Our Staff
Mariel De La Cruz, Tenant Organizer, HUD-Assisted Housing, spent two years with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps before coming to Tenants & Neighbors. She worked as a Bilingual Paralegal at the Georgia Legal Services Farmworker Division, where she conducted outreach and educated workers about their rights. She also worked with the United Community Housing Coalition in Detroit, assisting people who were going through a foreclosure or eviction. In her current role, Mariel is educating and organizing tenants in buildings that HUD has determined to be at risk of loss of affordability. She graduated from Fordham University with a major in Political Science and a minor in Urban Studies.
Katie Goldstein, Director of Organizing, has been with Tenants & Neighbors since 2007. She initially came to us through the AVODAH Jewish Service Corps program. Other positions held at Tenants & Neighbors include Senior Organizer and Coordinator of Base Buillding and Leadership Development. Katie previously worked as an organizer for and served on the Board of Directors of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. She studied political and economic geography at Sarah Lawrence College.
Oksana Mironova, Grant Administrator, is responsible for the administrative management of our HUD Tenant Resource Network grant, through which we educate and organize tenants living in Section 8 properties that HUD has determined to be at risk of loss of affordability. Oksana is also a Research Assistant at the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities. She has a Masters degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College.
Maggie Russell-Ciardi, Executive Director, previously worked at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, where she developed arts, education, and dialogue programs about issues such as housing and immigration policy. Other past work experience includes serving as the Strengthening Neighborhood Assets Program Coordinator at Citizens Committee for NYC, the Director of Advocacy and Community Education at the Center for Immigrants Rights, and as a labor organizer at the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. Maggie has an MA in Latin American Studies from NYU and a BA in Spanish and Labor Studies from Oberlin.
Miriam Serrano, Office Manager and Member Services Coordinator, oversees the maintenance of our office and also plays an instrumental role in member services, including coordinating the logistics for the annual membership meeting and conference and providing information and referrals to rent regulated tenants. She also plays a major role in our grassroots fundraising. Miriam is a fluent Spanish speaker and has been with Tenants & Neighbors for over fifteen years.
Sam Stein, Rent Regulation Campaign Coordinator, coordinates our legislative campaigns to strengthen the rent laws as well as our annual Rent Guidelines Board campaign. He also provides organizing support, information, and referrals to rent regulated tenants. Sam's previous experience includes working as a campaign researcher for SEIU 32BJ. He has a Masters degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College.
Nicole Zanardi, Tenant Organizer, is our 2012-2013 Jesuit Volunteer. She is from Los Gatos, CA and she graduated from Boston College in 2012 with a degree in political science and international studies. While in college, Nicole founded Rural Water Ventures BC, a student organization that raises awareness about the global water crisis, and she led a number of service-immersion trips to the Appalachia region, where she worked with local community members who lacked access to adequate housing and education. At Tenants & Neighbors, Nicole is educating and organizing rent stabilized tenants.
Our Members
The New York State Tenants & Neighbors Coalition is a membership organization, and our work is made possible by the active involvement of our members. Click here to read more about several of our Tenant Leadership Committee members.
