Our Team

Amy Wagner, MSW | Founder & Co-Executive Director

Amy Wagner joined the social justice movement when she was marching in utero to ban the bomb. Amy spent her formative activist years during the anti-apartheid and Latin American solidarity movements. With a master’s degree in Social Work from New York University, she worked for many years as a social worker in alternative public high schools. She founded YA-YA Network in 1998.

Divine Ndombo | Director of Youth Development

Divine Soona Gertrude Ndombo was born in Cameroon and immigrated to Central Harlem in 2004 with her family. She joined YA-YA as a youth participant in 2018 and today serves as our Director of Youth Development. Divine is passionate about addressing the disparities of undocumented students within the education system, decriminalizing black and brown students, advocating for school-wide implemented restorative justice, and addressing disenfranchisement and lack of civic education in schools. She brings this passion to the Empower Fellowship Program which she runs, and to the Summer Social Justice Institute. Divine facilitates, writes curriculum, recruits new youth participants, and is a mentor to them.

Ben Joson | Administrative and Development Assistant

Benedict Lopez Joson is a queer Filipino immigrant born in Bulacan, Philippines and raised in Queens, New York. He has served young people and marginalized communities through local and global organizations committed to youth development and educational equity. Since 2018, Benedict has provided the administrative and fundraising support to the YA-YA staff and Board of Directors needed for the team to prepare NYC's youth to become organizers and leaders.

Raúl Soto | Co-Executive Director

Raúl was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, and remains a resident there. He is an alum of Haverford College, where he received a BA in Religion with a concentration in Religion, Ethics, and Society, and CUNY Baruch College, where he received a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree in the Executive Program. Raúl’s long-term goals are centered on creating an equitable future for the next generation by dismantling systems and mechanisms of oppression and racism.

rell Brown | Director of Organizing

Cherrell Brown is a community organizer, social justice educator, abolitionist and mom. She first came to movement work over a decade ago sparked by the execution of Troy Anthony Davis and has worked in many struggles against anti-Black state violence.  A lover of student-loan debt, she has a BA in Political Science from North Carolina A&T State University, and an MA in Human Rights from the University of London. When she’s not turning up on the system you can find her at home playing with her toddler and planning hiking adventures. Next year she hopes to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro!

Aya Aziz | Director of Communications

Aya Aziz is an Egyptian American artist, organizer, and educator from New York City. Aya joined YA-YA in 2020 after years of working with young people in NYC public schools. As our Communications Director, Aya works with YA-YA's Media Associate and other young activists to create actionable digital organizing tools for the police-free-schools movement, in addition to supporting the digital strategies of YA-YA's campaign to remove metal detectors in schools. 

Destiny Davis | Director of Programming

Destiny Davis is a queer black organizer born and raised in Flatbush. Passionate about the well-being of young people, she has worked closely with elementary, middle, and high school students throughout Brooklyn for the last five years. Destiny has worked in her community to support and maintain local mutual aid projects, has historically organized to combat discriminatory practices in NYC School, and is committed to the ongoing struggle to weaken the prison-industrial complex. She joined YA-YA Network in 2018. At the beginning of 2022, she stepped into the role of Director of Programming where she works closely to train youth participants in the principles of popular education-based facilitation and workshop development.

Jeanine Marie Russaw | Director of Facilitation

Jeanine Marie Russaw is a neurodivergent educator who boldly wears her HSP traits as badges of honor.  A storyteller to her core, Jeanine holds a B.A. in Journalism from Hofstra University and a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from Relay Graduate School of Education. She eagerly joins YA-YA Network committed to designing and facilitating learning experiences that empower folx to share their stories, lead the conversations that matter most to them, and in turn, develop other leaders. A proud Pennsylvania native, Jeanine has happily called Harlem home for the last eight years.