Administrative Staff
Executive Director
Dr. Houck, is a licensed psychologist who has worked extensively with children and families in crisis for the past 15 years. He moved from North Carolina to assume the leadership role in 2007. He brings a rich background of both clinical and organizational expertise. After a successful career in leadership positions in for-profit organizations Bob devoted the last fifteen years in the management of child serving agencies in the not-for-profit sector. Bob believes the unique preventative approach of Friends of the Children NYis significantly more cost effective in terms of wasted lives and dollars than the recovery programs required once the damage has occurred.
Program Director
Kareem Wright, became a Friend in the fall of 2002 after two years as a Public School teacher. Kareem is proud to be a product of inspirational teachers in the NYC public schools and a graduate of Brooklyn College. In 2006 Kareem assumed the role of Program Director, reluctantly facilitating transfer of his eight boys to a new Friend so that he could devote his time to program management and support of the other Friends. He has completed the Columbia University Business School’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.
Clinical and Education Director
Lindsey K. Robertson, LMSW assumed the role of Social Worker in March of 2009 and was promoted to Clinical and Education Director in the fall of 2010. She earned her BA from Union College and her MSSW from Columbia University in Advanced Clinical Practice with Families, Youth & Children. Lindsey became familiar with Friends of the Children during her graduate work as an Intern at Harbor Charter School. She has also worked as a case manager at a transitional housing facility in Mt. Vernon, NY and as a Program Manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. Her passion is for giving every child the opportunity to realize their potential and succeed.
Director of Development
Loren Domilici joined Friends in the summer of 2010 in the new position of Philanthropic Associate and assumed the role of Director of Development in the fall of 2011. She earned her BA from the University of Delaware and MS in Fundraising Management from Columbia University. Before coming to Friends, Loren spent the majority of her career as a financial analyst in the entertainment and advertising sectors. Realizing she wanted to expand on her volunteer work with children, she decided to join the Friends team because of their passion and dedication for helping the children of New York City.
Adolescent Program Manager
Jennifer (Nefer) Bovea began with Friends in fall 2005. Nefer graduated from SUNY Stonybrook in 2001 with a BA in psychology, with a concentration in youth development. After graduation, she worked for four years providing preventive services to at risk children and their families. As a craftswoman and designer, Nefer brings creativity, patience and dedication to her work with her children. The fruits of her knitting and weaving often adorn her, as does a radiant smile. She is fluent in Spanish.
After transitioning her eight girls to a new Friend in 2008 Nefer accepted the new and vital role of Adolescent Program Manager for the organization. As our Children age into their adolescent years the normal development need for greater peer involvement begins to emerge. To address this need Nefer has helped initiated a teen program component into the Friends program.
Senior Friend
Daniel Felder, Senior Friend, graduated from SUNY Cortland in 1984 and made a career in the banking industry before joining Friends in 2003 to fulfill his dream of making his living working with children. Danny has volunteered for years in the youth department of his church in the Harlem neighborhood where he lives with his wife and young daughter within blocks of our Friends Place headquarters. All of his boys look up to him, only incidentally because he stands six feet, five inches tall. In 2006 Danny was designated a Senior Friend assuming additional responsibilities for resource development and community liaison.
Manager of Corporate and Community Relations
Jessica Faith has spent six years working in program development, grant writing, fundraising, and communications for the non-profit sector in the fields of education and international development. She has worked with a variety of organizations in New York City, and most recently at Harlem Children’s Zone before accepting a position at Friends of the Children NY in 2010. Jessica has a BA in English Literature and MA in International Affairs and she is a founding member of Manna Project International in Managua, Nicaragua.
Program Staff (“Friends”)
Belinda Edwards joined Friends as a Research Associate in May of 2009 but as she became immersed in the program felt drawn to be more directly engaged in the Children’s lives. When a Friend position became available she didn’t hesitate to make the transition. Belinda earned a BS with a dual major in elementary education and psychology from Atlantic Union College. After 8 years teaching in the Bronx including being awarded Teacher of the Year in 1999, she wanted to be in a position to have a greater impact in the life of a child than teaching allowed. As a Friend to 8 little girls she is getting exactly what she hoped for.
Jeremie Knight grew up in Central Florida, and began college at Florida A&M as an architecture student. He soon realized that he wanted to work more directly with people, and switched to studying criminal justice – after spending time in the juvenile courts, he began concentrating on juvenile justice and children´s services. He worked with children in the summers, as well, as a counselor and then head counselor at the Fresh Air Fund’s Camp Hayden-Marks Memorial, a camp that provides boys from New York City´s disadvantaged communities with a tuition-free summer camp experience. Upon graduating in 2006, he worked in a foster care prevention program in The Bronx, providing counseling and referral services to families. He joined Friends New York in the fall of 2007, eager for the chance to see the kids with whom he works grow and develop over the long-term.
Tara Abrol grew up in New Jersey, Malaysia, California, and Georgia, and attended Georgia State University, where she studied Anthropology and concentrated in Applied Anthropology in the Nonprofit Sector. She has a wealth of experience working with children – she has worked as a camp counselor at both sleep away and day camps, assisted in a pre-nursery, tutored, mentored with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and led workshops on nutrition, self-esteem, and sexual education. Most recently she worked with LEAP (Learning through the Expander Arts Program) as a teaching artist, leading story-telling activities with kindergartners and first graders, and cultural anthropology activities with third and fourth graders. Coming to Friends in the fall of 2007, she is thrilled that, as a Friend, she is able to form such deep relationships with her children.
Pedro Resto joined Friends in 2008 taking a break from his successful career as an award winning independent film maker to “give back to my community”. This is the second hiatus Pedro has taken. From 1997-2003 he taught a filmmaking program for troubled teens as a teacher for the NYC Department of Education. During this period he was recognized as a “top 5% educator”.
Eric Rweyemamu (“Rwiza”) joined us in spring of 2007, coming to us from Harlem Children’s Zone, where he worked with high school students as a Student Advocate/Guidance Counselor. He grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, having moved there from Tanzania with his family at a young age. Passionate since childhood about education and literacy, he has worked as a tutor and advocate at a variety of New York City’s youth services organizations, including as an assistant teacher at the Carter G. Woodson Cultural Literacy Project in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and as a youth coordinator for an after-school program at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House in Harlem. He received his B.A. for an Individualized Major from NYU in 2001 (incorporating Metropolitan and Africana Studies), and his M.A. in American History from the University of London in 2003.
Erik Rivas grew up in Brooklyn and obtained a B.A. in Psychology from Syracuse University. After college, he began tutoring children of all ages, then began substitute teaching first in the public schools, and then in several charter schools around Brooklyn. He returned to tutoring when those charter schools matched him up with children who had been suspended and needed to receive academic help in their homes. Working with these students allowed him to see the tremendous value in the kind of one-on-one attention children receive at Friends of the Children. Erik joined us in late 2008, and was instrumental in getting our own tutoring program off the ground before being paired up with his eight boys. Erik is one of our Friends along with his eight newly enrolled Children participating in the National Institute of Health sponsored longitudinal study of the Friends model.
Natasha McGregor grew up in the Bronx and Mount Vernon and graduated from Colgate University in 2007. After graduation, she joined the Teach for America program and taught in a special education classroom for three years at a public school in the Bronx. While teaching, she earned her Masters in Elementary and Special Education from Pace University. Although she enjoyed teaching, Natasha felt that her role in her students’ lives was limited. Natasha joined Friends of the Children in Spring 2011 and loves that she is able to be more involved in the lives of her eight girls and help them grow into intelligent and responsible young women.
Joann Joseph grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She has a Master of Science (College of New Rochelle) and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (City College of New York). Her professional background includes non-profit, public relations, higher education, and elementary education, working with families, promoting health information, teaching undergraduate students, and tutoring “at-risk” children. Her passion for helping others, experience working with children, and dream of making an impact in young girls lives, has led her to work as a Youth Advocate. She is happy to be at Friends of the Children NY where she helps each of her Achievers know they are worthy and capable of greatness.
