.....Meet Our Staff.....

..........Our mighty team of 3 runs most of Start:Empowerment's operations but our work is a part of a collective effort..........

.........As a youth-led nonprofit, we rely on the input of fellow youth from fellow organizers and students to our Vanguards, volunteers, community members, teachers, and advisors who help us execute our mission day-in and day-out........... .........

..........Scroll down to meet our Board as well!..........

...Director of Partnerships, Press & Community Outreach...

...Kier Blake... ......(they/them)...

Kier is one of the co-creators of S:E and handles the org's legal health, board and advisory management, public partnerships, community outreach, event planning, press, fundraising, and on-the-ground organizing and program building.

A graduate of Nonprofit and Collective Organizational Management & Development (NYU '20) they completed community-based fieldwork in 3 countries going on to become the only 2020-21 NYC Urban Fellow to serve under an agency Chief Operating Officer (COO) in their cohort. Nowadays, Kier is pursuing an MSc in Environmental Policy and Sustainability with a focus in Environmental Justice at The New School. Their focus is on researching regenerative and renewable design frameworks for community/neighborhood-centered development, while also trying to introduce and implement a #LandBack ethos. They believe in and have used the power of cultural organizing as a means to foster not only socially and environmentally just practices but also spaces that are also radically imaginative, as well as ecologically restorative.

In their free time, they are most likely organizing with local causes like #NoNBKPipeline and various East Flatbush Community Fridge networks, attending classes at The People's Forum, or in a dance class.

...Director of Grants, Curriculum & Education Programming...

...Alexia Leclercq... ......(she/they)...

Alexia is one of the co-creators of S:E and handles the org's curriculum development, education programming, grants management, and fiscal health.

Alexia graduated summa cum laude from NYU ('20), where they self-designed a major titled "The Politics and Economics of Inequality." Their research focuses on political ecology, environmental justice, AAPI communities, consumer culture, inequality, postcolonialism.

As an organizer, educator, policy advocate, and researcher they have spent the past 5 years working on various issues from preserving the Colorado River, fighting land use policy and zoning that enforces race-based discrimination, conducting ethnographic research, to organizing mutual aid, youth programming, and shaping national legislation alongside members of the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance. In 2021, their work was recognized by the prestigious Brower Youth Award.

Outside of S:E, Alexia works at PODER (an environmental justice non-profit in Austin), creates strategies for a climate justice org, fosters kittens (@little.foster.family), helps out at their local therapeutic riding center, climbs trees, and makes art.

...Director of Communications, Design & Digital Media...

...Alysha Berry... ......(she/her)...

Alysha was one of S:E's first volunteers whose critical contributions led her to manage the newsletter, videography, and social media production for the org. Now, she also handles content strategy, member engagement, marketing and outreach, and curriculum design.

Alysha graduated from Sarah Lawrence College where she concentrated in Literature and Anthropology with a focus in post-colonial studies. Alysha has always been interested in education and curriculum development. During her time at Sarah Lawrence, she worked closely with the Office of Community Partnerships and helped develop an educational program for Afghani immigrant students in Yonkers, NY.

In 2021, Alysha returned to her hometown, New Delhi. She has been working at an Education Consultancy as writing and research mentor. Introducing high-school students to research methodologies and critical thinking through workshops, and designing a Writing Mentorship pilot program to help teenage writers workshop their work and explore different forms of writing.

In her free time, Alysha is often creating playlists, editing essays for her friends, baking at odd hours, or losing track of time in her favorite library or bookstore.

.....Meet Our Board.....

..........Our board is very helpful in terms of steering our strategy. We look for people who bring expertise to the outlook of.......... ..........Start:Empowerment, as well as hold us accountable to our . ..........

...Board Member, Founding & Fundraising...

...Osbourne Blake... ......(he/him)...

Osbourne graduated from Brown University with a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical engineering class of 1991 and from USC school of Medicine in 1995. Currently, he has been practicing internal medicine since graduating from USC until the present with a special interest in Sickle Cell Disease. Since 1998, he has been practicing at Kaiser Permanent where he currently is the Director of the Sickle Disease care program. As a resident of Los Angeles, he has been striving to empower people to live the best and healthiest life possible with the goal of using the least amount of medicine possible.

"I feel that our environment plays a major role in our health outcomes and contributes to the health disparities that we see every day. Changing the environment where everyone can thrive will be the best thing for society in the long run."

(Osbourne Blake serves on the founding board with Alexia and Kier.)

...Board Member, Finance...

...Mihir Annaldasula... ......(he/him)...

Mihir is an Indian-American from Houston, Texas. He volunteered his time by providing golf instruction to underprivileged children around the Greater Houston area with 'The First Tee' for 8 years. Mihir graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 2019 and now works as a Product Owner in New York City. His career allows him to drive the effort into digital banking all while bridging the gap between corporate America and mutual aid.

Mihir is inspired by the values, vision, and impact that Start:Empowerment devised which results in ultimately benefiting the people in communities that need it the most. Food justice, climate justice, social justice, racism, sexism are all intersectional and it is important for him to be a part of a group that breaks these down into digestible curricula that molds the future of activism. Mihir is primarily involved in fundraising and sharing awareness to those that do not reside or empathize with the struggle of millions of Americans. Building up awareness, breaking down these intersectional issues, making them easy to understand, & providing the tools for change to the future are all important pieces of positive change.

...Board Member, Strategic Planning...

...Isabel Avina... ......(they/them)...

Isabel Avina is a climate justice organizer, educator, and researcher raised on Lenape land (NYC), and currently residing on Mohican land (Upstate NY). Isabel focuses on fostering deep connections to the Earth amongst students in urban environments, facilitating youth leadership in the climate organizing space, and building strong coalitions by developing curricula, advocating for policy, and facilitating multi-stakeholder initiatives. They hold a BA in Environmental Science and an MA in Environmental Ethics from NYU. Isabel joined Solar One’s Education Team full-time in 2022, and previously worked as a consultant and researcher with organizations like GrowNYC, the Climate and Resilience Education Task Force, and NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection. They're also a co-op member and organizer with Cooperative Climate Futures and a farmer at Gentle Time Farm, a QTBIPOC-led land project focused on food sovereignty in the North East bioregional foodshed.

Isabel served as an advisor to Start:Empowerment for several years supporting the visioning and growth of the organization. Now, they serve as a board member who recognizes S:E's commitment to frontline youth leadership and the dedication S:E staff bring to uplifting BIPOC, low-income, and LGBTQIA2S+ communities in the NYC environmental and climate justice spaces.

..."Grassroots groups challenge the 'business-as-usual" environmentalism that is generally...

...practiced by the more privileged wildlife- and conservation-oriented groups. The focus of... ...activists of color and their constituents reflects their life experiences of social, economic,...

...and political disenfranchisement"...

...-Robert Bullard-...

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