Management Executive Committee

Jim Balfanz, a recognized leader and innovator in the field of education, is Chief Executive Officer and proud alum of City Year, a youth-powered organization with a dual mission: expanding educational opportunity for all students and developing the next generation of leaders through national service. City Year’s AmeriCorps members serve as student success coaches in 29 U.S. cities along with affiliates in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Shanuah brings to the general counsel role years of experience in a broad range of disciplines, including finance, governance, strategic planning and process re-engineering. Previously, she served as deputy general counsel for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency and was charged with overseeing legal services in support of all aspects of the agency’s affordable housing mission, including closing complex affordable loan transactions, implementing compliance and risk management policies and procedures, and managing defensive litigation.

Jared Billings serves as a market president at City Year. In this role, he oversees City Year sites in 10 cities: Baton Rouge, Buffalo, Columbia, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Manchester, New Orleans, Orlando, Providence and Sacramento.

Jared most recently served as the executive director of City Year Orlando. In this role, Jared maintained strategic relationships with Orange County Public Schools, City Year Orlando’s board, corporate and philanthropic partners and the wider community.  

George is the Chief Financial Officer for City Year. He is a hands-on executive with a record of delivering results in entrepreneurial, high-growth nonprofit organizations. As a consultant, George has focused on defining strategy, creating buy-in, and leading execution and implementation from the frontlines to the executive team.

AnnMaura Connolly is the Chief External Engagement, Policy and International Officer and EVP of City Year Inc., a national youth service corps dedicated to helping urban schools and students succeed, and the President of Voices for National Service, a coalition committed to expanding opportunities for Americans of all ages to serve and volunteer. Since serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps after graduating from Holy Cross, AnnMaura has been a leading voice for the idea that a year of service should be a common expectation and common experience of every young person, and has built a career around growing citizen service as a strategy for solving critical issues and developing the next generation of leaders in the U.S. and abroad.

Kanna first joined the City Year family as a Boston corps member in 1995, and then continued on staff in the communications department and as the Director of CYZYGY, City Year’s National Convention, in 1997. Kanna then joined the Boston Redevelopment Authority, as Special Assistant to the Director, working on the planning and economic development agenda for the city in the late 90s. After public service, Kanna moved to the Midwest to attend business school, and subsequently entered the private sector at Goldman Sachs in Chicago as an equity derivatives salesman in 2001. Kanna moved with Goldman to London in 2004, helped build their international and emerging market equity derivatives franchises, and then moved to Barclays in 2011 to build those same businesses again.

Mithra joined City Year in 1993 as part of the start-up team for City Year Providence, Rhode Island, the organization's first expansion location. After serving with City Year for four years, she attended New York University’s Stern School of Business, where she majored in finance and founded the school’s first service organization.

Mary Jane Stevenson is a seasoned organizational executive with a background in large-scale nonprofit, advocacy, and election work. Her passion and experience lie in developing, guiding, and inspiring executive leaders to thrive in high-stakes environments that create social change. Mary Jane serves as a Market President at City Year. In this role she oversees City Year sites in 9 cities: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington D.C..

Stephen began his service in 1990 as a corps member and soon emerged a leader. In 1991, he became the very first alum to serve as Program Manager where he was responsible for the service and leadership development of 10 young people.

Stephen was also the first alumni executive director of City Year Boston. In addition to a number of leadership positions within the City Year organization, Stephen has helped found several City Year sites including Providence, San Jose and Philadelphia and supported the launch of City Year’s 15th site, City Year South Africa in Johannesburg.

Dr. Tupponce serves as a key leader in the implementation of systems, processes and organizational design, and works to align impact, fundraising, and district engagement operations with City Year’s vision and goals for the future. Dr. Tupponce comes to City Year from the School District of Philadelphia, where he most recently served as assistant superintendent, managing and leading a portfolio of 20-40 educational sites and 300-500 employees, overseeing $90 to $150 million in funding, promoting transformational outcomes, and increasing student achievement.

Stephanie Wu leads the design, execution, and evaluation of City Year’s Whole School, Whole Child® services, which are delivered by 2,000+ City Year AmeriCorps members in more hundreds of under-resourced schools in 29 cities nationwide. She oversaw the program research and development initiative that fueled the organization's strategic shift toward addressing the nation's urban education challenge.