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SUSTAINABLE SOUTH BRONX ADVANCES WITH
NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM |
Miquela Craytor Promoted to Executive Director;
Majora Carter, Founder, Takes Role of Strategic Advisor, Pursues New Opportunities |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Jul. 8 -/E-Wire/--
Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx: http://www.ssbx.org ), the Bronx-based non-profit environmental justice solutions corporation, today appointed a new management team for this ground breaking organization.
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Starting immediately, Miquela Craytor assumes the role of Executive Director with the responsibility of managing the day-to-day operations of the organization and overseeing new initiatives to benefit the South Bronx community.
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Miquela Craytor, Executive Director of SSBx, said ?I am honored to fill this role at SSBx and help lead the organization in its next chapter, and I am looking forward to building and expanding upon our successes. As SSBx?s work progresses, I know our staff will continue to be a force for innovation in the South Bronx, and serve as a model for communities across the globe. I am grateful for the outstanding contribution Majora Carter has made to SSBx, and I look forward to her guidance and counsel as we continue to build on the great foundation she has built for us.?
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Since joining SSBx in November 2006 as Deputy Director, Ms. Craytor has overseen initiatives that have helped improve the organization?s effectiveness and reputation within the community. Previously, Ms. Craytor served in the Bronx Borough President's economic development office, as the Senior Planner for Economic Development. Prior to Ms. Craytor's work in government, she spent over 4 years in corporate legal and financial institutions, all of which has helped prepare her to effectively manage SSBx?s vision, and helped the agency navigate matters ranging from controversial government subsidized mega-projects to SSBx's own proposed Eco-Industrial center for the South Bronx.
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SSBx Founder, Majora Carter, will continue to offer strategic support to SSBx while pursuing a wide array of new opportunities, including her own consulting business to advise municipalities, businesses, communities, foundations and universities on how to unlock their green-collar economic potential. On July 9 she departs for the National Geographic Arctic Expedition for Climate Action with Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter, Van Jones, Madeline Albright, Tom Daschle, George Soros, Dr Larry Brilliant, and others.
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Due to this and other commitments, Majora Carter will be unavailable for further comment until September. In 2009, expect to see, hear, and read about her work across a variety of media - including her special Corporation for Public Broadcasting radio series called, ?The Promised Land.?
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What are others are saying: ?I would like to congratulate my former staffer Miquela on her new position at Sustainable South Bronx and bravo to Majora for choosing an excellent person to lead this fine organization. I look forward to working with Miquela as we build a stronger Bronx.?
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-- Bronx Borough President, Adolfo Carrion, Jr.
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?The Board of SSBx is thrilled that Miquela Craytor will continue the organization?s history of exemplary and passionate leadership. We are also confident that Miquela?s experience with local environmental and economic issues will support SSBx?s current and future efforts to promote a better South Bronx for all.?
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-- Hilary Semel, Board Chairperson, SSBx
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?I couldn?t be more proud of the stellar team that our work has attracted. As new opportunities present themselves, we will now be prepared to take full advantage and move more people out of poverty and into a green economic pathway that we can all benefit from.?
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-- Majora Carter, Founder, SSBx
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?In 2001, Majora's interest in learning, and appreciation of others, lead me to tell our board that 'Majora will be an important player in sustainable community development.' As SSBx's second Executive Director, Miquela Craytor can take a powerful organization that continues to create green-collar jobs, green open spaces, and opportunity for communities to imagine and realize their visions for a better South Bronx to another level. The possibilities for success have just multiplied, and we are proud to be a part of this amazing evolution of thought and practice.?
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-- Kolu Zigbi, Program Officer, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
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?Miquela's promotion means Sustainable South Bronx is still in terrific hands, and now that Majora is expanding her reach and influence, the country is in great hands, too.?
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-- Van Jones, President and Co-Founder, Green For All
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In addition there are two new members of the management team:
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Deputy Director Sergio Sandoval is a long time activist with experience in community organizing and coalition building with various groups in the US and in Australia. Sergio most recently worked as the Director of Administration at Legal Services NYC, and the Urban Justice Center.
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Development Director Laura Johnson began her fund raising career at the Emergency Food Shelf Network, a community food bank in Minneapolis, MN. In New York she continued her development work with the March of Dimes as Director of Major Gifts. Most recently, Laura was the Director of Development and Research for Edwin Gould Academy, a multi-service center and residence for young adults who have aged out of foster care.
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And two new members supporting the team:
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SmartRoofs, LLC Business Manager Renaldo DaSilva has more than six years of business management, corporate sales, and consulting experience and combines that with his passion for empowering individuals to simultaneously improve their lives and the environment in the growing field of green-roofing.
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Greenway & Greenbuilding Coordinator Sheila Somashekhar is joining SSBx after receiving her Master's degree in Urban Planning and Public Health from the University of Michigan where she collaborated on the development of a sustainability resource center in Detroit. The project was completed on behalf of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice and the Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum.
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As SSBx expands its pioneering green-collar job training and placement system, and builds on its legislative successes in City Hall and Albany, our core strengths will be augmented by these new and talented individuals.
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In addition, we are fortifying the SSBx FabLab? digitally based fabrication facility, and guiding the South Bronx Greenway into existence, while we capitalize on our national renown in order to raise the money to support our programs and stellar team, and further develop our position of leadership in the increasingly important field of environmental justice solutions.
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ABOUT SUSTAINABLE SOUTH BRONX
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Founded in 2001 by Majora Carter, a South Bronx native, SSBx has pioneered market-driven partnerships and policy alignments bringing jobs and a cleaner environment to the point-sources of both social inequities and greenhouse gases through the following programs:
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• Sustainable Policy, Research & Evaluation • Community Outreach & Education • Solid Waste & Energy Advocacy • Green Collar Workforce Training • South Bronx Greenway, Urban Forestry and Stewardship • Smart Roofs, LLC • SSBx FabLab?
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