Who We Are | Staff at Sixth Street
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Jen Chantrtanapichate, Deputy Director
Jen Chantrtanapichate (she/her) is a Thai-American artist, climate activist and community organizer from New York City. She received her Masters in Urban Planning and BA in Urban Studies from Hunter College. Jen has worked at SSCC since 2012, where she's developed and jumpstarted the Youth & Teen Programs, Emergency Food Distribution and Mutual Aid Kitchen Project. Responsible for the overall success of SSCC's programs, she also leads the center's organizing work in climate justice campaigns around energy democracy, opposition to fossil fuel expansion and coastal resiliency. In 2015, she founded the grassroots community organization, CNB, which advocates for environmental justice, particularly in response to waste inequity and environmental racism in North Brooklyn. She serves on the board of the Bushwick Food Coop and the Fifth Street Farm Project. In her spare time, she fights for climate justice for BIPOC communities with coalitions like Frack Outta Brooklyn (FOBK) and works on campaigns that fall under the ethos of ecosocialism. If you'd like to get in touch, contact her at: [email protected] |
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Dayana Aziz, Teen Climate Justice Program Director
Dayana Aziz is a multidisciplinary artist and educator dedicated to creating accessible, socially engaged learning spaces. Born and raised in Malaysia, Dayana moved to New York City in 2017 to pursue a BFA in Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts. Through their work at Sixth Street, they discovered a passion for youth education and pedagogy, learning firsthand the impact of engaging students as mutual thinkers and creators. In both after-school and community organizing contexts, Dayana has led workshops and skill shares for kids, teens, and adults; developed innovative arts-based programming alongside fellow educators and volunteers; and built partnerships with a range of cultural organizations—from major institutions to grassroots collectives. You can get in touch with Dayana at: [email protected] |
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Davina Resto, Food Justice Coordinator
Davina Resto serves Sixth Street Community Center as their Food Justice Coordinator. She also serves as the Senior Community Outreach Associate at the Environmental Protection Network, assisting frontline environmental justice communities access resources for their communities, where she also leads their work with Tribes and indigenous people across the nation. Davina is a graduate of Mercy University, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy. She is passionate about supporting her local community by targeting social and environmental injustices. You can get in touch with Davina at: [email protected] |
Sixth Street Community Center Board Members
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Amikole Maraesa, Board Chair
Amínata (Amíkolé) (she/her) Maraesa has been affiliated with Sixth Street Community Center since the mid-1990s as a CSA member and was asked to join the Board of Directors in the early 2000s. Amíkolé hung out on Ave. A as a boot-stomping teenager and moved into the LES in 1989 where she is raising four children. Amíkolé is known throughout the neighborhood as a mom, herbalist, and shea butter maker. She received her PhD in Medical Anthropology, is a certified yoga instructor, and founded a non-profit holistic health institute: Mango Meditation Healing Arts Center, in Punta Gorda, Belize. |
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Ashwin Rastogi, Treasurer
Ashwin Rastogi first became involved with the Center at the start of the COVID crisis through its emergency food distro program. After growing deeply engaged in food justice efforts with other Loisaida organizations like Vision Urbana and Artists Athletes and Activists, he joined the board of Sixth Street in July of 2022. Since then, he has supported on-the-ground efforts of EV Loves and Friend of a Friend mutual aid, both of which had extended collaborations and operations at the Center. He has also been part of the community land trust movement with This Land Is Ours Community Land Trust. Ashwin is involved in community defense and safety coordination with numerous local activist groups. He completed a PhD in theoretical mathematical physics in 2013, and has lived in the Lower East Side since 2015. |
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Peri Torres, Secretary
Periwinkle (Peri) Torres (they/them/any) is a lifelong New Yorker: born in Manhattan, raised in the Bronx, and living on the Lower East Side for almost a decade. As a high schooler, they were an avid participant in GreenFab at Sustainable South Bronx, a youth program that tackled issues like environmental justice and fought for better access to green spaces in urban centers. This program was a transformative experience that opened up a wide range of experiences and opportunities for Peri. Those experiences brought Peri to Sixth Street, where they see the youth and environment programs as offering a similarly invaluable opportunity to the children and students of Loisaida. Peri was approached and asked to be part of the board in 2022, and soon after took on the duties of secretary. They are an anime fan and devoted animal lover who volunteers tirelessly around the neighborhood with abandoned and homeless pets. |
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Sarah Johnson, Vice Chair
Sarah Johnson (she/they) is now middle-aged and has been in and out of the East Village since the mid-1980s as the winds of luck in finding housing and finances took her. They've been coming to Loisaida to the Nuyorican for music, poetry, and joy since the 1990s; to the 6th Street Center for yoga since the late 90s and to the CSA since the early 2000s; and to Casa Adela for sancocho since ... uh, can't remember, but, it has been a VERY long time, certainly since BEFORE living here ... and her kiddo is now grown but takes his friends there, too. They have a BSc in Civil Engineering from The City College of New York and work in New York City in engineering for heavy construction. Sarah was asked to join the Board in 2009. Born in Detroit and dragged all over the US by her parents, Sarah is also a gardener in the neighborhood, has voted in every election since turning 18 (and LOVES Early Voting) even when she was out of the country and had to do absentee, and considers her personal philosophy to be "Does the baby have a hat?" as a friend says -- that is, are we looking out for all of us even the ones who can't check on us yet in return. |
Massive Thanks and Gratitude to Our Amazing Volunteers:
Sixth Street Community Center relies on the generous support of volunteers to sustain the work of our Mutual Aid work, our Emergency Food Distribution and Mutual Aid Kitchen Project. Many of these neighbors have been showing up to support weekly for nearly 18 months!
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Bo Bao. Ashwin Rastogi. Michelle Hembree.
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Cajou Wedemeyer. Julie Powell. Quinn Shanahan.
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Mark Levy and Bo Bao, making grocery bags with heaps of quality greens!
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Porfirio, Cajou, Emer and Miguel resting after a distribution day.
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Mark Levy helping unpack the corn!
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Board Statement on Executive Leadership Transition:
On April 8, 2025, the Sixth Street Community Center made a significant leadership transition, parting ways with its longtime executive director, Howard Brandstein. Howard’s decades of service and unwavering commitment to the Center and the Lower East Side community are deeply appreciated. His leadership helped shape our mission and left a lasting imprint on our programs and partnerships.
We are committed to moving forward in a way that honors the Center’s history, protects the integrity of all individuals involved, and focuses on the future. Our team of eight continues to grow and strengthen programming in youth arts and activism, food security, and climate justice, with the guidance of seasoned leadership and new operational support.
To support this transition, we have engaged a nonprofit executive consultant with a track record of success in similar community organizations. We have also welcomed a new operations manager to enhance accessibility, affordability, and use of our space for all community members.
The Board remains confident in the Center’s direction and is grateful for our staff — a passionate group of long-time activists, youth leaders, funders and community members. We are committed to transparency, accountability, and shared stewardship. Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
We are committed to moving forward in a way that honors the Center’s history, protects the integrity of all individuals involved, and focuses on the future. Our team of eight continues to grow and strengthen programming in youth arts and activism, food security, and climate justice, with the guidance of seasoned leadership and new operational support.
To support this transition, we have engaged a nonprofit executive consultant with a track record of success in similar community organizations. We have also welcomed a new operations manager to enhance accessibility, affordability, and use of our space for all community members.
The Board remains confident in the Center’s direction and is grateful for our staff — a passionate group of long-time activists, youth leaders, funders and community members. We are committed to transparency, accountability, and shared stewardship. Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.