Members

Dr. J. Michael Turner, PhD - Scholar (Honorary Board Member).
Originally from Barbados, Mr. Turner is an Associate Professor of History Director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program at Hunter College, City University of New York, Fellow at the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, and Co-founder of the Global Afro Latino and Caribbean Initiative (GALCI). Based in part upon his work for the Brazil Office of the Ford Foundation in the 1980s, Professor Turner's interest in social justice for African-descendants in Brazil has expanded to developing advocacy programs in conjunction with the Franklin H. Williams African Diaspora Institute and Caribbean Cultural Center for Afro Latino NGOs in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Panama, Venezuela, Honduras, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Barbados, and the Dominican Republic, among other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. Initially designed to support the work of Afro Latino NGOs attending the United Nations World Conference on Racism, Xenophobia and Other Forms of Social Intolerance (Durban UN Conference, 2001), GALCI also collaborated with its members to provide better and more regular access to such multi-lateral funding institutions as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Inter-American Foundation, and private donors such as the Ford and Rockefeller foundations.

Casey Reckman, MA - Corporate Partnership.
Ms. Reckman works in macroeconomic research and analysis at Credit Suisse. She earned a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University, with a minor is Spanish and a Certificate in Latin American Studies. Later, she received a MA in International Affairs from The Johns Hopkins University, where she concentrated in Latin American Studies, International Finance and Emerging Markets.  In the recent past, Ms. Reckman was a director in Fitch Ratings were she was responsible for analysis and ratings of sovereign creditworthiness in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining Fitch in 2006, she worked for Manatt Jones Global Strategies in Washington, DC, where she performed macroeconomic and political risk analysis for business development and government relations purposes. She has also conducted analysis for AIG Capital Group in Buenos Aires, taught English in Santo Domingo, and monitored Latin American and European issues for Human Rights Watch. She has traveled extensively within Latin America and also lived in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for over a year. She speaks fluent Spanish and has a working knowledge of Portuguese.

Elkair Balla - Community-based Enterprises & Special Events.
Mr. Balla is a mentor, investment banker and social entrepreneur. Prior to co-founding the B Holding Group (parent company of b condoms), he worked as an Investment Banker for several multi-national corporations including Morgan Stanley, Liz Claiborne and Azoogle.com. He also co-founded Citiology.com, a social network that connects New Yorkers with places to go out in the city. Mr. Balla is a native of Sudan and enjoys mentoring NYC Youth and raising funds for African and New York City causes through his event company named L'Altruist. Elkhair sits on the Development Board at VillageCare and is a graduate of Morehouse College.

Alexis Diaz, LMSW - Youth Leadership & Program Development.
Ms. Diaz recently earned her MSW with a Bachelors degree in Behavioral Science and is pursuing her social work license. While in high school, she served as a peer educator for the Union County HIV Consortium, sparking her interest in sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention. Alexis's main career goals are to help more young people of color graduate high school instead of going to prison; particularly young people from queer communities. She believes in youth's inherent knowledge of their own needs and desires and is honored to help support them in naming and achieving their goals as well as by connecting them to their histories and cultures. Alexis's family comes from Puerto Rico and she currently lives in Jersey City, NJ, with her younger brother.

Susan Wile Schwarz, MPH - Marketing Strategies.
Ms. Schwarz is a consultant for Bank On Manhattan, a public-private partnership led by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer that enables unbanked New Yorkers to enter the financial mainstream and work toward financial security. Her interest focus on market-based approaches to social change. She is a former public health analyst and communications specialist who has published numerous papers on the health and development of adolescents. Ms. Schwarz recently completed a multi-year research project in adolescent health policy for Columbia University's National Center for Children in Poverty. She helped launch Transdiaspora Network as its Communications and Research Director in its early years. She holds a joint BA in American History and Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University and a Master's in Public Health from the Department of Global Health at the Rolling School of Public Health, Emory University.