PRESIDENT & COMMUNITY MEMBER DIRECTOR

Boris Santos has been living in East Brooklyn for over 15 years. He holds degrees in Political Science (BA), Special Education (MS), and Educational Leadership (MS). He has previously served as a staffer for a NYC Council Member and for a NY State Senator. Boris has over seven years of teaching experience within NYC Public Schools. He loves to exercise, read, write, meditate, and spend time in nature, especially within the Ridgewood Reservoir during summers. He is committed to helping his beloved community of East Brooklyn heal and prosper. 

VICE PRESIDENT & COMMUNITY MEMBER DIRECTOR

Hailing from Brownsville, Brooklyn, Chanel Halliburton is a collaborative, creative and strategic leader who currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Community Engagement at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY). She began her career as an Health Educator and has since worked with various organizations, both domestically and internationally, in the areas of youth development, public health, civil liberties, education and community development. She is known for her ability to incubate and scale complex projects, while building capacity and systems that center equity.

TREASURER & ALLY DIRECTOR

Brianna Soleyn is a lifelong Brooklynite and current Flatbush resident. She has a background in tenant organizing and housing coalition organizing, previously working at IMPACCT Brooklyn and Right to Counsel Coalition. She currently works at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College. She is passionate about social housing models and believes in building working class power to take community control over land use and contested urban spaces.

COMMUNITY MEMBER DIRECTOR

Debra Ack has been an East New York resident for over 30 years. Debra has dedicated the last three years to organizing with the Justice for the Jewel Streets Coalition, a group of residents, community organizations fighting for environmental justice in the Jewel Streets, an extremely flooded area of East New York. Her work as a community organizer has been recognized by Brooklyn Org., State Senator Julia Salazar, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, and former Council Member Charles Barron. Debra loves East New York and speaks from her heart about the community’s issues regarding the injustices in her neighborhood. She is a devout Christian of Greater Jerusalem Baptist Church and a mother of three. She believes in the future of home ownership and entrepreneurship for our youths and seniors in East New York.

ALLY DIRECTOR

Maya Ephrem (she/her) is a California-born, New York-based urban planner. She currently works as a Senior Project Manager for Housing Development at Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC). As the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, Maya’s approach to planning is firmly anchored in principles of social and spatial justice, collective stewardship, and a culture of care that transcends geographies. She holds a Masters in Urban Planning from Columbia University.

ALLY DIRECTOR

Amanda Trainor has lived and worked throughout Central and East Brooklyn for the past 10 years. She is currently the Special Projects Coordinator at Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, and holds a Masters in Urban Studies & Economic Democracy from the CUNY School of Labor & Urban Studies. With a background in grassroots organizing and cooperative management, she is passionate about community ownership as a tool to build working class power.

COMMUNITY MEMBER DIRECTOR

A proud East New York resident since 1994, Andrea L. Granville, MBA, is an experienced organizational leader and advocate with more than three decades of expertise in human resources, leadership development, and community engagement.

She is committed to supporting the long-term vision of ENYCLT by strengthening governance practices, expanding resident participation, and ensuring decisions reflect community priorities. As a Community Board 5 Member and active member of ENYCLT’s Community Engagement & Outreach Committee, Andrea contributes her skills in outreach, member and capacity building to advance community-owned land, permanently affordable housing, and equitable opportunities for longtime residents of East New York and Brownsville.

DIRECTOR

Hannah Anousheh is a lifelong New Yorker and Bronx Science alumna. She helped found ENYCLT six years ago and serves as its Director. She grew up in Manhattan, in a large rent-stabilized building complex with a powerful tenant association where her parents still live. Prior to her role at the ENYCLT, she worked as an organizer and researcher for UNITE HERE, the international union of hotel and restaurant workers, organizing with airport concessions and tech cafeteria workers. She has a Masters Degree from Pratt Institute in City and Regional Planning where she specialized in housing policy. In her spare time, she likes to play soccer,  paint, cook Persian food and hang with her two cats and fiancée Simon.

SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR

Niani L. Taylor is a life-long Brooklyn/New York native. Born at Brookdale Hospital in ’76; raised in East New York section of Brooklyn in Cypress Hills Houses (NYCHA) until 1992 when her family moved to Starrett City/Spring Creek.

Today she is a full-time entrepreneur; owner and operator of Munch Hours, Inc; a catering business based in Brownsville, certified as a Minority Woman Business Enterprise, serving meals throughout the 5-boroughs of New York City.

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

Shantanu Dew is a born and raised New Yorker, and a graduate of Haverford College with a degree in Growth & Structure of Cities. He is deeply committed to advancing social and public housing initiatives. Shantanu’s professional work focuses on fostering democratic, tenant-led processes, and addressing the urgent need to prevent the displacement of the East New York Community.

HOUSING CAMPAIGN ORGANIZER

Amalia de la Iglesia is a Spanish-speaking Brooklyn resident with roots in Seattle and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her background is in community-based services, counseling, and immigrant-owned cooperative organizing. Prior to joining the ENYCLT, she served as the Assistant Director of Cooperative Development at the Center  for Family Life in Sunset Park. She has a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and uses her clinical experience to support community members to work together, move through conflict, and build group identity. She is committed to strengthening the solidarity economy in NYC through worker and tenant organizing. 

SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER, RESEARCH & POLICY

Jakob Kendall Schneider is a researcher, scholar, and planner living in Brooklyn. He volunteered with the East New York Community Land Trust beginning in Fall 2020,was elected to the Board of Directors in 2022 and served on the board until transitioning to his current role in November 2025. 

He uses participatory, community-led research in the service of grassroots organizing to further community ownership. Jakob has researched community land trusts for more than a decade. He has published in academic journals, including Housing Policy Debate, Housing Studies, and Antipode, and contributed to the edited volume, Neighborhood Change and Neighborhood Action: The Struggle to Create Neighborhoods that Serve Human Needs. He holds a degree in Urban Sociology from Northeastern Illinois University, a Master of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University, and is completing his PhD at The Graduate Center, CUNY.