Meet the Team

Kiana Abbady is a Long Island activist for social justice. She champions issues that demand dignity and humanity for all individuals. She has coordinated rallies for victims of police violence, helped create organizations to engage Long Islands in social justice causes in 2020 and 2021, and is a frequently requested speaker at major events to provide concrete next steps as well as other ways for individuals to get involved. Kiana serves as a board member of Advocacy Institute and engages in grassroots organizing throughout Long Island.

Kiana is no stranger to organizing and often gets involved in electoral politics helping elect women to local office. She has served the public in multiple capacities, a community organizer, chief of staff for women and elected officials, a campaign manager, a campaign consultant, and political strategist. During her time in government, serving both state and local offices, she has always focused on engaging communities of color and women. If it’s campaign season (which it always it) she is managing, fundraising and/or consulting a woman candidate’s campaign. One issue Kiana repeatedly ran into was that there were never enough people like her to help staff offices or run campaigns. One issue she is determined to fix.

When not in the throes of political battle, Kiana enjoys reading comics, fantasy novels and writing poetry. If she’s not exploring the literary universe, she’s socializing with friends and family or playing Mario Kart on her Nintendo switch.

Jonathan Alvarez is the President & Chief Executive Officer of 914United Inc-a program-based mentoring nonprofit committed to exposing, educating, and empowering justice-impacted and gang-involved youth in Westchester County. He founded and incorporated the organizations in 2020, inspired by his transformative experience within the criminal-legal system in which he served 14 years from the age of 17 to 30. He started his career as a youth advocate and staff committee member for the Yonkers My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. He then transitioned into the Yonkers Family YMCA, specifically with the SNUG Project: a New York State funded initiative that combats gun violence and addresses community trauma. He joined the organization as an Outreach Worker and shortly after was promoted to Case Management. In 2022, he was elevated to Leadership Development, tasked to implement programmatic structure for the entire outreach team.

Jonathan also has been appointed by NYS Majority Leader Andre Stewart-Cousins to serve as one of nine board members of the New York State Commission on Prison Education, where he will study and develop an effective re-entry plan for improving programming and education in the state prison system. Appointed to this committee will enable him to advocate for policy that considers the impact on an incarcerated individual’s opportunities upon release from prison, their individuals reintegration into society and the effectiveness in reducing recidivism. In addition, he is a 2020 Elias Foundation Community Activist Fellow, a leadership development initiative focused on strengthening and building social justice movements in Hudson Valley. His direct service work is equally preventative and transformative. It aims to address the negative effects of incarceration and heal those who suffer from it in underserved communities.

He has a BA in Social Studies from Bard College and is currently pursuing an Executive Master of Public Administration degree at CUNY-Baruch College.

Cherriese Marie Bufis-Scott is a devoted advocate and community leader committed to fostering long-term change for women, families, and children dealing with mental health challenges, domestic violence, and social justice issues. Growing up in challenging neighborhoods in San Diego, California, she experienced the foster care system due to her mother's substance abuse, which ignited her lifelong dedication to creating nurturing environments for those in need.

At just twelve years old, Cherriese faced the upheaval of her mother's relapse, resulting in a traumatic removal from her home at gunpoint. Despite these challenges, she assumed caretaking responsibilities for children at the age of fourteen and obtained legal custody of her fifteen-year-old sister at seventeen while navigating her own educational journey and battling mental health issues.

Her personal experiences led her to leverage her story through spoken word performances and speaking engagements, captivating audiences with her experiences as a former foster youth lacking guidance. Embracing faith in her early twenties became a cornerstone in her personal and spiritual growth.

Cherriese's passion for advocacy intensified as she fiercely advocated for her son's education, overcoming barriers within the educational system while navigating the complexities of domestic violence and frequent relocations. Her efforts culminated in the establishment of a parent support group in Greater Rochester in 2018, supporting parents navigating the challenges of the education system.

Simultaneously, she founded "Diverse Mosaics," a youth program dedicated to empowering young individuals impacted by bullying, racism, and family struggles. Over the last decade, Cherriese has efficiently managed a trucking company, supervised truck operations, and operated a family retail business.

Her significant involvement in various parent and community forums has yielded policy changes and procedural improvements, making a substantial impact on her community. Presently, she holds a pivotal role in a non-profit organization focused on addressing gun violence and enhancing economic and safety conditions in Rochester through behavioral and attitudinal change initiatives.

Cherriese's unwavering commitment and her personal journey towards transformation establish her as a tireless advocate dedicated to fostering sustainable change within the systems that impact the lives of women, families, and children in her community.

Tanesha Grant is the mother of 3 and grandmother of 4. She is a lived experience expert and the executive director and founder of Parents Supporting Parents NY and her sister organization Moms United for Black Lives NYC. Both are community based social justice organizations based in Harlem and Washington Heights NYC. Both organizations were founded by Tanesha in 2020 at the height of the pandemic to provide support and resources for parents, children, and community members. Tanesha's mission is to improve the quality of life for families and community members. 

In Tanesha’s role as Executive Director, she ensures both these organizations strive every day to fight the racial and social justice inequities communities live with daily. The organizations fight the digital divide by buying and supplying laptops to Black and Brown children. Tanesha and her staff of 10 have provided over 800 laptops to students and community members over the past 3 years. 

The organizations also do mutual aid, community, and political education events in every borough of NYC, and frequently partner with other grassroots organizations. Tanesha facilitates virtual meetings providing education and resources for parents called Parent Power Hour which started in September 2021 and is ongoing. 

Tanesha has been featured as New Yorker of the Week, on the cover of HP (Hewlett Packard) Innovation Magazine in November 2021 and did an interview with talk show host and chef Rachel Ray on The Rachel Ray show in May 2022.

Tanesha has testified at the United Nations against the harms of child welfare system in the summer of 2022. As an impacted child from birth, Tanesha had become an outspoken advocate against the ongoing generational harm that separation of families causes by child welfare. Children are most important in her work. She is very invested in a high-quality, culturally responsive curriculum and education with fully funded public schools for all students. 

Tanesha sits on the The Davis NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) Community Roundtable on Policing. Tanesha is a member of The Healing Centered Schools Working Group and Residents to Preserve Public Housing. Tanesha is also a board member of Community Board 12 in upper Manhattan where she sits on the youth and education and housing and human resources committees. Tanesha is also on the Co Governance team under Councilwoman Carmen De LA Rosa. 

Tanesha was recently reunited with her birth mother after advocating to get her original birth certificate for over 20 years as she continues her healing journey.

Marketa Mccants is living in Troy, NY, where she has made a home with her new husband. Together they have 6 children and two beautiful grandchildren. Marketa is a skilled chef who is passionate about food justice, looking for ways to build healthy communities one meal at a time. The pains of family destruction, homelessness, and poverty have driven her to be particularly vocal about ways to build power among vulnerable populations, working to support the many women and families who share her struggles.

Marketa has done work with some amazing organizations such as Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice, College & Community Fellowship, NYSCASA (New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault), Cares of NY, and Mediation Matters where she has dedicated her time advocating for the voiceless demanding an end to mass incarceration, homelessness, the war on drugs, and the policies that she has seen fracture families and harm the youth. Building on that advocacy work, Marketa co-founded and serves as the Executive Director of The Community Rising Project, an organization dedicated to supporting families who are directly impacted by state-sanctioned violence and by involvement in the criminal legal system.

Demetrius Napolitano was placed in New York City’s foster care system when he was under a year old. He was adopted at ten and then put back into foster care three years later before getting adopted a second time at 20. After experiencing 30 different placements, he transitioned from the system when he was 22. During his time in foster care, he was physically, verbally, and sexually abused; placed on psychotropic medications to treat depression, ADHD, and PTSD; and he experienced a short stay inside juvenile detention and a psychiatric hospital before deciding to take charge of his life.

After graduating from St. John’s University with his associate degree in business management, he graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s in political science. In 2019, after being introduced to the practice of meditation, he started a GoFundMe, raised over $17,000, and traveled to India to study further how to use Yoga and Meditation to help him heal from the complex trauma he incurred from the foster, criminal, and mental institutions. Once Demetrius returned from his healing journey in June 2020, he founded Fostering Meditation (FM) to help young people nurture their mental development through the same tools he would later call “The Five Steps 2 Wellness”: Meditation, Yoga, Expressive Writing, Community, & Nutrition. Demetrius envisions bringing FM to youth within and without the foster care system nationally, creating more communities of people breathing, meditating, and healing together!

Lisa Sangoi is committed to working in service of growing a movement for foster system abolition. She has participated in or co-led several advocacy and organizing campaigns to roll back laws, policies and practices that punish mamas. She has also had the privilege of providing legal representation to women targeted by the child protection and criminal legal systems through trial and appellate advocacy. She spends quite a bit of time learning about drug use, pregnancy and parenting, and she regularly consults on related child welfare cases and legislation throughout the country. Her writing has been published in academic journals, print media and advocacy reports, and she presents often on these injustices. She founded and co-directed Movement for Family Power for five years. She has previously worked at Mothers Outreach Network, NYU Law Family Defense Clinic, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, Women Prison Association Incarcerated Mothers Law Project, and Brooklyn Defender Services Family Defense Practice.

Bianca Shaw, LMSW (she/her) is a queer, Black feminist, social worker and facilitator from the Bronx, NY. Bianca is also a restorative justice practitioner and trainer, often working within organizations to develop internal structures that reflect their justice-oriented vision and missions. Throughout her career, Bianca has worked alongside directly impacted communities creating radical change through policy, relationship building, community organizing and leadership development. As a people and programs leader, Bianca understands that organizations become unsustainable when their people are not cared for and deeply invested in. Her work has focused on shifting organizational cultures, creating equitable management systems and developing programs that center community needs.

Bianca brings a loving and grounded presence, joy and deep insight to any space that she enters. She has facilitated workshops and organizational development sessions for survivors of interpersonal violence, criminal legal and family policing (child welfare) systems. As the co-founder of TRIBE, a community space for QTBIPOC members of the Bronx, Bianca curated events that encouraged relationship building, resource sharing and collaboration. Bianca’s works are inspired by the lessons we learn from trees- who + what are we entwined with for our continued survival? What do we need to let go of to grow? Where are we needed and supported? Through this, Bianca knows that our lives and movements are dependent on our ability to practice interconnectedness.

In 2023, Bianca left her career as a nonprofit executive to pursue full-time travel. During her 9-month break, she (re)discovered what is most important to her: the ability to choose into and create the life she desires. Bianca also realized that the challenges she faced as a leader: claiming her power, setting, and honoring boundaries, feeling incompetent yet overworked and unsupported, were note unique to her but a wide-spread issue many women, queer and trans folks face in the workplace. The impact is damaging, not only to our physical health but to our mental and spiritual health. It is equally damaging to our vision for a just future. As a changemaker, Bianca deeply believes that we deserve to experience the liberated world that we seek to create- and that cannot happen if we are all beyond burnout. As a healing centered-coach, Bianca works with individuals to re-center themselves and develop practices that support their healing and growth.

Aqueelah Sumpter is a mother that has navigated the complexities and biases of the child welfare system. Encounters with mandated reporters who, rather than acting as concerned community members with a level of decorum, instead wielded the system as a weapon. What was meant to be a safety net for children became a maze of unfounded accusations and intrusive investigations. As the case unfolded, she not only faced a shortage of resources but also experienced harassment and biases from case workers. Intrusions into her personal life, negative assumptions, and prejudice.

With such baseless allegations that threatened to restrict her livelihood and mark her record for years to come, she decided to educate herself on the requirements to clear her record. This required her to represent herself to an administrative law judge and prove that the evidence did not support the allegations. Her journey through the child welfare system was a tumultuous one, marked by adversity, lack of support but also perseverance. She shares her lived experience to shed light on the system's flaws and to amplify the voices of those who have faced similar challenges. In the face of adversity, she stands as a testament to the power of resilience and the importance of reforming a system meant to protect the vulnerable.

Aqueelah is now working as a dedicated and compassionate Family Peer advocate in Erie County. Using her lived expertise, she assists families with connecting to essential resources and providing comprehensive support. She believes in empowering families to overcome challenges to achieve positive outcomes. Through extensive research and networking, she identifies relevant support services, such as counseling, educational programs, financial assistance, and parenting resources. By effectively linking families with these resources, she empowers them to develop the skills and tools necessary for self-advocacy and success. Aqueelah believes parents and guardians love their children and should be together.