Belinda Passafaro

Belinda Passafaro has served in the educational field as a teacher, advocate, program director, staff developer and consultant. With over 15 years of experience, she has been committed to the development of inner-city youth in South Brooklyn and the betterment of disadvantaged communities in the city. She formerly worked for the Partnership for After School Education (PASE) in New York City as a program director, citywide mentor/literacy trainer and technical assistance provider to develop and strengthen afterschool programs and the skills of their staff.

Presently, Belinda is working as an independent consultant providing professional development, program development, and technical assistance to youth-serving agencies and faith-based institutions in New York City and in cities across the country.

Belinda is a graduate of Brooklyn College with a Master's Degree in Bilingual Education and she also completed Columbia University's Middle Management Program at the Not-for-Profit Institute in 1998.

Jason Schwartzman, PhD

Jason Schwartzman is the Senior Program Specialist, Child & Youth Communication and Participation, at the Christian Children's Fund (CCF), where he develops programs that foster the voice and participation of young people who are from low-income communities in over 30 countries around the world.

Prior to joining CCF, he was the Deputy Director of the Partnership for After School Education (PASE), a network of child and youth programs in New York City that advocates for resources and builds practice through training and demonstration projects. Earlier in his career, he worked directly with young people in a series of afterschool programs that focused primarily on the arts and literacy, eventually directing an afterschool and teen drop-in center in the East Harlem community of New York City.

Jason's academic training is in developmental psychology, and he received a PhD from the City University of New York in 1988.

Adewale A. Oduye, Esq.

Adewale has over 12 years of nonprofit leadership experience. In addition to being In Legal Color's Board Chair, he is also its Founder and Executive Director. He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in African American studies and from Northwestern University with a degree in law. For more information about Adewale, please click here.