The PENCIL Team
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Carly Melillo
Employer Engagement Manager
Carly is the Employer Engagement Manager at PENCIL. Before joining the team, she worked as a Squash Director for the afterschool youth enrichment program StreetSquash Harlem, where she coached middle and high school students in the sport of squash and connected them to external educational, athletic, and professional opportunities. Carly is a graduate of Smith College where she studied Psychology and Education. As an experienced youth developer, she is passionate about the impact of holistic support and equitable opportunity in the long-term success and well-being of young people.
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Christine M. Gorman
Chief of Staff
Christine Gorman is currently the Chief of Staff. In this role, she oversees Board and ELC engagement, special events, and government contracts. Her work also includes oversight of the systems and structures of the Development team. Christine has a breadth of experience supporting and leading fundraising initiatives across more than a decade of experience. Prior to joining PENCIL, she supported the Corporate Relations team within Global Resources at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Christine earned a BA in Social and Cultural History from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When not at work, Christine can be found cooking and reading books that double as door stops.
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Clair Oblamski
Program Manager
Clair Oblamski is a Program Manager with PENCIL’s Programs Team. For the past three years she has worked for the City Parks Foundation in their education department as the program manager of a STEM-based afterschool program. Previously she worked at a youth-focused nonprofit that provided squash instruction and academic enrichment to students in Harlem. She grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee but came to the east coast for school. At Smith College she majored in neuroscience and psychology, and played on the varsity tennis and squash teams. In New York she plays in various sports leagues, and enjoys walking, running, and biking around the city.
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Darlene Okpo
Program Manager
Darlene Okpo has been an Educator for a little over ten years. She is Nigerian-American and a Bronx native. She graduated from Lehman College in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in African American Studies. Darlene is passionate about education and the success of others. Her purpose in life is to support the youth in making sure that they have fulfilling successful lives. She enjoys reading and summer’s in New York City.
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Devaughn Fowlkes
Associate Director of Programs
Devaughn Fowlkes is a native New Yorker born in the Town of Hempstead by loving teenage parents. Of Black southern and Panamanian roots, Devaughn attended public school and was a first-generation college graduate of Columbia University. His career evolved from management consulting with IBM, finance with Bank of America, corporate development with MCU, but found his passion in education at the Harlem Children’s Zone. Starting as a college advisor Devaughn helped HCZ serve over 1200 college students. Devaughn later provided capacity building support to education nonprofits with a venture-philanthropy, and helped a business accelerator incubate Ed-Tech start-ups. Most recently, Devaughn led the college persistence and career development programming as the College & Career Success Director at Breakthrough New York, serving over 500 high potential low-income students starting in middle school through college completion and into careers. Devaughn is excited to continue his education reform journey as the new Associate Director of Programs at PENCIL.
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Gregg Betheil
President
As President of PENCIL, Gregg Betheil brings over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of school needs and business expertise. Bringing together the best ideas, talent, and resources across sectors to improve public school performance and enhance workforce pathways, Gregg originally joined PENCIL in 2015 as Chief Program Officer overseeing PENCIL’s portfolio of innovative and impactful models of ongoing collaboration between business and public schools. One year later, he assumed the role of President.
Gregg joined PENCIL from the New York City Department of Education, where he was Executive Director of Academic & Talent Management. In this position, he led implementation efforts relating to the citywide instructional expectations and other academic initiatives, teacher tenure and evaluation, and network performance management. He joined the DOE in 2008 to provide leadership to Mayor Bloomberg’s efforts to foster innovation in New York City’s portfolio of career and technical education options. He went on to found and lead the Office of Postsecondary Pathways & Planning and the Office of School Programs & Partnerships, where his team focused on aligning citywide programmatic and partner supports toward improved student achievement.
Prior to his work at the DOE, Gregg served as Senior Vice President of the National Academy Foundation. He oversaw program operations and strategy to sustain a national network of career academies supporting the development of America’s youth toward personal and professional success in high school, higher education, and throughout their careers. NAF Academies represent business/school partnerships that prepare young people for future careers through a combination of school-based curricula and work-based experiences. He started his career as teacher and Assistant Principal of Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, where he taught American History and Finance. Gregg is a public school graduate and holds a B.A. in Government & Law and History from Lafayette College, an M.A. in Social Studies Education and M.Ed. in Educational Administration from Columbia University. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with his wife Karen and two daughters.
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Hannah Immerman
Associate Director of Development
Hannah is the Associate Director of Development at PENCIL. Before joining the PENCIL team, Hannah managed and developed children and youth programs and cultivated partnerships at Homes for the Homeless (HFH), a nonprofit that provides transitional housing and educational services for families experiencing homelessness. Prior to her work at HFH, Hannah served as the Co-Executive Director at Art Start – an organization that uses the creative process to engage youth experiencing homelessness and navigating the justice system. At Art Start Hannah primarily focused on program development and building partnerships in the corporate, nonprofit, foundation, and government sectors. Hannah graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Design and Architecture Studies from New York University and holds a Master of Science in Urban Policy and Leadership with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from Hunter College. Hannah lives in her hometown of Brooklyn where she is an active member of her neighborhood’s community garden.
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Hannah Chan
program manager
Hannah Chan graduated from Smith College with a B.A. in History and East Asian Languages & Literature, with a focus on Japanese. After college she was selected to join the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program where she taught high school English for 5 years in underserved areas of southern Japan. Before joining PENCIL, she was an elementary school teacher specializing in ESL at a bilingual school in New Jersey. She holds a certification in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and is fluent in Japanese. She’s excited to continue working with everyone at PENCIL and looks forward to creating more opportunities for students in NYC.
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Jessica Bynoe
Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer
Jessica Bynoe is currently Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at PENCIL. She holds a BA in Psychology and Metropolitan Studies and a Master of Public Administration Policy and Nonprofit Management from New York University.
Most recently, she was the Executive Director of Variety the Children’s Charity of New York, a foundation dedicated to supporting programs that transform the lives of children through the arts. Jessica created a unique philanthropic model to support small, diverse grassroots organizations with a combination of funding and intense capacity building. She elevated the work of over 50 grantees and ensured arts access to over 75,000 children. Prior to Variety New York, Jessica held leadership positions at Usher’s New Look Foundation and the Academy for Educational Development.
Jessica has conducted over 100 workshops and presentations and is internationally recognized for her expertise on youth development, civic engagement, and strategic philanthropy. She is the author of celebrated white papers, including Confronting the Glass Ceiling of Youth Engagement and The Art of Adding Value: Variety New York’s High Touch, High Impact Philanthropic Strategy
As a native New Yorker, Jessica has served her city as a Big Sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters and as chair of the Young Professionals Network for Let’s Get Ready, a college preparatory organization. She is a former president of the NYU College Alumni Association and is currently Vice President of the NYU Alumni Association Board. When not volunteering or working, you can find Jessica pursuing her passion for cooking by hosting multi-course dinner parties and experimenting with new culinary techniques and cultural influences.
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Katje Lilah King
Senior Program Officer
Katje started with PENCIL over 5 years ago as the Associate Director of Research and Evaluation. In her current role as Director of Program Operations and Evaluation, she continues to lead PENCIL’s research and evaluation work, as well as oversee the PENCIL Internship program and implement a number of pilot programs to help expand PENCIL’s work. Prior to joining PENCIL, she was with Turnaround for Children, an agency that provides school-wide interventions to improve access to mental health and social services, while providing educators with the tools to support healthy student development academic achievement. Katje graduated from Smith College with a B.S in Psychology and is a product of New York City public schools (Stuyvesant HS, IS 62, and PS 139 in Brooklyn). Katje enjoys baking large and highly decorated cakes and hanging out with her 3-legged cat, Paco.
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Keith A. Howey
Director of Impact and Operations
Keith started with PENCIL over 3 years ago as the Associate Director of Evaluation and Organizational Learning. In his current role, he continues to lead PENCIL’s research and evaluation work as well as build organizational capacity through improved processes and technical solutions. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Sociology from Fordham University. Before joining Pencil, Keith worked with Breaking Ground and United Way of New York City to advance the organizations’ data maturity and develop M&E frameworks. He served in the US Army as a military police officer including a tour in Baghdad and training development at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. Keith lives in Central New Jersey with his wife, two children, three chickens and a wide assortment of plants.
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Marilyn Fogarty
Vice President of Finance & Administration
Marilyn Fogarty, Vice President of Finance & Administration, joined PENCIL in March 2016. She has over fifteen years’ experience in non-profit finance and administration, including five years at Montclair State University. Marilyn also worked in corporate retail and sales in a range of management roles. She holds a BA in Business Administration with an Accounting concentration from Rutgers and has volunteered in leadership positions with public schools in her community.
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Marina Karnofsky
Program Manager, Internships
Marina is PENCIL’s Program Manager for Internships. She is excited to work with New York City students and provide high quality internship opportunities that connect students from all walks of life to opportunity and success. Marina graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study where her focus was the sociology of education and health. Prior to PENCIL, she has worked in education and youth development under AmeriCorps and the All Stars Project. She is passionate about ensuring that all people have both access to opportunity and support to act on it.
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Rashida Thomas
Program Manager
Rashida Thomas is a daughter, sister, aunt and friend who loves good food and great music. A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Trinity (Washington) University with a dual degree in History and International Affairs, she has enjoyed the privilege of both living and working abroad. Most recently her passions have been in experiential education, more specifically in connecting youth and the under-served to opportunities. A native New Yorker, she was born in The Bronx and currently resides in Brooklyn.
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Robert Hines
Senior Manager of Corporate & Foundation Relations (Partnerships)
Robert was most recently a Business Development Officer with Grant Associates in the NYC Business Solutions Bronx Center, a division of NYC Small Business Services that assists entrepreneurs to open, operate and grow their business. His career is rooted in the sports and entertainment industry where he has worked within the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Marketing & Communications divisions of the New York Mets and Major League Soccer. Robert majored in Urban Studies with a specialization in Political Science at Columbia University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. In his spare time, he is an avid sports fan and enjoys volunteering in his local community. Robert lives in Harlem and has a daughter.
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Sumara Ahmad
Program Manager
Sumara Ahmad is a Program Manager at PENCIL. She joined PENCIL in 2019 and has supported the Internship and Development teams. Her interest in youth development and advocacy related work began while attending CUNY Hunter College and volunteering with Peer Health Exchange, an organization that brought health-related curriculum and conversations into high school classrooms. She is committed to connecting NYC students to career development and opportunities, especially being a Queens native and resident herself. Prior to PENCIL, she worked in corporate cash logistics, retail, and customer service.
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Tiana Douglas
Program Associate - Internships
Tiana Douglas is currently a Program Associate at PENCIL. She is a native New Yorker who has spent her career in the retail, education, and art industries for the past three years.
Along with PENCIL, Tiana is currently the founder of JPSY, a platform to highlight NYC creatives. Tiana also contributes to HalfmoonBK as their Director of Visuals helping to provide a community for disenfranchised DJs, instrumentalists, and vocalists alike. Using her knowledge gained from attending the Fashion Institute of Technology, Tiana hopes to continue to support and grow her community.
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Xheni Gjata
Communications Manager
Xheni is PENCIL’s Communications Manager. She attended NYC public schools and furthered her education with a B.S in Marketing from CUNY CSI. Prior to PENCIL, she worked in business management and marketing.
She has a background in fashion design and a passion for all things creative, which led her to her career in digital and social media marketing.
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Yamile Pacheco Cueva
Technology Manager
Yamile joined PENCIL in 2013 as part of the PENCIL Summer Internship Program. Since then, Yamile has worked with different aspects of the organization as a Salesforce Administrator. In her current role as Technology Manager, Yamile manages the maintenance and development of PENCIL’s cloud-based platforms and related processes, enhancing effective technology usage and improving user experience across platforms. After moving to New York as a teenager from the Dominican Republic, Yamile attended Gregorio Luperon High School, a New York City public school for bilingual students. Yamile enjoys traveling and learning about cultures and history.