Who We Are || Staff at Sixth Street

Howard Brandstein, Executive Director

Howard Brandstein (he/him) began his work at Sixth Street Community Center as a volunteer back in the 1980s. As a lifelong New Yorker and urban homesteader, he assisted Lower East Side and East Harlem residents in homesteading and sweat equity, helping establish  HDFCs, community gardens and the first Community Land Trust (CLT) in NYC. He is passionate about saving our planet and communities from the scourge of racial capitalism, fights against displacement in our working class neighborhoods and is actively organizing a new Community Land Trust (CLT) to be established right here on East 6th Street.

​If you'd like to get in touch, contact him at: [email protected]
Jen Chantrtanapichate, Deputy Director
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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. She developed and jumpstarted Sixth Street's Youth Programs, Teen Programs, Emergency Food Distribution and Mutual Aid Kitchen Project. On top of being responsible for the overall success of SSCC's programs, she 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.
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If you'd like to get in touch, contact her at: [email protected]
Anna Leidecker, Teen Program Director
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Anna Leidecker (they/she) is a climate educator and mutual aid activist based in NYC. They are the Program Director of the Teen Climate Justice Program, which aims to empower high school students with information, skills, and relationships to become climate activists. Anna received her Masters of Community Health from CUNY School of Public Health, and her BS in Anthropology and Public Health from CUNY Baccalaureate and Macaulay Honors College. Anna began organizing in 2020, resisting fossil fuel expansion with the No North Brooklyn Pipeline Alliance, and went on to lead projects in citizen science, legislative advocacy, community gardening, youth empowerment, and mutual aid. Raised in Appalachia with roots in Brooklyn & Queens, they are passionate about nature, dance, mindfulness, and approaching life with the values of decolonization and pleasure activism. 

​If you'd like to get in touch, contact them at: anna@sixthstreetcenter.org, 929-220-3014
Alfred Robertson, Facilities Maintenance Manager

Born and raised in Harlem, Alfred Robertson (he/him) has been a part of the Sixth Street team since 2003. Alfred brings decades of facilities maintenance experience, carpentry and other building trades. You can always count on seeing Alfred outside with a big smile on his face. 
Sam Fofana,  Youth Program Coordinator

Sam Fofana (she/her) is a vibrant soul who was born and raised in Loisaida. Her grandparents immigrated here from Puerto Rico in the 1960s, and her dad immigrated here from the Dominican Republic in the 1980s. She went to Earth School and East Side Community High School like many of our Sixth Street kids! She first became involved with SSCC while she was in high school as a Teen Intern.  Remaining local to the Lower East Side up until today, she has witnessed the neighborhood go through significant changes. She is committed to contributing to the positive growth of this community through her engagement with LES youth. Aside from enjoying her time at Sixth Street, Sam is working on her bachelors degree in Psychology at Liberty University eventually fulfilling her career aspirations as a trauma informed therapist.

You can get in touch with Sam at: [email protected]



​Madeleine Giles, Youth Program Coordinator 
 
Madeleine (she/her) is a visual artist and teacher from San Francisco, CA. Madeleine has worked with people of all ages as an educator, sports coach, camp counselor, and mental/sexual health coordinator. In college, Madeleine studied studio art and education. She strives to use art and teaching to affirm and empower youth and disrupt systems of oppression. In her free time, Madeleine loves experiencing nature, playing basketball, and listening to music.

You can get in touch with Madeleine at: [email protected]
Mia Sterbini, Youth Program Educator

Mia is a cultural worker, organizer & artist from Maryland. They recently graduated from Point Park University with a BFA in Acting. They are grateful to currently be building liberatory practice across creative disciplines, including through indigenous-led land justice advocacy & gardening, performance work on stage & film, written publications, community ritual facilitation & organizing alongside a number of local & national organizations. And now through joining the incredible team & kids here at Sixth Street as Garden Educator! They believe in the powerful guidance of the youth, the earth, and the people’s art as our most alive & necessary tools towards a more free future. 

You can get in touch with Mia at: [email protected]
Alysa Chen, Teen Climate Justice Program Facilitator

Born and raised on the Lower East Side on 6th Street, Alysa Chen (she/her) is passionate about environmental activism, social justice, and youth and immigrant empowerment. She has been active in multiple spaces, such as fighting for more curricular representation of Asian American and Critical Ethnic Studies at her college and organizing her high school’s first climate strike walkout and Green Team in 2019. Alysa received her BA in Geography from Vassar College. As a second-generation immigrant with strong roots in Chinatown, Alysa is committed to helping shape an equitable future for her city and fighting displacement in her neighborhoods. In her freetime, Alysa enjoys immersing herself in salsa dance culture, which, like herself, was born in New York as the result of diaspora and cultural fusion.

You can get in touch with Alysa at: [email protected]
Hennessy Garcia, Climate Justice Organizer

Born and raised in the South Bronx, Hennessy (they/she) is a current student studying environmental science and data analytics. They are an organizer in different movement spaces.They are passionate about mutual aid, police and prison abolition, reproductive justice, climate justice, intersectionality, coalition building, calculus and trees. ​

You can get in touch with Hennessy at: [email protected]







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​Davina Resto, Food Justice Coordinator
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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]
Seasonal Returning Support
Ebony Cawthorne, Youth Educator

Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., Ebony Sojourner has always had a love and a passion for storytelling and films. She is an independent director, writer and producer. Ebony Sojourner is the Founder of Disrupt Media. Disrupt is an artistic space dedicated to providing young people of color the opportunity and resources necessary to engage in storytelling as a practice of healing but also to bring attention to critical needs among artists of color in society. Art has the power to heal and Ebony feels honored to have Disrupt Media to be an outlet and provide a space for healing to our Black and brown communities.

​Noel Sanchez, Teen Climate Justice Summer Program Coordinator

Noel Sanchez (they/them) lives in Brooklyn NY where they are from. They received their BA in Urban Studies with a minor in African/Latinx Studies from Hunter College. As a descendant of Dominican Diaspora and reflecting on their lived experiences, Noel has been inspired to explore identity politics by promoting an importance in self growth and self awareness for themselve and at the Sixth Street Community Center’s Youth and Teen Programs.

​If you'd like to get in touch, contact them at: [email protected]
Jhansiris Arias, Youth Program Assistant

Jhan Arias (he/him) is was born in the Dominican Republic. He moved to Brooklyn, NY when he was just 11 months old and has been living there since. He is currently pursuing his Bachelors Degree in Health Management at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. Jhan has many ties to Sixth Street Community Center. His younger siblings have attended summer programs here and he first started working at Sixth Street Community Center back in 2019 as a teen intern in their after school and summer programs. Jhan's role in the youth program is essential, making sure our kids are safe on their walk over to the center, supporting students with homework and assisting Youth Educators with their workshops. 
Mambwe Chama, Summer Program Intern

Mambwe Chama (he/him) has been part of the Sixth Street Community going on a decade now.  As a kid, he attended the Sixth Street Youth Program for years until he aged out of the program. As a young Teen, he returned back to Sixth Street and has been supporting us as a teen intern every summer since for Summer at Sixth Street (SSYP's summer program). This Fall, Mambwe starts his first year at the University of New Mexico where he will be focusing on mechanical engineering. Before heading off to college, Mambwe shared he wouldn't be the same person without Sixth Street. The feeling is honestly mutual, we believe Sixth Street wouldn't be the same without Mambwe! 
Sixth Street Community Center Board Members:
  • Amikole Maraesa, Board Chair
  • Ashwin Rastogi, Treasurer
  • Kendra Krueger
  • Mitch Cohen
  • Peri Torres, Secretary
  • Sarah Johnston

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! 
Bo Bao.                                                                                     Ashwin Rastogi.                                                                     Michelle Hembree.
Cajou Wedemeyer.                                                               Julie Powell.                                                                         Quinn Shanahan.
Mark Levy and Bo Bao, making grocery bags with heaps of quality greens! 
Porfirio, Cajou, Emer and Miguel resting after a distribution day. 
Mark Levy helping unpack the corn!