 |
Enroll today for the 2013-2014 Penny Harvest! We're excited for another memorable year of philanthropy and service!
Check out some video reflections on our blog from the Penny Harvest at PS 163!
Stay connected:
|
|
 |
|
Home > About Us > Common Cents Staff
 Lashon Allen
Administration and Finance Manager
lallen@CommonCents.org
Lashon, a recent graduate of St. Joseph's College, started at Common Cents as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer. She has worked with Penny Harvesting schools and Student Roundtables in Queens and Brooklyn. Currently, she is a part of the administration team and helps with daily office management. She is thrilled to see the continuous growth of the program, while it maintains its mission to empower students to help their community. |
 Anthony Berthel
Director of Administration and Technology
aberthel@CommonCents.org
Anthony has worked for Common Cents since August 2002. Prior to that, he was an IT assistant for Leadership for Environment and Development International, a program run by the Rockefeller Foundation. His expertise includes Network management, PC repairs, software and hardware installation and upgrades, and many other computer related skills. |
 Jordan Conan
Administration and Data Associate
jconan@CommonCents.org
Jordan joined Common Cents in the spring of 2011 as a Run for Change intern. Following the event Jordan continued working at the organization as a member of the development team, and he is currently an Administrative Associate. |
 Gremesha Crump
Program Associate
gcrump@CommonCents.org
Gremesha, a Tennessee native, brings an overzealous passion for public service and effective communication. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, emphasis in Public Relations from The University of Memphis. Her experience includes traditional and new media relations, publicity and brand management for not-for-profit organizations and businesses. And it is with great enthusiasm that she joins the Common Cents staff as a communication, social media and school support program associate through NYC Civic Corps. |
 Robert Cunningham
Program Associate
rcunningham@CommonCents.org
As a 2012-2013 NYC Civic Corp Member, Robert has the good fortune of being placed at Common Cents to act as the Community Based Organization Liason/School Support. Robert graduated from NYU with a B.A. in English Literature, and a minor in Medieval Studies. During his time at NYU, Robert was employed as a Teacher's Assistant at Benjamin Banneker Elementary in Bed-Stuy, and volunteered for the New York Legal Aide Group, where he helped out in the Immigrant Services Division. He has also volunteered for The New York Poetry Society, the Haitian Immigration Family Resource Center, and tutored in the afterschool homework help program at the Upper West Side YMCA. He is currently in a committed relationship with education and civil service, and is thrilled to be a part of Common Cents. He hopes to do everything possible to further the mission of fostering the growth of NYC students into civic-minded citizens who hold dear the values of philanthropy, humanism, and "learning-through-doing". |
 Teddy Gross
Executive Director
tgross@CommonCents.org
Teddy Gross is the founder and executive director of Common Cents, a national not-for-profit educational organization, which specializes in designing citizenship programs for children and young people, and supporting their work in schools throughout the country and across all demographic divides.
The organization started in 1991, and grew out of the desire of a four-year-old child to help a homeless man in New York City. As the girl’s father, Teddy responded by developing the Penny Harvest, which has continued to evolve over 17 years, and is now a robust year-long program that uses philanthropy service-learning to teach the skills of democratic participation, moral reasoning, and community building to children during their first decade of school. Under his leadership, a lab at Common Cents continues to pilot new models and programs in civic development.
Teddy's interest in innovating social justice programs is the natural outgrowth of a lifetime's work as a journalist, newspaper editor, children's book author, and playwright. He has served as the editor in chief of The Phoenix, a Boston weekly paper. His career as a playwright began at the prestigious Eugene O’Neill National Playwright Conference, where he was a resident for two summers, and continued with many plays and productions, both in regional theatres across the country and off-Broadway. He is also the author of a children’s book, and a frequent speaker at national and international conferences on service-learning and civic engagement.
Under Teddy’s leadership, the Penny Harvest has become the largest child-philanthropy program in the United States, helping to nurture a new generation of caring, informed and capable young people.
|
 Keith Hickman
Program Director
khickman@CommonCents.org
Keith joined the Common Cents team in August 2011 as Program Director. Keith has been working with organizations that serve youth and families for the past 15 years, and brings to CC a wealth of knowledge and experience. Prior to joining CC, he worked at the New York City Department of Education, New Leaders for New Schools, and the Center for Court Innovation. Keith began his professional career in the early 90’s as a Gang Intervention Case Manager in Seattle, Washington. He lives his life by the great words of Horace Mann, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” Keith is a graduate of Antioch College. |
 Shari McDonald
Program Associate
smcdonald@CommonCents.org
Shari McDonald, a recent graduate of Bennett College, is dedicating a year of service to Common Cents through NYC Civic Corps. She is a proud Brooklynite, hailing from Bed-Stuy, with a passion for impacting her community. Shari has over seven years of experience working with youth development programs. At Bennett, Shari earned membership in to several honor societies, including National Theatre Honor Society Alpha Psi Omega. In addition, she participated as a peer-tutor, mentored middle school girls and performed spoken word in over 20 shows. She enjoys playwriting, cooking, acting, traveling and watching “pick-up games”.
|
 Shenique Moxey
Program Associate
smoxey@CommonCents.org
A recent graduate from Middlebury College, Shenique joined Common Cents as part of the NYC Civic Corps class of 2012-2013. She is the Program Associate for schools in her native borough of Queens, as well as Manhattan and Brooklyn. A former Penny Harvest student participant, Shenique looks forward to engaging both coaches and students in service learning and community empowerment |
 Gracie Rifino
Associate Director of Educational Programs
grifino@CommonCents.org
Gracie joined Common Cents in August 2007. She graduated from Binghamton University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and minors in Spanish and International Studies. Drawn to Common Cents by her desire to help youth discover their full potential, much of her work has focused on developing and facilitating youth development programs for students ranging from ages 5 to 21. During her first 2 years at Common Cents she lead a city-wide high school leadership council and developed a cross-age mentoring program while supporting Penny Harvest schools across the city. She now manages the program support and communications for Penny Harvest schools in NYC, Albany and PH-in-a-Box. Her hopes for the upcoming Penny Harvest are for students, coaches and fellow staff to have a meaningful and successful year. |
|
About Us
