West Harlem Development Corporation’s Board of Directors
Judge Milton Tingling is the County Clerk of New York County. Previously he was a New York Supreme Court Justice. He has worked in New York County’s state courts since 2000. Before then, he was elected as Judge of Civil Court for the city’s 7th Municipal District and has also served as judge in the district’s criminal part. He has also worked as a law clerk and as a solo practitioner since 1983. His community service includes holding the position of Trustee for the Yvonne Schrouder Brown Foundation, Inc. and serving on the Board of Visitors for the Children’s Aid Society’s Milbank Center. He is also the Chair of Community League of the Heights. He is the founder and was lead counsel for the Martin Luther King Democratic Club Free Legal Clinic. Judge Tingling is a lifetime resident of West Harlem.
Armond Adams is a licensed Real Estate Salesperson with the Corcoran Group. Before the Corcoran group, he was a founding member of Skyward Real Estate, located in New York City. In his first year with the firm, he received the Transaction of the Year award. Prior to his career change into real estate, Armond worked in Digital Media Sales for over 10 years with several companies such as NBC Universal, Disney, and Facebook.
Armond graduated from Columbia College in 2006 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in American Studies. Armond is a former board member of the Columbia Alumni Association, and former Vice Chair of the Associations and Clubs Committee. Armond is also President Emeritus of the Black Alumni Council of Columbia University. Most recently, he founded and is now the Co-Chair of the Real Estate Network of the Columbia Alumni Association (RENCAA), a group of alumni with careers with a focus in real estate. Armond recently received the Columbia Alumni Medal award, Columbia’s highest award for alumni of the university. He currently resides in East Harlem, and coaches little league baseball for Harlem and East Harlem.
Darlene Grant Bruce is an attorney’s attorney, practicing law for thirty five (35) years. Attorney Bruce has the distinction of being appointed by the federal court as the first black woman to serve as a Special Master over the prisons. As a native New Yorker, Darlene has a deep and long commitment to serving the village of Harlem. Darlene is a member of the historic Abyssinian Baptist church, Jack and Jill of America and a golden life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
Attorney Bruce is no stranger to serving her community whether as counsel to Assembly Member Al Taylor, West Harlem Group Assistance or as a Director for West Harlem Development Corporation. Attorney Bruce is the founder HDFC Empowered group and Sisters in Politics (SIP). Attorney Bruce received her juris doctorate from Georgetown Law Center and her Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University with a double major in Afro and African American Studies and Political Science. Attorney Bruce has been sworn into several levels of both state and federal Courts in New York and Washington, D.C., including the US Supreme Court. Attorney Bruce is a member of various Bar associations in New York, including the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and the NYC Women’s Bar Association.
Gregory O. Watson is the Assistant Commissioner/NYC Regional Director in the New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Office of Community Development. Mr. Watson has more than 25 years of experience of executive and managerial experience providing oversight in the day to day management of government agencies and community development corporations. Mr. Watson was the Chief Operating Officer of Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Inc. and the Executive Director of the New York State Assembly’s Tenant Takeover Team. Mr. Watson has two master’s degrees in city and regional planning and social work.
Dr. Theodore Kovaleff, a former assistant dean of Columbia University’s School of Law with a Ph.D. in History, has extensive community service extending back to 1971, including six terms as chair of Community Board 9, President of the Council of the Silver Bay Association and Chair of the Manhattan Borough President’s Public Safety Committee. He has received several awards for his work in the community, including a proclamation from former Borough President Ruth Messinger, naming January 18 “Ted Kovaleff Day.” Dr. Kovaleff is an analyst with Horwitz & Associates and has worked as a financial analyst for several firms, including Sky Capital. Dr. Kovaleff has been long-time resident of West Harlem.
Marianne Spraggins is an attorney and real estate broker who spent most of her career in investment banking where she developed extensive experience in municipal and mortgage finance, private equity and asset management. She began her Wall Street career at Salomon Brothers where she was part of the team that created residential mortgage securities and marketed this new product to institutional and public pension fund investors. Later, while at Smith Barney, she became the first African American female Managing Director on Wall Street. She also served as Senior Counsel to the Congressional Oversight Panel, a body created by Congress to oversee the U.S. Treasury’s implementation of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). She has been part of several entrepreneurial ventures including BondFactor, a company that developed a new approach to municipal bond insurance.
Ms. Spraggins is a former director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (S.I.P.C.), where she was appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the agency that protects investors in the event of broker/dealer failure. A native New Yorker and Harlemite, Ms. Spraggins received an LL.M. in International Law from Harvard Law School, a J.D. from the New York Law School and a B.A. in English Literature from Boston University. She is a member of the Bar of the State of New York and is a member of the federal bar in the Southern District of New York. She currently is a board member of GrowNYC, the not-for-profit corporation that is instrumental in the “greening” of New York City, including running the city’s greenmarkets.
Patricia Watler Johnson has been a resident of the West Harlem Community for over 30 years and held property management positions in the private sector before serving in NYS Government as a housing and communications professional. Ms. Watler Johnson previously served as a Division Director in the NYS OTDA Division of Shelter Oversight and Compliance. In addition to representing CB9M on the WHDC Board, she serves as Co-Chair of MCB9’s Uniform Services & Transportation Committee.
Ms. Watler Johnson’s leadership history includes board service on Manhattan’s Community School Board 6, the Harlem Community Development Corporation, NYS Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Memorial Observance Committee, Paul E. Paris Jr. Chapter of Blacks in Government, and the Public Employees Federation Region 10 Women’s Committee. She has earned a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Real Estate from Pace University, Master of Public Administration Degree in Policy Analysis from Walden University, and is a graduate of the NYPD Citizens Police Academy.
Ms. Watler Johnson is also a published writer whose story “No More Drama” was featured in the internationally acclaimed book Chicken Soup for the African-American Woman’s Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Lisa Nichols. Her contribution was one of 73 stories selected for this book from over 5,500 entries worldwide.
Angela Fernández is the Executive Director at Lawyers Alliance of New York, a nonprofit that provides free legal services to organizations serving low-income New Yorkers, assisting them with corporate, real estate, employment, and tax matters. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the Safe Passage Project, providing free legal representation and support to refugee children and immigrants in the NYC area facing deportation. From 2009 to 2019, Angela was the Executive Director and Supervising Attorney of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights. In this role, she spearheaded numerous initiatives that spanned federal, state, and local governments, which positively impacted immigrant communities. Angela also served as District Chief of Staff to United States Congressman Jose Serrano, President of the Dominican Day Parade, and on the board of the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board.
As the former New York State Commissioner for the Division of Human Rights, Angela led a successful turnaround of the investigatory organization. Previously, she held numerous positions in the media, policy, and education fields. She was a Non-Profit Leadership Fellow at The Aspen Institute and has received several humanitarian awards. Angela holds degrees from Boston University and Columbia University School of Law and resides in Washington Heights with her family.
Damon G. Munchus is currently a Managing Director at JP Morgan Chase where he serves as both the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Digital, Data and Product organization within JP Morgan Commercial Banking.
Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase in 2017 he served as the Head of the Financial Services practice within the Corporate Markets division of Gerson Lehrman Group and as a Managing Director of The Cypress Group – providing risk management and corporate strategy advisory services to a broad portfolio of financial services companies. Under President Barack Obama in 2008, Mr. Munchus was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Banking and Finance in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department under Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, and was the principal liaison between the U.S. Congress and the Treasury regarding financial institutions and the capital markets.
Prior to the Treasury Department, his financial services and capital markets experience includes investment banking roles at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Credit Suisse, Friedman Billings Ramsay and Jefferies. He earned a BA at the University of Texas at Austin, an MPP from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a JD from New York University School of Law.
A former chairman of Manhattan Community Board 9, Attorney Larry English worked on Columbia University’s $7 billion campus expansion and spearheaded the first rezoning of West Harlem in over 60 years. Over the last 30 years, he has built an impressive career in the field of law and public service. Mr. English served as local counsel for General Motors on its billion-dollar Shreveport plant expansion and Harrah’s $250 million hotel/casino and represented the construction team on the City of Shreveport’s $350 million Convention Center and Hotel.
In 2018, Mr. English was the center of a landmark United States Supreme Court capital murder case , Robert McCoy v. the State of Louisiana, in which the majority held that an attorney could not plead his client guilty against his wishes. Mr. English’s Supreme Court case will be included in the academic textbook Criminal Procedure and Racial Injustice 1e by James C. Rehnquist and Tracey Maclin that will be published in September 2024.
Mr. English holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Louisiana State University and a Juris Doctorate from Tulane School of Law.
Andres Manuel Aranda was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to Brooklyn, New York at the age of 10. He graduated from Columbia College with a double major in Spanish Literature and Political Science, before attaining his law degree from Columbia Law School. He worked at the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York before focusing his practice on providing legal counsel to the community for the last 44 years. One of his passions and hobbies is volunteering for local political campaigns.
Rev. Georgette Morgan-Thomas is a civic leader and community activist and advocate who has worn many different hats as social worker, pastor, and Chair of Community Board 9, Manhattan. She was the Director of Harlem Services for the Goddard Riverside Community Center, and a board member of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), amongst other NFP boards. For decades, Rev. Morgan-Thomas has been a lead advocate fighting against the ills of our communities while championing issues like affordable housing, better schools and the creation and improvement of programs for our youth, seniors and the arts. She has served on numerous NFP boards that benefit Greater Harlem with special focus on the West Harlem community. Rev. Morgan-Thomas is also the founder and co-proprietor of American Hats LLC (formerly the S&S Hat Company), a 100-year-old Philadelphia staple that produces hand-made designer hats, and is one of the last remaining hat factories in the U.S.
Meet the dedicated employees of West Harlem Development Corporation.
Zead Ramadan’s experience includes over twenty years in community leadership, advocacy, nonprofit governance and development, community outreach and organization, policy development and implementation, small business planning and management. His passion is working with other stakeholders to widen the scale of prosperity across all sectors including Affordable Housing, the Arts, Economic and Workforce Development, Older Adults and Youth Services, Education, and Job Creation and Training in Northern Manhattan while utilizing collaborative and creative cross sector strategies. His community service includes sitting on the boards of UMEZ, Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, CB12M, ARC XVI Senior Center, CAIR-NY, and WHDC.
Joanna E. Castro is a native New Yorker with over fifteen years of nonprofit executive experience working and consulting with Northern Manhattan community stakeholders to fortify their organizations, community spaces, and access to public resources. As Executive Director of NoMAA (Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance), Joanna expanded the reach, visibility, and funding to one of New York’s leading arts service orgs by raising the profile of Uptown arts orgs and artists, as well as local businesses by forging alliances, grants opportunities, and cultivating public engagement around issues affecting the Northern Manhattan community. She also developed and implemented innovative year-around technical assistance workshops and annual Institute addressing community-wide needs.
Joanna earned a B.A. in Spanish and International Studies cum laude from Dickinson College. She lived and worked in Spain for seven years receiving her M.A. in Arts and Cultural Management from the Universidad Carlos III (Madrid). Joanna has received fellowships from Coro/Neighborhood Leadership, Hispanic Federation, among others. She is an Advisor for the Emerging Leaders Program at the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
Fredson worked in the Public Records Division under the Secretary of State of Massachusetts (MA) as a Records Access Officer, where he collaborated closely with the MA Public Records Law Dept. He also worked in MA at the Multicultural Arts Center, where he promoted local and regional artists by creating and curating engaging online content, and as a marketing associate at the Barro Art Gallery in NYC where he developed an effective social media reel strategy that has become the foundational template for the commercial gallery’s digital footprint. Fredson graduated cum laude in the study of Digital Storytelling at Harvard University, and cum laude from Suffolk University with a B.S. in Applied Legal Studies along with a minor in Journalism.
Jenny Rodriguez has over 15 years of professional experience in administrative and financial management across various industries. She’s led major improvements at the Colombian NFP org, Institutional District for the Protection of Youth and Children, in Bogota, and at the University of Rosario (Bogota, Colombia), where she helped develop operational budgets for new projects and enhancing the database for grants, scholarships, and contracts. At the int’l company Kumon, Jenny helped launch a financial training program for 180 centers in Brazil and Colombia. Jenny volunteers at W!SE in New York, an NFP org whose mission is to improve economic mobility through programs that develop financial literacy and readiness for college and careers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Javeriana University and Diplomas in Finance and Higher Education from the Universities of Manizales and Libre in Colombia. Recently, she graduated from AO Program at Grace Institute New York a not-for-profit organization that trains and empowers womens to achieve employment and economic self-sufficiency.
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