Board of Directors
BOD members are elected once a year by a vote of the entire NYRA membership, either by written ballot or in person at the annual meeting. The current NYRA Board of Directors (BOD) is made up of the following people (in alphabetical order):
Jackie Ferro
Jackie Ferro, 15, is currently a board member of the National Youth Rights Association as well as founder and president of NYRA-Nanuet: Teen Suffrage Organization. An active member of the youth rights movement, particularly in the voting age aspects, Jackie has been a member of NYRA since early 2009 and has worked for lowering the voting age since 2008. She and her chapter have earned press coverage at a local and regional level for the lowering of the voting age. Jackie also served on a panel for Future Voters of America in Martin Luther King HS. She is from Nanuet, New York and is currently a sophmore at Nanuet Senior High School.
|  |
Jennifer Harkin
| Jennifer was voted into office in 2010. |  |
Nigel Jones
| Nigel was first elected to the board in 2010. |  |
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
| Alex Koroknay-Palicz, originally from Michigan, moved to the DC area after attending American University. During his senior year in high school, Alex successfully changed the policy of several age-discriminatory stores in his hometown of Holland, MI. Since then Alex has become actively involved in all levels of the Youth Rights Movement. In his capacity as NYRA's Executive Director, Alex has appeared on CNN and Fox News several times and has spoken at numerous conferences about youth rights and NYRA. Alex was voted into office in 1999. |  |
Hal Levy
| Hal Levy is currently a sophomore at Montgomery College majoring in political science. Prior to becoming NYRA's Treasurer, Haltraveled across the country as the finance director for several Democratic candidates and campaigns, overseeing a field office by his 19th birthday. He was elected as Student Government President in high school after establishing a "Student Rights Party," and successfully revived his college's newspaper as its Editor in Chief. Hal ceaselessly opposes the lack of respect and due process afforded to young people at home and in school, and continues to organize others to stand up for their fundamental rights. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2009. |  |
Keith Mandell
| Keith Mandell has had an interest in youth rights since he drafted a "Students' Bill of Rights" at age 10. At 14, he convinced his elementary school's student council to approve a student court where teachers could be judged by students for improper conduct (unfortunately it never materialized). At age 23, Keith ran for mayor of Columbia, Missouri, focusing on job growth and transportation issues. Keith became involved in youth voting rights in the late 1990's, working with YouthSpeak to organize to voting age protests and drafting a proposal to lower the voting age in Washington D.C. Keith is now an attorney in the Chicago area and especially interested in voting rights and youth political empowerment. Keith joined the Board in 2004. |  |
Katrina Moncure
| Katrina has been involved with NYRA since 2004. She has helped table at many events including NCOR, JSA, and more with NYRA's Washington, D.C. chapter, and has attended all annual meetings from 2005 to present. She has been a moderator for the NYRA forums since 2005 and is a regular contributor to the NYRA blog. Katrina is 25, and she has lived in Montgomery County, MD, her entire life. She graduated from Salisbury State University in 2003, and currently, she is working as a biotech lab assistant. Katrina joined the Board in 2005. |  |
Jeffrey Nadel
| Jeffrey Nadel, born in 1993, lives in South Florida. At a young age, he became interested in civil rights and began combatting the injustices he faced on a daily basis. Eventually, his passion for civil rights evolved into a focussed dedication on youth rights. In May 2008, Nadel founded NYRA of Southeast Florida, the chapter of which he is President. The chapter quickly became active, commencing efforts to lower the voting age in Florida to sixteen, meeting with legislators across the state, holding rallies, and spreading awareness. Later that year, the chapter of NYRA began fighting an unconstitutional curfew in West Palm Beach and filed a lawsuit, the first lawsuit filed by a youth-led civil rights group against a curfew, against the City in 2009. In addition to the curfew and voting age, he is interested in all youth rights issues and abhors the injustices to which youth are so commonly subjected. His ultimate goal is to work with youth, adults, legislators, organizations across the country, and others in the community to effect real, lasting change. Elected to the Board in 2009, Jeffrey currently serves as the President of NYRA. |  |
Usiel Phoenix
Usiel Phoenix, born in 1993, left home at 15 and moved to Arlington, VA to live independently and petition for emancipation. In August of 2009, while she was preparing to file her petition, she stumbled into the NYRA Annual Meeting and was stunned to realize that not only did other young people face the same societal discrimination as she did, but they recognized it as wrong and were organizing to put a stop to it. She was declared emancipated several months later and immediately became active in the youth rights movement, starting as a member of the DC NYRA chapter and working her way up until she was first elected to the Board in 2010. At the age of 16, she matriculated at New York University and founded the chapter NYRA-NYU, of which she is president. A full-time student, Usiel runs activism workshops in the NYC area and travels the country to participate in and speak at youth rights events.
|  |
Full Roster of Past Board of Directors
Over the years many committed people have served on the NYRA Board of Directors. Check out this list to see directors past and present.
Justin Mallone 1998-1999
Bennett Haselton 1998-1999
Matt Walcoff 1998-2000
Matt Herman 1998-2000, 2001-2002
Avi Hein 1998-2000, 2002-2003
Jason Gerber 1999-2000
Keith Mandell 1999-2000, 2004-Present
Alex Koroknay-Palicz 1999-Present
Adam Fletcher 2000-2001
Joe Zefran 2000-2001
Dustin Manuel 2000-2001
Beau Daniel Sanchez 2000-2001
Alex Cotoia 2000-2001, 2001-2002
Robert Grant 2001-2001
Miranda Joseph 2001-2001
Mark Stanford 2001-2002
Chris Manley 2001-2003
Christopher Coes 2001-2004
Rich Jahn 2001-2005
Dan Hill 2002-2002
Danya Steele 2002-2002
Christen Walker-James 2002-2002
Darren Alcorn 2002-2003
Jack Ternan Jr. 2002-2003
Brad White 2002-2004
Kathleen Miller 2002-2004
Cory Withers 2003-2003
DeWarren Langley 2003-2003
Laura Finstad 2003-2004
Johnathan McClure 2003-2004
Jason Kende 2003-2004, 2008-2009
Scott Davidson 2003-2007
Jackie Fuller 2004-2005
Kevin Keenan 2004-2005
Arpan Patel 2004-2005
Scarlett Swerdlow 2004-2005
Robert Reynolds 2004-2006
Chris Howell 2005-2006
Luke Caralize 2005-2006
Jay Leff 2005-2006
Pamela Tatz 2005-2007
Katrina Moncure 2005-Present
Jessica Campbell 2006-2007
Zach Hobesh 2006-2007
Adam King 2006-2007
Alex Hull-Richter 2006-2008
Adam Zarnowski 2007-2008
Jessica Roeder 2007-2008
Yonaton Yares 2007-2008
Stefan Muller 2007-2010
Chip Sinton 2007-2009
Eric Kim 2008-2009
Jacqueline Trumbull 2008-2009
Justin Graham 2008-2009
Steve Ross 2009-2010
Brian Lombrowski 2009-2010
Jeffrey Nadel 2009-Present
Jackie Ferro 2009-Present
Hal Levy 2009-Present
Jenny Harkin 2010-Present
Nigel Jones 2010-Present
Usiel Phoenix 2010-Present
Meeting Minutes from the
2010-2011 Board of Directors
August 23, 2010
September 12, 2010
October 17, 2010
November 14, 2010
December 12, 2010
January 16, 2011
February 13, 2011
March 13, 2011
April 10, 2011
May 29, 2011
Meeting Minutes from the
2007-2008 Board of Directors
September 16, 2007
October 14, 2007
November 4, 2007
December 9, 2007
January 13, 2008
February 10, 2008
March 9, 2008
April 13, 2008
May 18, 2008
June 15, 2008
May 18, 2008
Meeting Minutes from the
2006-2007 Board of Directors
September 3, 2006
September 17, 2006
October 22, 2006
November 12, 2006
December 10, 2006
Meeting Minutes from the
2005-2006 Board of Directors
August 29, 2005
September 11, 2005
October 16, 2005
November 20, 2005
December 11, 2005
January 21, 2006
February 19, 2006
March 2, 2006
March 19, 2006
April 23, 2006
May 21, 2006
Meeting Minutes from the
2004-2005 Board of Directors
August 29, 2004
September 19, 2004
October 24, 2004
December 19, 2004
January 24, 2005
February 20, 2005
March 13, 2005
April 17, 2005
May 22, 2005
June 19, 2005
Meeting Minutes from the
2003-2004 Board of Directors
August 31, 2003
September 21, 2003
October 20, 2003
November 23, 2003
December 14, 2003
January 25, 2004
February 22, 2004
April 18, 2004
May 16, 2004
June 20, 2004
Meeting Minutes from the
2002-2003 Board of Directors
October 10, 2002
November 13, 2002
December 29, 2002
January 12, 2003
February 12, 2003
March 13, 2003
April 6, 2003
May 18, 2003
June 29, 2003
Meeting Minutes from the
2001-2002 Board of Directors
January 6, 2002
February 10, 2002
March 3, 2002
April 7, 2002
May 5, 2002
May 19, 2002
June 2, 2002
June 16, 2002
July 7, 2002
July 21, 2002
|
So you have a point of view?
