Executive Director

Marissa Martin is the Executive Director of the Advocacy Institute. Prior to joining the Advocacy Institute, she served as the Northeast Director of Young Invincibles, leading policy and advocacy efforts around higher education, workforce development and healthcare for young adults.

Marissa has always had a passion for social justice and making larger systemic change to increase access and equity, holding several leadership positions overseeing Policy, Operations and Data teams. These positions include serving as the Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives at the NYC Public Engagement Unit; the Director of Policy and Government Relations at ExpandED Schools (formerly TASC), as well as the Director of Government Affairs for the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families where she led CACF’s New York State and City budget advocacy campaigns.

Marissa is a Licensed Social Worker (LMSW) and holds a Masters in Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, with concentrations in Community Organizing, Planning and Development.

Marissa’s pronouns are she/her/hers.

Contact Marissa at marissa@advocacy-institute.org.

Training Director

Osman Ahmed is a policy analyst and advocate interested in creating systemic change via grassroots organizing and evidence-based policy analysis. He most recently worked as the Director of the New York City Council’s Progressive Caucus, working with Councilmembers to advance progressive policies and budgets. Previously, as a Senior Policy Analyst at FPWA his campaign work focused on workforce development and worker rights. He has coordinated local, state, and national policy advocacy coalitions and campaigns aimed creating safety and prosperity for LGBTQ communities, undocumented immigrants, people of color, and other marginalized communities. Osman immigrated to the United States from Karachi, Pakistan in 1999 and now, as a resident of New York, organizes with local communities to create better conditions for public housing residents, eliminate police brutality, and for the rights of immigrant communities. He serves on the board of directors for CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities. Osman obtained a master’s degree in urban policy analysis from The New School and attend UCLA as an undergraduate.

Contact Osman at osman@advocacy-institute.org.

Development and Communications Coordinator

Chi is the Development and Communications Coordinator at the Advocacy Institute. Before joining the Advocacy Institute, she was a grant writer and counselor at Neighborhood Trust, an organization that provides free financial counseling to low- and moderate-income New Yorkers.

Previously, she was an English teacher in Quito, Ecuador and Mexico City and served as a Princeton in Latin America fellow with Redes de Tutoría, a Mexican civil society organization that promotes collaborative learning strategies in public schools in rural Mexico.

Outside of her work life, she has been heavily involved in a volunteer capacity in citywide and statewide campaigns to win single-payer healthcare. She has also volunteered for various grassroots electoral campaigns and helped to organize a major legal victory for her former tenants association.

Originally from New Jersey, she is a proud first-generation Nigerian American. She currently lives in Brooklyn and enjoys photography and dance in her spare time.

Chi’s pronouns are she/her/hers.

Contact Chi at chi@advocacy-institute.org.

Systems Engineer

Jasmin Hernandez is the Systems Engineer at the Advocacy Institute. Before joining the Advocacy Institute she was freelancing as a web developer. Jasmin graduated Lehman College with a B.S. in Computer Science. Jasmin has always had a goal of supporting social justice with her technical skills. Jasmin loves animals, and in her free time she likes to do her own nails, play video games, and watch true crime.

Contact Jasmin at jasmin@advocacy-institute.org.

Engagement Manager

David Ng is the Engagement Manager at the Advocacy Institute. Before joining the Advocacy Institute, he worked as the External and Government Relations Manager at the Human Services Council. Prior to that, he was appointed as a Chief of Staff in the New York State Assembly and as an External Relations Specialist in the New York State Senate working on various legislative priorities, state budgets, and issue campaigns. David also served as a Fellow to the First Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Administration for Children Services, working on procurement and workforce issues.

Prior to working in government, he worked as a community organizer focusing on housing, immigration, and community development. He currently serves as a Member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Racial Equity in his hometown. David holds a M.P.A from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and graduated from Binghamton University with a B.A. in Political Science & Economics.

David’s pronouns are he/him/his.

Contact David at david@advocacy-institute.org.

Deputy Director

cori schmanke parrish is the deputy director at the Advocacy Institute. Before joining the Advocacy Institute, cori was a deputy director of North Star Fund, overseeing the grantmaking, programmatic, financial and operations work of a social justice community foundation. Prior to joining philanthropy, cori held a number of roles in grassroots organizations, as an organizer, a fundraiser, and a bookkeeper. cori believes strongly in strengthening grassroots organizations that are building power in low-income communities of color and dismantling structural racism. cori serves as the board treasurer of Transgender Law Center and of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), and is passionate about spreading protest songs throughout the movement, karaoke, and cats.

Contact cori at cori@advocacy-institute.org.

Team Administrator

Blanca A. Villanueva is a Long Island native, growing up in Brentwood, NY. She is a graduate of New York University in Manhattan. While on a pre-med track she became a part of student led organizations, such as C-Roots and LUCHA, which strive to educate and unify the NYU community on social and cultural issues. Blanca graduated with a degree in Psychology and American Sign Language. After traveling in Europe using her multilingual skills, she returned to pursue her Master’s in Public Health at Brooklyn College.

She credits her masters studies in truly enlightening her on the important roles policy, environment, and education play in creating disparities and inequities in a community. She believes a good education is the key to a better future and change.

Prior to joining the Advocacy Institute team, she worked with the Alliance for Quality Education on statewide education policy change. Recognizing that education justice is racial justice, Blanca combines advocacy, policy, and grassroots organizing to address the decades of systemic racism in the education system.

She merges her hunger for education justice with her desire to grapple issues of race, class, gender, ability, sex, class, and any other classification that oppress human kind because “there is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”- Audre Lorde

Blanca’s pronouns are she/her/hers/ella.

Contact Blanca at blanca@advocacy-institute.org.