The City Year Philadelphia Associate Board is a group of young professionals who advance our mission by building social and professional network engagement and creating a pipeline of donors and champions.
Eli is a servant leader who is tapped into the education network here in Philadelphia. He is a big fan of music, burgers, and green spaces. Eli currently works as Community Schools Coordinator for the City of Philadelphia. He served as a City Year Philadelphia AmeriCorps member during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.
Dino Zagami is a Project Manager for the Responsible Sourcing Group at Aramark. He helps to identify, contract and track diverse and sustainable suppliers to help Aramark achieve the ESG initiatives outlined in their Be Well. Do Well.® sustainability plan. He designed his own undergraduate degree, Environmental Business, at the University of Maryland, College Park, and previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in northwest China. When Dino isn’t taking bachata classes to try and overcome his fear of dancing, he loves to exercise, learn new things, and explore the city he recently started calling home.
Annie Blankemeyer serves as a Program Manager at Junior Achievement of Southeastern Pennsylvania. In this role, Annie partners with educators and volunteers to provide learning experiences in financial literacy, work and career readiness, and entrepreneurship for students. Prior to starting her current role at JA, Annie began her career serving in the 2019-20 City Year Philadelphia corps. She then went on to become an elementary school educator in Camden, NJ, before transitioning back into the nonprofit space.
Annie holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology & Urban Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. She spends her free time exploring the city, cooking, and painting.
Shenelle Brooks is an accomplished SHRM-certified HR professional with over eight years of experience and is currently Associate Director, Advisory, at Seramount. She excels in guiding Employee Resource Groups and aligning them with global initiatives. Shenelle advises companies on focused HR strategies.
She serves on the boards of the Independence Business Alliance (IBA), City Year Philadelphia, and HopePHL, advocating for communities. Shenelle holds a BA in Business Administration/Communications and an MS in Human Resource Management.
A proud native of the Bronx, NY, Shenelle is passionate about supporting under-resourced communities and promoting equal opportunities. Shenelle also offers career coaching, training and consulting services. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, outdoor activities, and volunteering.
Join Shenelle in her mission to create environments where everyone can thrive!
Elizabeth is a manager on Aramark's Growth Enablement team. She got involved with City Year shortly after graduating Lehigh University in 2015 and has served on the Associate Board since 2016. In addition to City Year, Elizabeth also volunteers with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) walking dogs.
Joseph Catuzzi focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, representing corporate and institutional clients in a range of business litigation matters, including commercial disputes, real estate issues, employment matters, insurance coverage issues, and general liability defense. His client representation includes preparing pleadings and legal memorandum, managing cases, and attending depositions, conferences, hearings, and mediations.
Joe has extensive experience appearing before local governmental agencies to obtain zoning relief, land development approvals, and address historic designation issues. Joe’s clients have included real estate developers, public and private corporations, religious organizations, nonprofits, individuals, and local governments. Joe is well versed in Pennsylvania’s land development process and leverages his diverse experience to efficiently resolve regulatory issues for clients in a cost-effective manner.
Joe also regularly counsels businesses of all sizes on a wide array of employment issues, including hiring, restrictive covenants, human resource policies, disciplinary and termination matters, and social media issues. He also represents clients in employment-related litigation in federal and state courts as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Elise Corbett serves as a Senior Communications Consultant for Wells Fargo covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New Hampshire and Maine. In this role, she manages media relations and advises on strategic internal communications, working cross-functionally with the Bank’s lines of business to leverage trending events and timely pop culture moments into earned media coverage.
Prior to Wells Fargo, Elise worked in various roles, most recently as director, at Ceisler Media and Issue Advocacy, a full-service public relations and issue advocacy firm.
Elise graduated Maxima Cum Laude from La Salle University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in Leadership and Global Understanding. While in college, Elise devoted much of her time to La Salle University’s LaSallian Immersion and Volunteer Experience (LIVE) program – participating in immersion trips with Habitat for Humanity, as well as a Christian Brothers school in Nyeri, Kenya.
Agar Exantus currently serves as a Systems Engineer for the Comcast Experiential Group, where she focuses on digital signage solutions for corporate environments—developing and maintaining technology that enhances internal communications and engagement. Agar brings a background in community support, having previously worked as a respite provider for children with mental disabilities, and remains deeply committed to advocating for youth and families in under-resourced communities.
As a proud Haitian-American, Agar’s cultural identity fuels her belief in education as a life-changing tool—one that provides access, uplifts voices and creates lasting transformation. Her passion for volunteering and grassroots engagement drives her work on the Associate Board, where she aims to help expand City Year Philadelphia's reach and deepen its impact across the region.
Born and raised in a low-income neighborhood in Philadelphia, from a young age Phillip experienced the discrepancies among different parts of the city, which sparked his passion to improve the urban fabric of Philadelphia and the quality of life for those who live here. This passion led him to the world of architecture and the built environment, and is now an Architectural Design Technician at NK Architects. Phillip earned his Bachelor of Architecture and minored in Landscape Architecture at Philadelphia University.
Phillip is an artist, a builder, a mentor, an athlete, a lover of “all you can eat” sushi, an awesome uncle and a terrible karaoke singer. In his free time, he fills it up with the people he loves.
Zachary is an Internal Sales Consultant within Macquarie Group's Asset Management division. Having served with City Year Philadelphia in 2021-22, Zachary is determined to continue the work he started as an AmeriCorps member. Zachary is passionate about student success and opportunity, citing how his firsthand experiences helped him better understand how incredible students can be and how much they can achieve with the right resources and support. Zachary received a bachelor's degree in finance from Bloomsburg University.
Victoria is a manager in PwC's Customer Transformation consulting practice and specializes in Sales and Pricing. She currently serves as the corporate liaison for the PwC + City Year Philadelphia relationship, which led to her joining the Associate Board as a new member this year. Victoria has a BSBA in Marketing and an MBA in Corporate Finance from Monmouth University.
In her free time, she enjoys keeping herself busy by picking up new hobbies, exercising, cooking or baking, and spending time with loved ones.
Jordan Reaves is a Philadelphia native and serves as an Associate Controller for Mosaic Development Partners. As a controller, Jordan manages Mosaic's financial reports, oversees the accounting operations, and helps guide the company's strategic financial decisions. Jordan was originally connected to City Year through his role as a Team Leader in AmeriCorps where his service focused on STEM curriculum development for under-resourced middle schools in Kansas City.
After serving two terms of service through AmeriCorps, Jordan pursued a Master in Business Administration concentrating in Finance & Strategy at Tulane University. At Tulane, Jordan served as the President of the Black Business Student Association and, facing unprecedented times, graduated eager to make a difference in a corporate setting. After an internship with a small retail startup, Jordan came to Mosaic looking to blend his passion for finance and development, and to continue examining the economic impact of real-estate projects on its immediate community.
Jordan is excited about curriculum development and bringing STEM programming to student communities. He hopes to continue delivering on City Year's mission of "student support through educational opportunity." In his free time, Jordan plays flag football, does DIY projects, and travels, with recent trips to Portugal and Morocco.
Sara leads talent and development at LLR Partners, a Philadelphia lower-middle market private equity firm. In her role at LLR, Sara oversees campus & experienced recruiting, LLR's internship program and various training & development initiatives. Prior to LLR, Sara was a campus recruiter for JPMorgan's investment banking internship program and started her career in JPMorgan's HR analyst development program.
Sara received her Master's degree in Higher Education from Temple University which sparked her interest in the education field. From working with high school and college students in her current role, Sara's passion lies in helping students navigate their education journey to obtain their dream careers. Sara also received her bachelor's degree in business from Ohio State specializing in human resources. Outside of work, Sara enjoys hot yoga, exploring the Philly restaurant scene, reading and playing with her dog Beau.
Scott is a personal injury attorney at Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, P.C. He graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Maryland in 2014 and with a J.D. from the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law in 2019. He enjoys spending time with his family, watching sports, and cooking. Scott is excited to work with his fellow Associate Board members.
Young Friends of City Year Philadelphia
The Young Friends of City Year Philadelphia is a group of young professionals who are passionate about the success of students across the city. Members ages 18-40 have the opportunity to directly support the Coaches serving students, engage with City Year and our school communities, and meet peers who are similarly aligned and motivated to make a difference.
