Maryann Hedaa is the Founder and Managing Director of The Hunts Point Alliance for Children.  In 2004, Maryann founded St. Ignatius School for Girls. She was named Principal of St. Ignatius School in 2005 and integrated the boys’ and girls’ programs. Maryann is not new to Hunts Point.  In 1979, she served as the Environmental Education Coordinator for the Bronx Frontier Development Corporation.

Also in 1979, she founded URBAN ADVENTURES, an adapted Outward Bound Program for inner city youth.  She was the Executive Director of the program for six years.  During that time, she developed the Project Discovery Program at South Bronx High School.  This youth leadership program currently exists in several New York City High Schools.

Maryann has taught in the MBA Program, the  Executive MBA Program and the Institute for Not for Profit Management at Columbia Business School.  In addition to her teaching, she served as Director for The Institute for Not for Profit Management and the Assistant Dean of Executive Education.  Her area of expertise is leadership development, with a focus on how to sustain high levels of commitment and motivation in challenging work environments.

Maryann earned a BA in History from St. John’s University, an MA and MS from St. Mary’s College in Ethics and Psychology, an MS from Columbia Business School and an STL in Social Ethics from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. She currently is a member of the Board of Directors for both the Children’s Law Center and the Shakespeare Society.

Jill is the Director of Operations and Community Advocacy at the Hunts Point Alliance for Children. Jill joined HPAC after a one-year fellowship with the Bronx Family Court focusing on education issues and barriers faced by court-involved youth. She completed her law degree at the University of Pittsburgh and holds an LL.M. in international law and human rights from the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands. During law school, Jill interned at Neighborhood Legal Services in Pittsburgh, PA, helping clients with landlord/tenant issues and securing Medicaid Benefits.

Prior to law school, Jill was a Case Manager at the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York, assisting HIV+ individuals receive quality health care services and government benefits. She also spent the summer of 2005 as a Public Policy intern in the legal department of the National Center for Victims of Crime.

Griselle Baret is the Director of Education Programs for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children (HPAC).  She is also one the alliance’s founding members—she was an Administrative Intern during HPAC’s inception in 2006. 

Griselle has been working with youth programs since 2003, when she served a Youth Advisor for the Sacred Heart Youth Group, a safe haven for 13-18 year olds of the Sacred Heart Parish in the Highbridge section of the Bronx.  As an Advisor, she helped coordinate and supervise activities Saturday nights to keep teenagers off the streets when they were not in school.  In 2006, Griselle became an Americorps volunteer, working as the Community Resource Coordinator for St. Ignatius School.  She was in charge of maintaining contacts throughout the community and beyond during the 2006-2007 academic year. She also assisted the school’s Graduate Support Program. Currently, Griselle directs and coordinates HPAC’s school-related programs, such as the Hunts Point Children’s Shakespeare Ensemble.

Griselle is currently pursuing her Master’s in Educational Leadership from New York University, where she also earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2006.

Allison Topilow is the Food Coordinator for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children. She has worked with the alliance as a volunteer since March 2009. Allison has spent the past 25 + years working in the field of advertising, buying and selling television, radio and cable broadcast time.

Over the span of her advertising career Allison managed and retained large multimillion dollar accounts on behalf of the advertising agencies where she worked. She has proven negotiation skills and an established record for honesty and integrity within the advertising community.

In 2008, Allison made the life decision to change her career path from the world of business to the nonprofit world. She has been utilizing her extensive professional skills at HPAC while learning about the non-profit community.

Dahiana Lessard is a Bronx-born native from the Highbridge area who recently rejoined the Hunts Point Alliance for Children team as Bookkeeper/Administrative Assistant. She was part of the Alliance in February of 2008 as an Administrative Assistant until joining the  Year Up program to improve her communicative, professional and technical skills. During the program, Dahiana earned a six-month apprenticeship at Google, Inc, as a Field Technician. She then worked as a temporary Tech Assistant position at the Riverdale Country School. She was previously an active duty soldier for the United States Army as a Human Resource/Administrative Personnel Specialist for two and a half years.

Dahiana is a single parent with two daughters, currently ages four and six, who are what motivate her to accomplish whatever is set in her path. Dahiana is also working to obtain a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and become a counselor. She is passionate about working to help others and believes working at HPAC will help her perfect the skills she needs to be of help to others.

Ruby Torres is the Social Worker at Hunts Point Alliance for Children (HPAC). She joined our team January 2010. Ruby began her career as a counselor at Beacon of Hope House and went on to pursue her Bachelors at Lehman College where she obtained her BSW in 2001. She earned her MSW in 2004, while enrolled in a one year Advanced Standing Program at Fordham University’s Tarrytown Campus with a specialization in Children and Families.

Ruby comes to HPAC with an eclectic professional background and has been in the social service field working for over 10 years. She brings the knowledge and expertise in working with several populations including, low income, HIV/AIDS, unemployed, former and active substance abusers, veterans, physically disabled, women and children, elderly, and SPMI for several years. Ruby would like to continue advancing her career and building on her skills while assisting the families of Hunts Point. She plans to enroll in a doctoral program to pursue her PHD.