As CEO of ICIC, Steve leads a dynamic and growing team of professionals dedicated to achieving economic prosperity in America’s inner cities. Steve is focused on setting ICIC’s strategic direction, leading the organization through a period of rapid growth and extending ICIC’s national visibility and brand. He directs ICIC’s efforts to ... Read More

Howard Wial is Senior Vice President and Director of Research at ICIC. A specialist in urban and regional economic development, he is responsible for designing and overseeing a research agenda to promote the revitalization of economically depressed communities. Howard has extensive experience as an economist and economic policy advisor. He has ... Read More

Oksana Bondar serves as ICIC’s Chief Financial Officer and is the lead on finance and accounting.  She also oversees ICIC’s human resources administration, IT and office management. Oksana has ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector.  Prior to joining ICIC, she served as director of finance and operations at the ... Read More

André Ledgister is a highly-skilled professional with more than 20 years of experience in marketing communications, storytelling, process management, and creative writing. He uses his broad knowledge and commitment to a better world to highlight the work of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City as their Director of Marketing ... Read More

As senior director of urban business initiatives, Sonia manages ICIC’s partnership with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses and Santander Bank’s Cultivate Small Business programs. Prior to joining ICIC, Sonia worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group) driving business development and knowledge management programs. With a passion for growing the ... Read More

As a Director on the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) team, Diego plays an important role in ICCC’s cohort management, including the development of recruitment strategies, designing internal team goals, analyzing recruitment channels, and cultivating relationships with inner city CEOs across the U.S. Before joining ICIC, Diego worked as a Registered Representative ... Read More

Liz Pugh serves as the director of development, overseeing the implementation of ICIC’s fundraising and alumni relations strategy. She is responsible for maintaining ongoing relationships with ICIC’s current partners, as well as a cultivating new prospects to support our expanding thought and practice leadership. Prior to joining ICIC, Liz worked in nonprofit ... Read More

As Director of Data Strategy and Innovation, Michael Shore is responsible for formulating ICIC’s overall data strategy, and developing ways to use that data to help optimize programs throughout the organization.  He is also responsible for managing ICIC’s Customer Relationship Management system (Salesforce) and helping drive greater integration of processes ... Read More

Anna Marie Cruz serves as the Western Regional Manager on the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) team, cultivating relationships with entrepreneurship ecosystem leaders, liaising with funding partners, and recruiting small business owners for the ICCC program. Prior to joining ICIC, Anna Marie Cruz was a community loan officer for leading mission-based ... Read More

As the Deputy Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, Nicaela manages the team at ICIC and the program nationally to recruit over 7,000 diverse and under-resourced small business owners from around the country every year. Nicaela is also co-chair of ICIC’s Talent and Culture Committee which focuses on diversity, equity, ... Read More

As Deputy Director of Data Strategy & Innovation (DSI), Nadia plays a key role in defining and implementing data and process strategy for the organization, optimizing program recruitment across ICIC’s Urban Business Initiatives, and developing strategic new initiatives and programs. She is also responsible for overseeing the delivery of the ... Read More

As the Deputy Director on the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) team, Marynee oversees the growth and development of the ICCC program, from cultivating and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders to support the expansion to different markets and demographics. In addition, she leads recruitment for ICCC cohorts in Chicago, IL, Hartford, ... Read More

As a fundraiser at ICIC, Alejandro enjoys advocating for the mission of the organization and sharing the success and impact of our programs with others. Since graduating from Trinity College in 2016, Alejandro has held multiple fundraising positions, primarily focused on grant writing, donor management, and reporting. Outside of work, ... Read More

As Senior Advisor, Kelsey Ray works on outreach, recruitment, application and selection processes for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Her focuses include program capacity building, outreach strategy, and reporting. Prior to ICIC, Kelsey worked for Nokia in Belgium and AIESEC, and youth-leadership focused NGO in Rwanda. Kelsey holds a Bachelor of ... Read More

As executive assistant to the CEO and administrative manager, Sarah Levis Desmond is responsible for managing the calendar of the CEO, travel arrangements and correspondence of the executive team. Sarah also assists with managing special projects and events at ICIC. Prior to joining ICIC, Sarah worked in the Office of the ... Read More

My name is Aurialís [ah-oo-ree-ah-lease] Alvarez, and my background is in marketing, business management and relations. Most recently, I worked in marketing at The Dimock Center supporting institutional advancement and fundraising through content creation, communications and advertising. Before that, I held positions and internships in the business management of fashion ... Read More

As an Associate on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses team, Danielle focuses on the implementation of the program’s outreach, recruitment, application, and selection processes. Prior to ICIC, Danielle worked on the PR team at CTP, a Boston-based marketing agency, where she created strategies and identified industry trends to generate media ... Read More

Naomi has a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship and Global Business from Suffolk University. Prior to joining ICCC, Naomi was a manager at the Suffolk University Philanthropy Center and also interned as a Data Analyst at the Suffolk University MBA program.  Naomi has also worked with several non-profits in ... Read More

Prior to joining ICIC as an Associate, Cheryl worked as the Data and Program Manager for The Gus Bus, a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant-based literacy enrichment program in the Harrisonburg, VA area. There she managed the data and required reporting for three grants providing literacy enrichment and family ... Read More

Miles draws on a variety of social scientific and geospatial methods to characterize and examine underserved communities across the United States. Prior to joining ICIC, Miles worked as a GIS consultant for the Saratoga County Public Health Department, where his assignments included redesigning the county-wide COVID-19 data dashboard. He holds ... Read More

As a Senior Associate on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses team, Monica focuses on the implementation of the program’s outreach, recruitment, application, and selection processes. This involves leading strategic advising for outreach tactics, local community partnership building, and scholar section practices. Monica graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania ... Read More

As an analyst on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses team, Kaitlyn focuses on the implementation of the program’s outreach, recruitment, and selection processes. Prior to ICIC, Kaitlyn worked for Ararat Jewelers helping the company re-develop their website, business, and media strategy, and for Mercy Corps as a Business Development Intern. Kaitlyn ... Read More

As an Analyst for the Cultivate Small Business team, Jackson focuses on business operations, program management and analytics. Prior to ICIC Jackson worked for a renewable energy company installing solar panels across the state of Oregon. His education and experience have provided him expertise in project management, corporate social responsibility, and ... Read More

Krystal Daniel is an Analyst on the 10,000 Small Businesses team. She has a background in legislative research, advocacy, marketing, and writing consulting from working in the private and public sector. Krystal has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Bowie State University, and a Master of Professional Studies in ... Read More

As a senior research associate at ICIC, Peter utilizes academic and applied practice in both quantitative and qualitative methods to support and lead a number of research projects. A skilled data and survey analyst Peter has led and supported numerous entrepreneurship evaluation projects, including ICIC’s evaluation of JPMorgan Chase’s Small ... Read More

As a Program Coordinator on the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) Team, Dustin is responsible for cultivating relationships with business owners from across the country.  Dustin Farris joins ICIC after a year of service as an AmeriCorps member at CityYear, working in a 4th grade classroom at the Mather Elementary School ... Read More

As a Program Coordinator on the Inner-City Capital Connections (ICCC) Team, Sam is responsible for building relationships with key members of under-served communities and small business owners across the country. Prior to joining ICIC, Sam worked as a Senate Page for the Senate President of Massachusetts providing constituent services as well ... Read More

Prior to joining ICIC, Jarred was an intern in Baltimore’s City Council. Jarred worked under District 1 Councilman Zeke Cohen as an aid in both the Public Safety Committee and in Constituent Services. There he dealt primarily with issues regarding city conduits, water billing, and surveillance. Jarred has also worked as ... Read More

As Alumni Relations Coordinator, Kwanza Johnson coordinates the planning, development and execution of the alumni relations strategy. She is also responsible for managing the Inner City Alumni Network (ICAN) that provides resources for entrepreneurs. She is also leading the formation of an official alumni association. Prior to her time with ICIC, ... Read More

As a Development Associate at ICIC, Aprell enjoys advocating for the mission of the organization and scoping impactful ways to bridge funding to those in need. Since completing her Master’s in Urban Planning from USC in 2020, Aprell has utilized her sales background to serve in various roles centered on ... Read More

As a Program Coordinator on the Inner-City Capital Connections (ICCC) Team, Dana is responsible for building relationships with key members of under-served communities and small business owners across the country. Prior to joining ICIC, Dana worked as an e-commerce associate providing data analysis, customer support and tech support to various businesses ... Read More

As IC100 Program Coordinator, Carolin Mejia (she/they/ella) manages the recruitment and overall operations of the annual Inner City 100 (IC100) awards. This award recognizes and celebrates the 100 fastest-growing small businesses in under-resourced communities nationwide. Professionally, Carolin brings a background in advocacy, community outreach, and project management from working with ... Read More

Chris brings a diverse skillset and background in academic research, local government policy, and socioeconomic data analysis to ICIC. As a senior research associate, Chris primarily engages on projects relating to economic development and cluster growth and provides support in the form of qualitative and quantitative analysis of inner city ... Read More

As an associate on the Development team, Callan serves ICIC through the maintenance and expansion of the individual giving program. This includes managing the annual donor cycle, leveraging and enhancing our data strategy, and providing support to the Executive team’s fundraising efforts. Callan has also played a key role in the ... Read More

As a Lead Program Coordinator on the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) Team, Indhira is responsible for cultivating relationships with key community stakeholders and partners to connect with small business owners from across the country.Additionally, Indi is responsible for the creation of all ICCC’s graphics on social media and in ... Read More

As a senior analyst on the Research team, Devon is a key contributor to ICIC’s foundational research on inner cities, including work on the definition of an inner city and on inner cities’ economic and social conditions. Working with Census data and GIS mapping tools, Devon applies expertise in statistics ... Read More