Staff

Kate Smith, Executive Director

Kate Smith serves as the Executive Director, collaborating with the Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and the Office of the Mayor to advance the Mayor's Fund's mission and objectives. In her role, Kate provides strategic oversight to mobilize philanthropic and institutional resources for transformational impact across New York City. Kate's experience includes individual giving and foundation partnerships at the American Red Cross, both in Los Angeles and New York City, and institutional advancement at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. In the past, Kate also served as an educator and fundraiser at Guggenheim Museum and, most recently, as Executive Director of Runway of Dreams. Kate is a graduate of Trinity College and has a MA in Education from University of Michigan. She is a proud native of Brooklyn where she still lives. Read more about Kate Smith's appointment here.

Theresa E. Hassler, General Counsel

Theresa E. Hassler serves as General Counsel at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. In this role she is responsible for providing oversight for contractual relationships between the Mayor’s Fund, institutional donors, City agencies, community-based organizations and other partners. Theresa E. Hassler has over twenty years of combined experience working at the intersection of government, policy, and community engagement. She has served in senior roles on political campaigns and for government and nonprofit entities, including Hunger Free America (formerly the NYC Coalition Against Hunger), the NYC Office of Administrative Trials & Hearings (OATH), SCO Family of Services, and most recently as the District Director and Chief Counsel to a New York State Senator. She is a graduate of Drake Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. Theresa currently resides in Harlem and is a native of St. Louis, Missouri.

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.

Brittany Cassell, Senior Manager of Development

Brittany A. Cassell serves as the Senior Manager of Development at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. Previously, Brittany was a consulting Director at CCS Fundraising, providing support to nonprofits. Brittany worked as the Development and Membership Manager at the American Folk Art Museum, the leading organization dedicated to folk art and self-taught artists. In this role, she was responsible for managing individual giving campaigns and the membership platform, which included redesigning and streamlining the membership experience. Prior to the American Folk Art Museum, Brittany worked at CITYarts, Inc., focusing on organizational management and managing fundraising initiatives. Brittany earned a BA in Painting/Drawing from the University of Iowa and a MFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts

Kate Montemagno, Development Manager

Kate Montemagno serves as the Development Manager at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. Previously, Kate was the Annual Fund Manager at the Lycée Français de New York, where she managed fundraising efforts to support bilingual education initiatives. She also worked with various NGOs at the United Nations, including Control Arms, Reaching Critical Will and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and contributed to disarmament related research and policy. She is a graduate of Pace University with a BA in Political Science. She is a native of Boston and resides in Manhattan.

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.

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.

Deniz Gonen, Programs Associate

Deniz Gonen serves as a Programs Associate at the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. In this role, she manages a portfolio of City agency programs and facilitates partnerships between agencies and institutional donors to align strategic priorities and ensure programmatic effectiveness, efficiency, and compliance. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Fund, Deniz was at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, where she supported communications and event organization to celebrate immigrant heritage and increase awareness and delivery of city services. She also has previous experience in public programming and research focused on urban livability and community development. Deniz has a B.A. from Haverford College in Growth and Structure of Cities. She is a native of and resides in, Manhattan.

Felipe Batista, Programs Associate

Felipe Batista is a Programs and Policy associate at the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. In his role, Felipe manages a portfolio of City agency programs to align strategic priorities and ensure programmatic effectiveness, efficiency, and compliance. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Fund, Felipe was a Community Health Educator and Business Development Associate across several New York City community-based organizations. Felipe also interned with the Congressman Adriano Espaillat and worked alongside City Council member Pierina Sanchez. Felipe is pursuing his master's from Baruch College.