Veronica M. White, Executive Director
Veronica M. White leads the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), which was established by Mayor Bloomberg in 2006 to implement innovative ways to reduce poverty in New York City.  The CEO works with City agencies to design and implement evidence-based initiatives aimed at poverty reduction. CEO manages an Innovation Fund through which it provides City agencies annual funding to implement its initiatives, and it oversees an evaluation of each initiative to determine which are successful in demonstrating results towards reducing poverty and increasing self-sufficiency among New Yorkers.  For Ms. White's full biography, please click here.

Allegra Blackburn-Dwyer, Chief of Staff
Allegra Blackburn-Dwyer coordinates the Opportunity NYC: Family Rewards program, as well as the Center's communications, fundraising, and strategic planning efforts.  She is currently working to share CEO's best practices with partners nationwide.  Ms. Blackburn-Dwyer previously managed the Center's asset development and higher education programs, and staffed the Mayor's 2006 Poverty Commission, helping to identify promising new program models.  Ms. Blackburn-Dwyer attended Barnard College and received an MPA from New York University.

Jerome White, Advisor
Jerome White leads the Center’s intergovernmental affairs.  In this capacity, Mr. White coordinates communications between CEO and city, state and federal governments.  He is Center’s lead advocate managing its legislative priorities and national agenda. Additionally, he oversees a portfolio of programs including the Office Financial Empowerment and projects with the Mayor’s Office of Film. Mr. White holds a law degree from Howard University and an undergraduate degree from Columbia University.

Kristin Morse, Director of Programs & Evaluation
Kristin Morse is responsible for the overall development and evaluation of CEO programs.  CEO develops programs in collaboration with City agencies, experts and advocates.  Program monitoring and evaluation is a core part of CEO's mission.  Ms. Morse develops evaluation strategies and manages the work of external evaluation firms.   Ms. Morse has a M.S. in Urban Policy and Public Administration from The New School. 

Carson C. Hicks, Ph.D., Deputy Director of Evaluation
Carson C. Hicks oversees program development, implementation, and evaluation of the CEO youth programs, including education, employment, and at-risk youth initiatives. She also oversees programs for court-involved individuals, such as the NYC Justice Corps, a promising six-month program which is currently undergoing a random assignment evaluation. Dr. Hicks has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University.

David S. Berman, Senior Advisor
As Senior Advisor, David Berman helps to launch new CEO initiatives, and works with an array of City agencies on program design, monitoring and evaluation.  Mr. Berman's work with CEO focuses primarily on innovative workforce development initiatives serving the working poor, as well as literacy programs serving disconnected youth and CEO's public health focused programs. Mr. Berman graduated from Oberlin College and holds master's degrees from Columbia University in both Public Administration and Public Health.

Kate Dempsey, Senior Advisor
Kate Dempsey is responsible for budget oversight and analysis for CEO's $150 million Innovation Fund.  Ms. Dempsey also manages a portfolio of programs that includes Jobs-Plus, Nursing Career Ladder, and OpportunityNYC.  Jobs-Plus, located at Jefferson Houses in East Harlem, is the first replication in the nation of MDRC's innovative employment services program for residents of public housing.  Ms. Dempsey received a bachelor's degree from Boston University and received a master's degree in Governmental Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sinead Keegan, Social Innovation Fund Program Coordinator
Sinead Keegan oversees the overall implementation of the Social Innovation Fund programs.  In partnership with the Mayor’s Fund, CEO received a Social Innovation Fund Award to pilot the Center’s successful anti-poverty initiatives in eight cities nationwide. Ms. Keegan works in collaboration with a network of public policy experts, foundation and city leaders, and with the Corporation for the National and Community Service to soundly implement the pilots.  Ms. Keegan holds a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University and an undergraduate from the University of Notre Dame.

Susanne James, Social Innovation Fund Fiscal Coordinator
Susanne James is responsible for the fiscal oversight and management of the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) Award. In partnership with the Mayor’s Fund, CEO received a Social Innovation Fund Award to pilot the Center’s successful anti-poverty initiatives in eight cities nationwide. Ms. James works in collaboration with MDRC and the Mayor’s Fund to monitor and report the financial aspects of the Award to the Corporation for the National and Community Service, foundations, and investors.  Ms. James holds a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College

Moses Magali, Advisor
Moses Magali assists with the management of the Center's significant young adult portfolio and oversees CEO's data collection and reporting.  He is also leading the development of CEO's performance management database. Mr. Magali received an undergraduate degree in Government and Politics from St. John's University.

Annel Hernandez, NYC Urban Fellow
Annel Hernandez is a NYC Urban Fellow assigned to the Center for Economic Opportunity. During her time with CEO, Ms. Hernandez is working on range projects including launching new initiatives and coordinating the Social Innovation Fund Learning Network. Ms. Hernandez is recent graduate of Fordham University with a degree in Political Science and Latin American & Latino Studies.

Mark Levitan, Ph.D., Director of Poverty Research
Mark Levitan oversees the Center's efforts to develop a new methodology for measuring poverty in the City, along with CEO's work in tracking other indicators of well-being among its target populations.  Dr. Levitan has conducted policy-orientated research in non-profit, academic, government, and trade union organizations, and authored highly influential studies on poverty, joblessness, and the low-wage labor market while at the Community Service Society.

Christine D'Onofrio, Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst
Christine D'Onofrio is a Senior Research Analyst with the Poverty Research Unit of CEO.  She is modeling the effect of taxes and tax credits on the poverty rate.  Ms. D'Onofrio received her Doctorate in Economics from the New School for Social Research.

John Krampner, Research Associate
John Krampner is a Research Associate specializing in poverty measurement, with a particular focus on the role of housing subsidies in affecting family poverty rates. He has a Master's Degree in Policy Analysis from the New School's Milano School for Management and Urban Policy.

Todd Seidel, Research Associate
Todd Seidel is a Research Associate at The City of New York's Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO). He assists in the Center's poverty measurement work including estimating childcare expenditures, medical out of pockets expenditures and commuting costs. Mr. Seidel has a Master of Urban Planning from Hunter College and a BA in Economics from University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Daniel Scheer, Research Associate
Daniel Scheer is Research Associate whose work focuses on imputation and estimation techniques for CEO's alternative poverty measure, and he has worked extensively on estimating food stamp benefits.  He is currently completing his Ph.D. in Economics at the New School for Social Research.