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.

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.

Software Developer

Wesley is the Software Developer at the Advocacy Institute. After many years working in startups, in a corporate setting, and in international education, he now focuses his experience and skills on technology, data, and tools used by our members and clients to help optimize their legislative advocacy.

He has an undergraduate degree in cultural studies and graduate degrees in both information technology and computer science. His professional interests lie at the intersection of software engineering, user experience, data-driven decision making, and the alignment of technology work with measurable business value.

Originally from Georgia, he lives in Manhattan with his husband and two cats, Peaches and Mrs. Meowington.

Wesley’s pronouns are he/him/his.

Contact Wesley at wes@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 Board Member of Korean Americans for Political Advancement. 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.

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.

Director of Training & Curriculum

Adrien is a racial justice policy advocate who believes strongly that those closest to the problems must be leaders in generating solutions. They are committed to supporting directly impacted community members and organizers in their fight to achieve a world where everyone can thrive. Prior to AI, Adrien served as the Director of Housing & Community Development Policy at the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, where they led ANHD’s work around public housing and fair housing. Previously, Adrien worked in the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center, where they helped launch an Equitable Neighborhoods practice; at the Center for Social Inclusion (now Race Forward), where their work focused on transportation equity and the digital divide; and in the American Civil Liberties Union Racial Justice Program, where they focused on segregation and school-to-prison pipeline issues.

Adrien’s work has been published in The Yale Law Journal, The New York Daily News, and City Limits and featured in City & State, Teen Vogue and The New York Times, which called their post-Sandy relief effort in Coney Island “better organized than the City.” Adrien is a 2018 NextCity Vanguard, a community mediator, and a first-generation American born and raised in the NYC area. They live in Flatbush, Brooklyn and are a graduate of Yale Law School and Wesleyan University.

Adrien’s pronouns are they/them.

Contact Adrien at adrien@advocacy-institute.org.