MEET THE STAFF

Founder | Strategic Advisor

Rev. Rubén Austria is the Founder of CCFY and provides strategic advisement to its capacity-building efforts. As a 2007 Soros Justice Fellow with the W. Haywood Burns Institute, Rev. Austria advocated for the redirection of funds from incarceration to community-based alternatives for youth. He is champion of efforts locally and around the country that have proved time and again that the answer is in the community.

Executive Director

Belinda Ramos is the Chief Executive Director of CCFY. She joined CCFY’s Training Department in August 2014 after her years working in research, training and development of parent-peer support and advocacy training through The Research Foundation for Mental Health and Columbia University. Her personal experience in navigating the issues produced by the justice system that impacted her and her family is central to her drive to see systems overturned.

Chief Operations Officer

Alex Castro is CCFY’s Chief Operations Officer. Alex joined CCFY’s Executive Team in January 2018 after a short consulting project with the organization. Prior to joining CCFY, Alex served as the Chief Operating Officer at a Harlem-based nonprofit for over 8 years.

Chief Program Officer

Lisette Nieves started with CCFY as Project Manager for the Community Connections Detention Diversion (CCDD) Program. Through CCDD, Lisette worked with Horizon Juvenile Detention Center staff, as well as a CCFY Parent Peer Coach and Peer Mentor to facilitate creative strategies that divert youth from detention and connects them to CCFY and community resources. She now serves as CCFY’s Chief Program Officer.

SBCC Coordinator

Crystalie Romero is a graduate of Community Connections for Youth’s South Bronx Community Connections (SBCC) program. While enrolled in SBCC, she played a leading role in the Youth Leadership Academy at the Betances Community Center, educating other young people about the juvenile justice system.

Lead Parent Coach

Demetria Frampton has been a Parent Coach for Community Connections For Youth since 2014. Demetria is a retired NYC Department of Corrections Officer who served for 26 years. However, when her own grandchild became involved in the juvenile justice system, she realized how difficult it was to navigate the court system despite her own experience as a professional.

Parent Coach

Arthur Markland is Parent Coach at CCFY. Arthur is a native of the Bronx and experienced first hand what it is like to advocate for fair treatment and special services for families. From 1991 – 2006, Arthur was blessed with a daughter with Down Syndrome. She needed special services from medical and educational systems, and both systems were not willing to authorize the needed care.

SBCC Mentor

Amy Ramirez is a mentor for CCFY’s, South Bronx Community Connection division. Her spark to help folks who have been system impacted started when she was in middle school after helping her family learn to navigate the judicial system after her cousin’s arrest. After high school, she attended CUNY Brooklyn College where she majored in political science.

Parent Coach

Mercedes Reyes is a Parent Peer Coach for CCFY’s Parent Peer Support Program located in Bronx Family Court. She comes with twelve years of experience as a Teacher’s Assistant for the NYC Department of Education’s Special Education Division.

Operations Coordinator

Chelsea Veratoro is the Operations Coordinator at CCFY. She is a native Bronxite looking to give back to her community the sense of strength and guidance through nonprofit work that it gave her growing up. Her passion for non-profit work started at an early age when she was a youth volunteer and a member of the youth council at Betances Community Center. She is currently pursuing her undergrad in Public Policy Administration at Hostos Community College.