Staff

FatimaFatima Rahman Aguilera, Paralegal
 
Fatima helps staff the NYC Financial Justice Hotline and assists with community Know Your Rights material and presentations. Before joining New Economy Project, Fatima was an Immigrant Justice Community Fellow at the Center for Safety and Change, where she served as a bilingual immigration paralegal. Fatima graduated in 2021 with a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and a bachelor’s in International Studies.
 
TousifTousif Ahsan, Public Banking Campaign Organizer
 
Tousif coordinates the Public Bank NYC coalition as a key part of our work to advance public banking in New York, working with community groups from around the city and state to fight for racial and economic justice. Before joining New Economy Project’s staff, Tousif coordinated various campaigns at NYPIRG, ranging from environmental protection to expanding voting rights. He started out at NYPIRG training as a student organizer, then coordinated student chapters and student-led campaigns at CUNY campuses all over the city. Having grown up in Queens as an immigrant, Tousif has seen first-hand how the inequities faced by working class communities. He is invested in building power through movements so that communities like his can reclaim their future. In his free time, Tousif volunteers with his local tenant’s union, bikes to places for good food, and engages in mainstream nerd activities.
 
EmilEmil Alummootil, Office Manager
 
Emil is responsible for general office management, and provides logistical support to our campaigns, legal, and operations teams. He also conducts know-your-rights outreach to community groups throughout the city. Before joining New Economy Project’s staff in 2022, Emil worked on GrowNYC’s Farmer Assistance team, working to diversify regional agriculture by coordinating a 10-week farm business development program and assisting beginning farmers in starting their businesses. Emil graduated in 2020 from Fordham University with a B.A. in Political Science and Urban Studies.
 
GraceGrace Chung, Development Director
 
Grace (she/her) works closely with the leadership team to oversee all aspects of New Economy Project’s development activities. She brings over a decade of experience working at the intersection of nonprofit fundraising and communications to advance racial and economic justice. Prior to joining New Economy Project in 2022, Grace was Senior Community Development Officer at LISC NYC where she managed programs and led development, securing record funding to launch new affordable housing and economic development initiatives. In 2021, Grace was appointed to lead the strategic plan for Project 10X—LISC’s largest-ever commitment to invest in racial justice initiatives nationwide. A proud Queens resident, Grace is a steering committee member of the Western Queens CLT and member of Queens Neighborhood United. She is also on the board of F.Y. Eye. She was a 2010-2011 U.S. State Department Fulbright Fellow and 2019 PLACES Fellow with the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. She has a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in economic development from the University of Pennsylvania and bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University, where she was a Regent’s Scholar.
 
Deyanira Del RioDeyanira Del Río, Executive Director
 
Deyanira (she/her) has worked for 26 years to promote cooperative and community-controlled finance, immigrants’ economic rights, and equitable neighborhood development. At New Economy Project, Deyanira has worked closely with groups throughout New York City and State on community land trust, public banking, and financial justice campaigns; co-designed and launched the organization’s community loan funds; and authored numerous reports and articles on cooperative development and fair lending matters. Deyanira previously worked at Inclusiv (formerly the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions), and she served as board chair of the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union and Inclusiv. She is the recipient of the Frances Perkins Working People’s Award from Fiscal Policy Institute, the Mujeres Destacadas (Outstanding Women) award from El Diario/La Prensa, and the Revson Fellowship on the Future of the City of New York, and she served on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s inaugural Community Advisory Group. 
 
LizLiz Fusco, Staff Attorney
 
Liz (she/her) provides direct legal assistance to New Yorkers through our NYC Financial Justice Hotline, and works on our impact litigation and coalition campaigns. She also coordinates strategic communications for our legal advocacy, helping produce New Yorkers Speak Out testimonials and know-your-rights material. She returns to New Economy Project having worked at the organization from 2011 through 2015, first as a legal intern and program associate, then as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. Most recently, she worked at the New York City Commission on Human Rights as a Staff Attorney and Supervising Attorney, addressing discrimination against New Yorkers in housing, employment, public places, and by law enforcement. She is a graduate of CUNY School of Law.
 
EliseElise Goldin, CLT Campaign Organizer
 
Elise joined New Economy Project staff in June 2021 and supports the organization’s community land trust (CLT) organizing and policy work, including coordination of the NYC Community Land Initiative. Elise has a decade of experience organizing with groups including tenants, street vendors, and public school parents. In 2020, Elise graduated from CUNY’s School of Professional Studies with a Master’s degree in Applied Theatre. She focused her research on bringing theater tools to organizing spaces to strengthen leadership development and political education skills and bolster creativity. Originally from Evanston, IL, Elise is a proud Midwesterner and loves improv, hiking, and eating her way across NYC neighborhoods.
 
BenBen Hagen, Senior Research and Communications Associate
 
Ben coordinates New Economy Project’s community mapping and research, graphic design, video production and website management. Ben graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2010 and  earned a master’s degree in Urban Planning from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, concentrating on Housing and Economic Development policy. He has presented research at the national conference of the American Planning Association and contributed to Orlando Weekly and Untapped NY. His photography appears in Common Practice: Basketball & Contemporary Art and in the Library of Congress’ COVID-19 American Experiences Collection.
 
AndyAndy Morrison, Associate Director
 
Andy coordinates New Economy Project’s coalition organizing and helps plan and execute our strategic campaigns, in collaboration with community, civil rights, and labor groups, cooperatives, and others. He also co-leads communications efforts and supports direct-donor and other development campaigns. Andy previously worked at New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), where he ran the organization’s statewide canvassing operation, developed policy and organizing strategies, and trained students to be effective activists. His 2014 report exposing discrimination in New York’s auto insurance market initiated an investigation by the state’s insurance regulator, which led to a statewide ban on the use of education level or occupation status in setting auto insurance premiums. He is a graduate of CUNY School of Law and Columbia University.
 
ElenaElena Rodriguez, Staff Attorney
 
Elena Rodriguez (she/her) provides direct legal services to New Yorkers through our NYC Financial Justice Hotline, assists in our impact litigation to advance racial and economic justice, and supports our community land trust campaign. Elena previously worked as a staff attorney at Housing Works, Inc., where she provided direct client legal services focused on eviction defense and supported Housing Works’ impact litigation to combat source-of-income discrimination. Elena received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a development editor for the Columbia Law Review, participated in the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, served as a research assistant for Professor Kimberlé Williams-Crenshaw, and served as the president of Empowering Women of Color. Before law school, Elena worked with runaway and homeless youth in her hometown of Iowa City. She received a BA in Human Biology with a concentration on urban public health and an MA in Sociology with a focus on the sociology of inequality from Stanford University.
 
 
AbbyAbby Savitch-Lew, Storytelling & Communications Coordinator 
 
Abby (she/her) helps New Economy Project spread the word about its campaigns, using traditional communication methods and creative storytelling. She’s eager to work with the organization to grow public support for solutions that promote economic democracy, racial justice and neighborhood equity. A former reporter who covered housing, zoning, and social movements (for City Limits and other publications), Abby is also passionate about creative writing and narrative strategy. She has an MFA in fiction from Rutgers-Newark, and has been working for almost a decade on Livonia Chow Mein, a novel set in Brownsville. A third generation Brooklynite, Abby likes sitting on stoops, eating mooncakes, and advocating for mental health awareness.
 
Susan Shin, Legal Director
 
Susan (she/her) directs New Economy Project’s legal strategies, including our direct legal services to low-income New Yorkers and community groups, and impact litigation that challenges Wall Street corporations and advances economic justice in NYC communities of color. She was named as one of City & State New York’s 2024 Trailblazers in Law; is a recipient of the Legal Services Award from the New York City Bar Association, the Rising Star Award from the Partners Council of the National Consumer Law Center, the Consumer Advocate Award from the National Association of Consumer Advocates, and an award from the Civil Legal Advice and Referral Office (CLARO) for outstanding service and dedication to helping New Yorkers in need of legal assistance; and was a finalist for Public Justice’s Trial Lawyer of the Year award. Susan was previously a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney with The Legal Aid Society in New York City. She is a 2006 graduate of New York University School of Law, where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow.
 
WillWill Spisak, Senior Program Associate
 
Will Spisak joined New Economy Project’s staff in February 2021. Will is a lifelong New Yorker from Queens committed to fighting for economic justice and an equitable city. For over a decade, Will has worked as an organizer and advocate with immigrant and working class communities. Before joining New Economy Project, he served for five years as a Program Director at Chhaya Community Development Corporation, where he expanded tenant organizing and foreclosure prevention services, organized small businesses to fight commercial displacement, started a community land trust initiative, and led the citywide campaign to legalize safe basement apartments. At New Economy Project, Will supports key campaigns, including the community land trust and public bank campaigns. In addition, Will is an adjunct instructor in the Urban Studies department at Queens College. He holds a master’s degree in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University and a bachelor’s degree from Queens College.
 
RaquelRaquel Villagra, Staff Attorney
 
Raquel Villagra works on New Economy Project’s impact litigation and provides legal assistance through our NYC Financial Justice Hotline. Raquel previously worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as a litigation associate. Raquel received a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. in Art History from Columbia University. In law school, Raquel was a Helaine Barnett Fellow with Legal Services Corporation, was active in the Racial Justice Clinic and Juvenile Defender Clinic, and was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Law & Social Change.
 
Matt Wildey, Finance & Operations Manager matt@neweconomynyc.org
 
Matt manages New Economy Project’s HR and finance systems and supervises daily office operations. He also supports organizational fundraising efforts and administration of grants and contracts. Before joining the team in 2017, Matt organized with community and food justice groups in his home state of Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with a B.A. in Community, Environment, and Planning and a B.A. in Geography. Matt was a 2021 New York Community Trust Leadership Fellow and is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration and Management at NYU. You can find him exploring NYC parks and neighborhoods on his bike, baking fresh sourdough bread, or working with neighbors at his local community garden.