Pratt Center for Community Development

Michael Bogdanffy-Kriegh, Lead Architect

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Michael Bogdanffy-Kriegh leads the Pratt Center's efforts to provide front-end architectural services to not-for-profit, community-based organizations. He works closely with the Director of Community Real Estate Development to provide community groups with the technical assistance they need to secure and develop new spaces.

Following his graduation from the School of Architecture of the University of Virginia, Michael worked in private practices on such projects as affordable housing developments, the interior of NASA's space station habitation module, high rise residential buildings, and correctional facilities. From 1989 to 2008, Michael managed an independent practice where he worked on high-end residential interior renovations, corporate interiors, affordable housing and community facilities.

Michael has served as board president of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and also helped build two community organizations, WEST and the Live-Work Coalition of New York. He lives with his wife Holly, three dogs and two cats in Beacon, New York. His hobbies include cooking, photography and helping his wife with her ambitious garden.

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Joan Byron, Director, Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative

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Since 2003, Joan Byron has led the Pratt Center's Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative (SAEJ), integrating technical assistance, policy research, and advocacy for the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens among New York City communities. SAEJ projects include its Transportation Equity project, assistance to the networks of community-based organizations working to restore the Bronx River, the campaign to remove the Sheridan Expressway, and community-led planning for greenways in the South Bronx and in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

From 1989 through 2003, Ms. Byron directed the Pratt Center's nonprofit architectural practice in the design and construction of over 2,000 units of affordable housing, as well as community health, child care, and cultural facilities. Ms. Byron is a registered architect, and has taught in Pratt Institute's undergraduate architecture program and in its Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment.

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Elena Conte, Organizer for Public Policy Campaigns

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Elena joined the Pratt Center in the summer of 2007 as our first-ever staff organizer. She is building coalitions to advance policies and practices improving housing, the environment, and economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. She is currently working with Queens for Affordable Housing; Move NY & NJ, a coalition supporting the construction of a Cross-Harbor Freight Tunnel; and the Pratt Center's Transportation Equity project.

Previously, Elena was the Solid Waste and Energy Coordinator for Sustainable South Bronx, where she helped organize a successful citywide campaign to ensure that New York City's garbage export system is distributed throughout the five boroughs, instead of concentrated in low-income neighborhoods suffering the city's highest rates of environmental illness. She also coordinated Greening for Breathing's efforts to plant and care for trees as a community-based response to poor air quality and low canopy cover. Born and raised in NYC, Elena has a dual BA, in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and Spanish, from Stanford University.

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Paula Crespo, Planner

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Paula works as a project manager for several of the Pratt Center's community planning efforts under its Equitable Development initiative. She is currently working with FUREE--Families United for Racial and Economic Equality--to compare the impacts outlined in the 2004 rezoning plan for Downtown Brooklyn with what is happening on the ground. She is also assisting UPROSE, a community-based organization in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, to finalize a conceptual plan for a walking and biking greenway in Sunset Park. Paula has a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree in planning from Pratt Institute.

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Janelle Farris, Associate Director

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Janelle Farris is the Associate Director responsible for Operations. Her work at the Center includes oversight of finance, administration, information systems, human resources, and facilities management.

Prior to joining Pratt Center in 2004, Janelle worked for Common Ground, where she was Director of the largest single-occupancy supportive housing facility in the country, The Times Square. Janelle's previous experience included working at several agencies, including The Times Square Business Improvement District and one of the city's charter revision commissions. She holds a bachelor's degree from Spelman College and a master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

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Wendy Fleischer, Sustainability Project Manager and NYSERDA Energy $mart coordinator

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Wendy Fleischer is the NYC Energy Smart Communities Coordinator for the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA). She is developing new Pratt Center initiatives promoting energy efficiency as well as new job and business opportunities within a growing green building industry.

Fleischer is working on strategies to help affordable housing developers and managers retrofit buildings to be greener, healthier and more financially viable; direct new jobs and business opportunities within the growing retrofit industry to low- and moderate-income people; and train contractors to meet increasing demand.

She previously worked as a program developer and writer for foundations and nonprofits, working on community and workforce development, community organizing, justice reinvestment, afterschool programs, and supportive housing. Fleischer participated in the Revson Fellowship for the Future of the City of New York at Columbia University and has a Masters degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Margaret Fox, Development Director

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Margaret directs the Pratt Center's fundraising efforts and oversees its communications work. Margaret comes to the Pratt Center after completing the Pratt Institute Graduate Program in Urban Planning and a tenure at the Fifth Avenue Committee, a community-based social service and advocacy organization in South Brooklyn, where she was a development consultant. She is also a professor of Sociology at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and serves on various committees of the Association for Fundraising Professionals.

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Justin Kray, GIS Specialist

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Justin Kray is a city planner and the primary cartographer for the Center, using mapping to understand and visualize the socio-economic conditions of New York City neighborhoods. Currently Kray is working on a trend analysis of New York City Housing Authority resident demographics, a comprehensive assessment of rezoning actions undertaken by the Bloomberg Administration, and a development opportunities plan for East Brooklyn.

Prior to making maps, Justin made houses. He received an MS in City Planning from Pratt in 2007 and a BA in Great Books from St John's College of Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2001. He lives near English Kills, tends to think a fair amount about geography and the apocalypse, and rides his bike to work.

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Brad Lander, Director

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Brad Lander directs the Pratt Center for Community Development, which works for a more just, equitable, and sustainable city for all New Yorkers by empowering communities to plan and realize their futures. During Brad's tenure, the Pratt Center has helped to shape a new inclusionary zoning policy in order to create affordable housing in New York City, to protect the tenure of public housing residents in Staten Island, and to create a new dialogue and strategies for how growth can be made to work for New York's low- and moderate-income communities. Brad also teaches affordable housing, real estate development, and community planning at Pratt.

Before coming to the Institute in 2003, Brad served for a decade as executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, a community-based organization in Brooklyn that develops and manages affordable housing; creates economic opportunities through workforce development, job creation, and adult education; and organizes tenants and workers to fight for a better community. Brad's work at Fifth Avenue Committee was recognized with awards from the Ford Foundation, Fannie Mae Foundation, and New York magazine. He holds two master's degrees--one in City and Regional Planning from Pratt and a second in Social Anthropology from the University College London. He also holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago. Brad lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Meg Barnette, and their children, Marek and Rosa.

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Jessalee Landfried, Development and Communications Associate

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Jessalee Landfried joined the Pratt Center in October 2007 to support fundraising and communication strategies. Her work at the Pratt Center includes grant writing, event planning, database management, and assisting with the creation of Pratt Center publications and website content.

Prior to arriving here, she was a student leader and organizer for the Habitat Bicycle Challenge, a student-run cross-country bicycle journey which raises money for Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven. She holds a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Wesleyan University and is currently pursuing a master's degree in City and Regional Planning, with a concentration in environmental planning, from Pratt Institute.

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Mercedes Narciso, Senior Planner

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As a senior planner and project manager, Mercedes provides technical assistance in planning to community groups throughout New York City. She has worked on several community-planning efforts, including 197-a plans. Among them, she has managed the Manhattan CB 9 197-a plan, Bedford-Stuyvesant 197-a Plan and, more recently, a community planning effort in Northwest Queens.

Mercedes is a registered architect with a Master of Architecture from Pratt Institute and a Certificate of Participation in the Pratt Institute Community Economic Development Internship.

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Mohendra Ramsarup, Director of Fiscal and Administrative Affairs

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Mo is responsible for preparing the Pratt Center's operating budget, reviewing proposals and contracts for compliance with funder requirements, authorizing expenses, and reviewing all expense reports. He prepares financial reports for foundations, outside agencies, auditors, and for internal use. Mo also meets with staff members to monitor project expenses in order to keep budget estimates on target.

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Rebecca Reich, Director of Community Real Estate

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Rebecca Reich directs the Pratt Center's real estate technical assistance programs. She works to provide community groups with the support they need to secure and develop new spaces for programs like child care, education, youth programs, and job training. Rebecca is currently conducting a feasibility study and developing a preliminary plan for the mixed-use redevelopment of public library sites in New York City as improved libraries and affordable housing.

Rebecca has spent her entire career in the field of community development. As the first director of Brooklyn's Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC), she helped lay a strong foundation for FAC's continuing success in community organizing and development. Most recently, Rebecca worked as an independent consultant working with for-profit, community-based and City-wide nonprofit organizations to acquire and develop property for low-income and special-needs housing. Rebecca holds a Masters of Urban Planning from Hunter College, and is a life-long New Yorker. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her son.

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Bill Riley, Senior Construction Manager

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Bill oversees housing construction projects ranging from $250,000 single-building projects to $20 million multi-site rehabilitations. He supervises staff members, performing construction monitoring; reviewing the scope of work, specifications, construction drawings, and cost estimates; conducting building evaluations; and performing engineering-related tasks on various projects. Bill is currently administering the contract on the Cooper Square Supportive Housing project and working on construction applications for Cypress Hills Community School.

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Marva Wallace, Administrative Assistant

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Marva Wallace assists the entire Pratt Center team by providing administrative support and ensuring the smooth operation of the office. Marva's many duties include meeting scheduling, supervising administrative interns, maintaining the office inventory, and processing check requisitions. Marva brings to the Pratt Center over ten years of administrative experience. She is pursuing her bachelor's degree in Business Administration at DeVry University.

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Vicki Weiner, Director of Planning and Preservation

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Vicki came to the Center in 2004 as Preservation Specialist to lead projects that explore the connection between preserving culturally important places and creating more equitable communities. She completed a study of Fulton Street Mall that made recommendations for using innovative preservation strategies to improve it for users and non-users alike, and is now working on preservation-oriented development plans for several sites along Fulton Street. Recently promoted to Director of Planning & Preservation, she leads the community planning team and continues her work combining preservation and planning tools to benefit communities.

Before coming to Pratt Center, Vicki served as Executive Director for two New York City preservation organizations and was the first Kress Fellow for Historic Preservation at the Municipal Art Society. An Adjunct Associate Professor at Pratt, she teaches in the Historic Preservation graduate program and serves on its Curriculum Committee. Vicki has a M.S. degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University, and a B.A. from Drew University.

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