Staff

Najma Ali Chermin, Interim Executive Director and General Counsel

Najma Ali Chermin, Counsel and Director of Programs and Policy

Najma serves as General Counsel at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, where she provides oversight for contractual relationships between the Mayor's Fund, institutional donors, City agencies and local community-based organizations for the effective and efficient delivery of public program services to New Yorkers and ensures Mayor’s Fund compliance with all laws and regulations. Najma has extensive experience in New York City government, serving as counsel for the Human Resources Administration, Department of Homeless Services and the Mayor's Office of Operations. She has a legal background in litigation, data privacy and regulatory compliance. Najma is a graduate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and Fordham University School of Law.

Shannon Allen, Director of Programs

Shannon Allen serves as the Director of Programs at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. She is a thought leader for policy and program design, working to align the Mayor’s Fund mission with key strategic investments of City Hall. Prior to joining the Mayor's Fund, Shannon was the Director of Compliance at the Boys & Girls Club. In this role, she ensured contractual compliance and facilitated program quality measures in all agency services. She was also a national trainer and external assessor, endorsed by The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality to conduct research quality data on after school programs. Shannon has over 15 years of experience in after school programs throughout New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a graduate of San Francisco State University and holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership, Executive Education from Fordham University. Shannon resides in Manhattan.

Jenelle Bazil-Charles, Programs and Policy Associate

Jenelle serves as the Programs and Policy Associate at the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Jenelle supports the Programs team in managing partnerships with city agencies, institutional donors, and local community-based organizations to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of public program services to New Yorkers. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Fund, Jenelle was a program manager with Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, where she supported the Bigs in Blue program, which was created to bridge the gap between NYC youth and New York City Police Officers. She also interned with the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence as a purchasing intern supporting the Budgets and Grants Department. Jenelle earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management at Virginia State University and a Master of Public Administration from Pace University. Jenelle resides in Brooklyn.

Sharon Cooper, Finance Associate

Sharon Cooper serves as the Finance Associate at the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and oversees all aspects related to Finance as well as any additional services. Sharon was previously at the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless also known as (ACE), and Battered Women’s Resource Center (VOW), a Non-Profit organization as Bookkeeper from 2015-2022. Sharon has a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the Keller Graduate School of Management, and a Bachelor’ degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from DeVry College of New York. She has worked for various organizations including Columbia University, JASA-Community Guardian Program, and at the Office of Payroll Administration for the City of New York. Sharon also holds a Project Management Professional certificate from the Technical Institute of America and a New York Empire State certificate in Drug and Alcohol Awareness.

Hannah Forgeron, Corporate Partnerships Manager

Hannah Forgeron serves as the Corporate Partnerships Manager at the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. In this role she supports the Development team in all fundraising, data maintenance, donor management and logistical needs with an emphasis on corporate relationship management and strategy. Previously, Hannah served as the Development Associate at the Fund for 2 years. Prior to joining the Fund, Hannah served as the Finance Assistant for the East Coast and Midwest on a record-breaking U.S. Senate race in Arizona. After successfully helping Mark Kelly get elected to the Senate and flipping Arizona blue, Hannah brought her passion for fundraising to New York City. Hannah is a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder and currently resides in Manhattan.

Loraya Harrington-Trujillo, Chief Administrative Officer

Loraya Harrington-Trujillo serves as the Chief Administrative Officer at the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Previously, Loraya supported nearly a dozen nonprofits and social impact organizations as a fractional Chief of Staff, advising executives and overseeing operations, fundraising, and strategic programming focused on advancing women, and girls, and diversifying the technology industry. As an early employee at Girls Who Code, her strategic and operational leadership helped expand their programming across all 50 states, and supported college-aged women across 200 college campuses. Previously Loraya served on the Advisory Boards of Missouri State University and Lubin School of Business to support faculty with the design and delivery of executive MBA certificate programs.

Cesaryna Pena, Programs and Policy Manager

Cesaryna Pena is the Programs and Policy Manager at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. In her role, Cesaryna manages a portfolio of City Agencies and facilitates partnerships between the Mayor’s Fund, institutional donors, City agencies, and local community-based organizations to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of public program services that align the Mayor’s Fund mission with the key strategic investments of City Hall and serves as Deputy Agency Chief Contracting Officer. Prior to joining the Mayor's Fund, Cesaryna was an Administrative Assistant at a small middle-market investment banking firm while completing a full-time course load at Medgar Evers College. She has also interned with the Mayor's Office of Fiscal Operations as well as the Public Relations department at Bloomberg LP. Cesaryna graduated with a Bachelor's in Public Administration in May 2015.

Roohi Singh, Programs and Policy Manager

Roohi Singh is a Programs and Policy Manager at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. In this role, Roohi supports the delivery of public programs and services to all New York City residents by managing a portfolio of City Agencies and liaising between the Fund, institutional donors, and local community-based organizations.

Roohi is a passionate advocate for social justice and economic equity with a background in fundraising, organizational communication, and program development. She specializes in distilling complex issues, developing creative narratives, and finding effective policy solutions rooted in a community-first approach. Prior to joining the Mayor's Fund, Roohi was a Consultant at Root to Bloom, a boutique women-owned consulting firm working with mission-driven social enterprises to strategically scale their social impact work. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Loyola University Chicago and a Master's degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Columbia University. Roohi currently resides in Manhattan.