAC’s mission, vision and staffing.

Prior to his tenure at CalSAC, Fernandez Smith served as a Senior Community Development Specialist in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Community Development. He worked closely with major city agencies, local community leaders, and small business owners to revamp neighborhood economic strategy programs in distressed commercial corridors.  Fernandez Smith also worked at the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. There he managed the first-ever citywide initiative to improve San Francisco’s after-school programs, bringing multiple stakeholders together in a comprehensive system to serve youth from all parts of the city.
 
Fernandez Smith graduated from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois and was a graduate fellow at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.  In 2011, he was named to “The Root 100” national list of African-American leaders under 45 years old. He now lives in Oakland, CA with his wife, Kay Fernandez Smith, Deputy Director at PolicyLink, and their children, Malcolm and Malaya.

Venesia Thompson, Senior Director, Finance and Administration, has been with the organization since 2007 and has a Masters of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in Public Administration. She has nearly 10 years of financial and administrative experience and oversees the organization’s operations (including HR) and finances, which includes supervising the organization’s staff accountant. She also prepares and monitors the organization’s operating budget, prepares financial statements for funders and the Board, manages cash, and oversees the annual audit. Prior to joining Urban Habitat, Venesia worked as the Assistant Director of the Center for Urban Redevelopment and Education (CURE), an applied research and community outreach center based at Florida Atlantic University.

Connie Galambos Malloy, Senior Director of Programs, manages Urban Habitat’s environmental justice planning, policy, and movement-building work across California. While a Program Coordinator at UH, Connie launched the Social Equity Caucus’ signature State of the Region event and supported development of the landmark Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute model.

Connie currently serves as a rotating Chairperson of the first-ever California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which certified Assembly, Senate, Congressional, and Board of Equalization Districts for the state on August 15, 2011. She also acts as Membership Inclusion Director for the California Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Prior to her years at Urban Habitat, Connie led the Regional Sustainability Initiative at Redefining Progress. Through a graduate fellowship from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Connie partnered with the Earned Asset Resource Network (EARN), Unity Council, and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) to address local community planning issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. She started her career in Resource Distribution and Planning for United Way of the Inland Valleys in Riverside, CA, and as a Peace Corps volunteer leading sustainable community economic development projects in Bolivia’s Amazon Basin.

Connie previously served on the board of the California Planning Foundation and was a founding board member of AFAAD: Adopted and Fostered Adults of the African Diaspora. Connie’s hobbies include having directed the Children and Teen Programs at Pact—training families adopting and fostering children of different races—and participating in the Niroga Institute’s Certified Yoga Teacher Training Fellowship Program. She earned her M.C.P. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and her bachelor’s degree in Communications and Spanish from La Sierra University.

Laurie Jones Neighbors, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives,
oversees Urban Habitat’s Social Equity Caucus and programwide Leadership Institutes. Under her direction, the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute was developed and launched in 2009, a program that ensuring that low-income people and people of color are positioned to advance equity in the Bay Area region and beyond through boards and commissions service.

Laurie brings to her position 20 years of experience as an educator, having worked in both traditional academic settings and grant-funded community education programs. She has worked as a university instructor, community mediator, academic program administrator, curriculum designer, and project manager, and has built a reputation for developing and managing complex, meaningful projects in collaboration with an array of stakeholders.

She has taught at California State University and the University of Oregon, as well as in the California community college system, including classes in communication, writing, argumentation, research, teacher training, and political sociology, and has designed and facilitated curriculum on a variety of anti-racist, anti-oppression topics for undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and community members. She is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, and has been recognized multiple times for service through International Women’s Day Awards. Laurie has Master of Arts degrees in both Rhetoric (Texas Tech University) and Sociology (University of California, Irvine).

 

Nicole Boucher Montano, Senior Director of Development, provides leadership, strategic direction, and management for all fundraising efforts at UH. She oversees the development and implementation of UH’s strategic plan for identifying, cultivating, and procuring funds to ensure the prosperity and sustainability of the organization.  With nearly a decade of experience working with social and economic justice organizations, Nicole brings to the position her experience in advancing equitable development strategies in affordable housing, transportation, health, and infrastructure at local, state, and national levels.

 

Prior to joining Urban Habitat, Nicole managed all development and fundraising activities at PolicyLink. She has also developed and implemented programs and services for low-income housing communities in the East Bay, and has contributed to research efforts around juvenile justice and education for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth. Nicole earned her bachelor's degree in women's studies from San Francisco State University.

 

Joe Feria-Galicia, Educational Technologist, designs and implements curricula using innovative technology for multiple Urban Habitat programs. He maintains the online course site for the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) and supports the program’s growing alumni network with hybrid/blended learning technologies. He also supports the facilitation of Urban Habitat’s Social Equity Caucus (SEC). Joe comes to Urban Habitat with extensive teaching experiences and is passionate about supporting the acquisition of critical media literacy skills to encourage civic engagement and active democratic participation. He completed his PhD in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois in 2010.

In 1999, he completed his Master's Degree in Educational Technology from Pepperdine Graduate School. As a member of the Scholars Program at Whittier College, Joe graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in 1994. He later obtained his California Professional Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Clear Bilingual Crosscultural Language Academic Development Certificate from the State of California.

Frank López, Social Equity Caucus Coordinator, leads the Bay Area Social Equity Caucus--a multi-issue, multi-sector forum that addresses pressing environmental, transportation, housing, and employment issues affecting low-income communities and communities of color throughout the nine-county Bay Area region. Prior to working at Urban Habitat, Frank worked on economic, environmental, and energy policy in the Los Angeles Mayor's Office of Economic and Business Policy. Frank received an MPP from UCLA and a BA in Economics from UC Santa Barbara.

Land Use and Housing Program

María Belén Seara, Director of Land Use and Housing, has a background in grassroots organizing, coalition building, policy advocacy, and campaign development on issues that affect low-income families and people of color. Before joining Urban Habitat, Belén served as the executive director of two social and environmental justice organizations, People United for Economic Justice Building Leadership Through Organizing (PUEBLO) and PUEBLO Action Fund, both of which based in Santa Barbara County.

Belén led successful policy and electoral campaigns, including a renters’ rights campaign to protect tenants from unfair evictions. Belén also played a significant role in mobilizing Latino and youth voters to elect the second Latina ever to the Santa Barbara School District and to defeat Measure B (Santa Barbara, 2009), which would have made the development of affordable housing much more difficult. She has worked as a labor organizer for the United Farm Workers Union in the Central Valley.

Belén attended Whitman College as a Davis UWC Scholar and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Politics. She has been recognized for her leadership, including a California State Assembly resolution and a Civil Rights Hero Award from the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Christy Leffall, Land Use and Housing Coordinator -- REDI, works primarily in Contra Costa County.  She coordinates the Richmond Equitable Development Initiative (REDI) in Richmond, CA, which advocates for the adoption and implementation of equitable elements within the city’s updated General Plan. With more than six years of experience working in social and economic justice, Christy brings a strong knowledge of affordable housing policy and advocacy to Urban Habitat.  She has worked as a homeownership counselor with families rebuilding their homes in post-Katrina New Orleans and as an anti-predatory lending policy advocate and mortgage counselor for families facing foreclosure in Oakland, CA. 

Prior to her housing counseling experience, Christy was a community organizer in South Los Angeles working to empower residents to advocate against neighborhood blight, to address environmental injustice, and to advocate for citywide policies that protected affordable housing.  She holds a master’s degree in City Planning with a concentration in Community and Economic Development from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Her graduate studies focused on civic engagement, economic development, and housing policy.

Vu-Bang Nguyen, Land Use Program Coordinator, began his journey into the world of land use planning after studying Architecture at the University of California (UC) - Berkeley with an emphasis on City and Regional Planning and Design in the Third World while also working for the City Planning Departments of San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley, CA. He continued his studies at UC - Berkeley and completed a Masters in City and Regional Planning with an emphasis on Community Development and Land Use Planning. His research included working with the San Jose Redevelopment Agency on increasing community engagement in the City’s Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, especially among San Jose’s Vietnamese American population. After City Planning positions for the City of Berkeley and Town of Los Gatos, Vu-Bang switched to the private development side as a Project Manager for a real estate development company in San Jose, CA. He is Urban Habitat's site coordinator for the Great Communities Collaborative, working in several planning efforts throughout the Bay Area including Sunnyvale and East Palo Alto. Vu-Bang is a member of the American Planning Association (APA) and the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).


Race, Poverty and the Environment

Jesse Clarke, Editor of Race, Poverty & the Environment, Urban Habitat's national journal for social and environmental justice. Jesse is responsible for all phases of production and design on the print and web editions of the magazine and also oversees the production and design of Urban Habitat's website. Jess has been involved in the movements fighting for equal rights and promoting social justice for over 20 years as a teacher, writer, and community organizer.

Christine Joy Ferrer, Web and Publishing Assistant, works as an assistant to the editor of Race Poverty, & the Environment journal. She is also the founder and creative director of www.eyesopenedblog.com. Ferrer is a Filipino American journalist and dancer based in the San Francisco Bay Area who graduated from SF State with a Bachelor of Arts dual degree in Journalism and Dance. She is also curator of the Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project. When she is not writing or dancing you can also find her teaching gymnastics to her Tiny Tots, Tootsie Rollers, & Tumblers at Acro Sports. Some of her personal interests and pursuits include: dance, progressive religion, photography, the arts and urban culture, race & ethnicity, sociology, acrobatics, poverty, youth, mental illness, environmental and social justice, and Chai tea. She has written for Hyphen Magazine, Pacific News (New America Media), InDance, Cityvoices.org, InColor.net, Filipinas Magazine, Golden Gate [X]press and [X]press Magazine.

Transportation Justice

Bob Allen, Director of Transportation Justice, has a background in community planning and policy work both in the United States and overseas with international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). While at UH, Bob led the successful 2008 Campaign to help pass a regional measure, Measure VV, which raised funds to keep bus passes affordable for seniors, youth, and disabled riders. Currently, Bob is leading UH’s efforts on federal and state transportation advocacy. Bob received both his Bachelors Degree in Political Science and History and his Masters in Public Administration from Rutgers University.

Lindsay Imai, Associate Director of Transportation Justice, Lindsay works to increase funding for bus and other public transit systems serving low-income neighborhoods through research, policy analysis, advocacy, coalition building, community organizing support and media activism. Before joining Urban Habitat, Lindsay worked as a program manager with Citibank’s Community Mortgage Lending department focused on prime lending through partnerships with CDCs and other community development organizations; as a program manager and Academy Fellow with the Greenlining Institute focusing on affordable housing and community reinvestment; and as a community organizer to reform public schools in Queens, NY.

Lindsay completed a Master's degree in Public Administration in June 2006 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University with a focus on non-profit management and urban policy. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Ethnic Studies from Stanford University.

 
DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS STAFF

Lisa Denenmark, Director of Media & Communications, creates, implements and manages Urban Habitat’s internal and external communications strategies, including print and digital media, marketing and public relations. She comes to Urban Habitat with more than 15 years' experience working in online news organizations, digital marketing, academia and nonprofit organizations in the capacities of deputy bureau chief, managing editor, copy chief, senior copywriter, journalist and Web communications manager. Lisa holds a Master of Arts degree in Cultural Anthropology and Social Transformation, from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, where she integrated emancipatory scholarship with social action, particularly as it relates to self-determination for communities under-represented by mainstream media. Her areas of research included media literacy and policy analysis, the disaggregation of news, refugee and asylum seekers, music of the African Diaspora, queer/lesbian iconography and women's sports, oral history in Florida's aging Jewish community, queer kinship structures and the political economy of communication. A former question writer for Trivial Pursuit, where she wrote stealth anti-colonization, multicultural, feminist, and LGBTQI questions, Lisa is adept at staging public resistance through the production of counter memory and multi-textual knowledges that intervene on dominant systems of truth.

Annelise Grimm, Development Coordinator, researches grant opportunities, assists in the writing and submission of proposals and reports, and coordinates our direct donor strategy.  In addition, Annelise is working to increase organizational capacity by improving Urban Habitat’s database and internal communication systems.  Annelise graduated from Brown University with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Development Studies.  Before working with Urban Habitat, Annelise was the Development and Communications Specialist at OpenDoors in Providence, Rhode Island, a nonprofit that provides direct services to people with criminal records, engages in key policy research around criminal justice issues, and advocates for a smarter and more equitable criminal justice system.

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Meiyi Wu, Staff Accountant, is responsible for processing UH's financial transactions and recordkeeping. She works closely with the Associate Director, Finance and Administration and the organization’s finance committee to implement organizational fiscal polices, prepare annual audits, develop budgets as well as monitor cash flow. She also provides extensive administrative support for the organization. Prior to joining Urban Habitat in 2005, Meiyi worked as a staff accountant and Operations Manager for profit companies and non-profit organizations for over 10 years. Meiyi holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Golden Gate University and has strong knowledge of GAAP, FAS 117, and FAS 116. Meiyi often volunteers for community programs like Oakland Easter Egg Hunts, Oakland Homeless Thanksgiving Dinners, and Chinese Newcomers Service Center. Meiyi is also a member of Contra Costa County and Marin County’s Humane Society.