Natalie Ferrell

Co-Founder & Youth Development Director

Previous to being a founding member of South Bronx Community, Natalie was the Director of School Design for the NYC Department of Education, providing leadership and expertise to EPIC Schools’, a network of schools designed collaboratively through a fellowship commissioned by the mayor’s Young Men’s Initiative, around social-emotional learning, youth development supports and systems of improvement. Previously, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic where she worked to build the capacity of a children’s advocacy nonprofit around collaborative action research and youth development initiatives. She has also served as a teacher coach and education consultant both in the US and abroad and has published research on the effects of school choice on student wellbeing.  Natalie began her career as a bilingual teacher at a middle school for recently arrived immigrants in Washington Heights, New York. Natalie holds a BA in Latin American Studies and a Masters in Public Health from Tulane University, as well as a Masters in Teaching with a focus on ESL and bilingual education.

natalie.ferrell@southbronxcommunity.org

Christipher James Fleming

Associate Director of Competency Based Learning

Before moving to New York City in 2018, Chris-ti-pher (He, Him, and His) served as the Black Male Achievement Coordinator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began his teaching journey in 2008 as a Math teacher at LearningWorks @Blake, where he first designed a project based curriculum serving the community he grew up in. Throughout his first couple of years of service to his community, he obtained his Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from Minneapolis Community and Technical College and his Bachelor Degree in Sociology and Psychology from Augsburg College (now known as Augsburg University), served as a founding member of three Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Freedom Schools in Minneapolis, Mn, Hartford, CT and New Haven, CT, and as the Senior Case Manager at Volunteer of America Youth Drug, Mental Health and Counseling Facility. He also consulted for CDF as an Ella Baker Trainer and sat on the board of the African American Registry believing in the words of Ella Baker, “service is the rent we pay for living.” Christipher graduated with his Masters of Public Policy and Educational Leadership from St. Thomas University and his Master of Education from Relay Graduate College of Education.  He is a Founding Resident Teacher at South Bronx Community Charter High School for World History and Geography. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Competency Based Learning teaching AP Research World History and Geography.  Christipher serves as a HollyHock Fellow at Stanford University and a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Incorporated. 

christipher.fleming@southbronxcommunity.org

Robert Guyla

Associate Director of Personalized Pathways

Robert Gulya is an experienced special education teacher, serving students in the South Bronx for more than 10 years. Prior to joining SBC, he  worked in the South Bronx for six years as a Special Education teacher and has also worked to support new teachers through the New York City Teaching Fellows Program. Rob is currently the Associate Director of Personalized Pathways. In this role he is responsible for ensuring SBC’s effectiveness in the area of services for special populations including special education, ENL, and 12+ students. Rob graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, and received a Masters Degree from Hunter College in Special Education.

 robert.guyla@southbronxcommunity.org

Cathleen Collazo-Doumbia

Associate Director of Social Emotional Learning

Cathleen Collazo-Doumbia is an Associate Director of Social Emotional Learning at South Bronx Community Charter High School. In this role she oversees our Rites of Passage Experience Program, Career Team, C.O.R.E. curriculum, Selective Programming and Counseling Team. Cathleen started at SBC as a founding Learning Coach with a specialization in mandated and referred counseling. She previously worked as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Therapist providing support and case management to children and adolescents. She graduated from City University of New York Baruch College with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Black and Latino Studies. She also holds an MA in Mental Health Counseling and an MS in Educational Leadership. 

cathleen.collazo@southbronxcommunity.org

Alvarez Symonette

Alvarez Symonette currently serves as the Head of Business Development for a private investment firm.  Previously, he served in a similar capacity at the Continental Grain Corporation, a 200-year old family-owned private company, where he focused on building co-investment structures and syndicates for ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices in the US, Europe and Latin America.  Previously, Alvarez worked as Managing Director at Ader Investment Management.  Before that, he was a co-Founder of 360 Global Capital and was responsible for managing the firm’s institutional relationships.  From 1996-2007, Mr. Symonette held various leadership positions in the non-profit and education field including serving as a Managing Director, Teacher Support & Development at Teach for America, Inc., and as the Director of Educational Services at Teaching Matters, Inc.  Prior to those roles, Mr. Symonette taught high school history for 5 years.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the North Star Fund, a 37 year-old non-profit organization, and also serves as a Management Committee member for the New York Hedge Fund Roundtable.  Mr. Symonette received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and his Masters in Education from Harvard University.  He has also completed coursework at the London School of Economics.

Michael Busch

Michael Busch is Associate Director of the Office of Student Success at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, The City College of New York, where he also teaches in the departments of Political Science and International Studies and the Master’s Program in International Relations. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Michael helps oversee student advisement and academic support services for the college’s division of social sciences, manages a portfolio of student fellowship programs, and directs social science undergraduate research at the school. In this capacity, Michael supports outreach to and liaises directly with community based organizations, city, state, and federal government agencies, and elected officials. Previous to his work in higher education, Michael was in the inaugural cohort of the New York City Teaching Fellows program, and taught elementary and middle school in the Bronx and Harlem. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College and a Master’s of Science in Early Childhood Education from Lehman College. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Rema Davis

Rema Davis has been the Head of client relations at Atlantic Investment Management, a $1.6 billion value focused equity hedgefund since 2000. Since 2013, Rema has been a mentor with iMentor, program that matches high school students one on one with a college-educated mentor to guide the student through his/her journey to college graduation. Rema has earned her MBA in Finance from NYU (2007) and her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (1999)

Kunjan Mehta

Kunjan has more than 14 years of public accounting experience. Kunjan has directed and managed the performance of financial statement audits, due diligence, internal control reviews, and internal audits. In addition, he is responsible for internal staff training on various audit methodologies and new regulation. Kunjan has served clients in an array of industries including hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity, broker-dealers and asset management companies.

John Duval (Ex Officio)

John Duval is a private consultant working at the intersection of education and workforce development. Currently, his clients include the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, #DegreesNYC – a community-based collective action project aimed at increasing postsecondary access and success young people – and the New York City Department of Education (DOE). Previously, he spent over 10 years at the DOE where he oversaw a range of education innovation initiatives focused on equity, competency-based education, linked learning eco-systems, effective uses of school time, and whole school design. Prior to that, he worked in research and development, overseeing an annual operating budget of approximately $60M in local, federal, and private funds. He also managed longitudinal research efforts to assess the return on investment for the Multiple Pathways and CTE portfolios and led policy development in the areas of finance and accountability. He came to education after working as a job coach for adults recovering from mental illness in the Bronx and central Brooklyn. John holds a BA from the University of Virginia and a MPA from Columbia University.

Patrice Fenton

Dr. Fenton’s work is focused on the intersection of equity, culturally responsive research and social impact. She is currently the founder and Chief Thought Partner at The Fenton Collective, a firm centered on supporting change management efforts for education and arts based organizations. She previously served as the director of Leader Support and Development at Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC), where she Led EdLoC’s efforts to identify learning and developmental needs for 300+ leaders of color across the nation with the aim of increasing leader effectiveness. She has also served as associate Director for the NYC Men Teach Program at the City University of New York. She began her career as a special education teacher in Brooklyn, where she was born and raised.

Mayling Blanco

Mayling represents corporations and individuals in white collar defense, government investigations, and commercial litigation matters, notably concentrating her practice on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and corporate fraud, as well as matters implicating criminal tax exposure. She has conducted domestic and international, multi-jurisdictional investigations for clients with ventures in Latin America, Asia, and Europe, and has represented her clients before the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal, Civil, and Tax Divisions. She also advises corporations and financial institutions in connection with corporate governance and compliance matters. In litigation, Mayling has experience before various Federal District Courts, U.S. Tax Court, the Superior Court of New Jersey, the New Jersey Appellate Division, and the New Jersey Supreme Court, defending clients in white collar, tax, commercial, employment, and constitutional matters. She is a member of the Seton Hall Alumni Council, the Firm’s Diversity Committee, and active with the Hispanic National Bar Association and the New Jersey Hispanic Bar Association.