Staff
"The kind of beauty I want most is the hard to get kind: strength, courage, dignity." — Ruby Dee
FUREE staff can be reached by calling (718) 852-2960 and dialing the extension listed below.
Teresita Ayala
Teresita grew up in Chicago's historic Puerto Rican community of Humboldt Park aka Paseo Boricua. At a young age, Teresita understood her role as a cultural activist and the importance of using education as a tool of resistance. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and majored in Spanish and Cultural Anthropology. In 2006, Teresita moved from Humboldt Park to Hunts Point in the South Bronx. She is also an emcee and songstress of the hip-hop trio Rebel Diaz, an internationally respected group that successfully integrates bilingual political lyrics over hard-hitting beats with crunk, Caribbean, and world music influences. Her experiences in hip hop drove her to create Momma's Hip Hop Kitchen, an annual concert of and for women of color to create a space for those who are passionate about being part of the Hip Hop culture. She attributes her cultural development to her dedicated elders and teachers.
Cynthia Butts
Cynthia was a FUREE member who participated in FUREE’s first Organizing Internship Program working starting on outreach for the 2007 Convention. As a Staff Organizer on the Downtown Brooklyn Campaign, Cynthia works to organize for the restoration of loss services for public housing resident due to major development in the area as well as providing support on strengthening the campaign. A former security guard and corrections officer, Cynthia is a resident in Walt Whitman houses for over 50 years where she remained active in the Tenants Association for more than 20 years, supporting organizing work on the March on Washington to protest the closing of Fort Greene housing.
Fernando Carlo
Fernando was born and raised in the Bronx and has been actively involved in the fight for better communities since the age of twelve. He and his neighborhood friends co-founded "Sistas & Brothas United," a youth-led and youth-run organization of which he as a board member, where he spent 5 years organizing around high school reform issues. Fernando turned his attention to developing a curriculum for community action projects for the Leadership Institute High School with fellow leader Raymond Cyrille. Approved by the NYC Department of Education, the curriculum is in use today. Fernando has also co-authored a concept paper for BronXChanges, an art and technology center, and developed a curriculum for a digital filmmaking track, taught as part of the pilot program a year later.
Zakia Henderson-Brown
Zakia first became an organizer on the Downtown Brooklyn Campaign through Social Justice Leadership's ACTIVATE! fellowship program. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she has worked in various capacities in the social justice movement, including as a research analyst and campaigner at the service workers' union UNITE HERE; a Racial Justice Consultant at Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP); and a Resource Coordinator at Break the Chains: Communities of Color and the War on Drugs. Zakia is currently a chapter coordinator and volunteer organizer at the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement focusing on anti-police brutality work, anti-heterosexism, and anti-patriarchy work. Zakia is also the co-founder of Write On!, a Black writer's collective based in Brooklyn.
Wanda Imasuen
Wanda comes from the FUREE membership and was our first member organizing intern. Wanda lost her job after the 9/11 attacks, and was forced to apply for welfare. Through her experience with the welfare system, she became a member of FUREE, and has proven incredibly effective at organizing other low-income women, enlisting the assistance of lawyers, elected officials and policy makers, and building strong and strategic coalitions.
Valery Jean
Valery has a thirteen-year history of working for and consulting with activist, progressive and human service organizations in the areas of community organizing, management, marketing, program evaluation and funding development. Valery came on board as FUREE's development director in 2006 and previously worked with the Student Liberation Action Movement at Hunter College, Neighborhood Youth & Family Services and The Brotherhood-Sister Sol. Valery attended Hunter College focusing in Psychology and Africana, Puerto Rican & Latin Studies to study the devastating effects of racism, sexism, classism and misogyny on women of color.
