Our Team
Staff Members
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Cristhian Barcelos
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Catherine Angus
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Russell Ben Ali
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Jorge Chavez
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Rosa Marisol Ramirez
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Board of Trustees
Jordan Fried, President
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Harsh Parikh, Secretary & Vice President
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Jordan Fried has a successful career in business where he is known for his ability to build and implement service management solutions that provide breakthrough improvements in revenue, unit cost and customer satisfaction. He is currently Product Manager for Anti Money Laundering (AML) Solutions at NICE Actimize in Hoboken, New Jersey. At NICE Actimize he is responsible for the design and Product Lifecycle for three Products focused on reporting of suspicious activity and identifying potential or actual sanctions violations. Past positions include roles in IT, Strategic Planning, Product Management and Finance at firms such as JPMC, Credit Suisse, Bank of America, and AT&T Corporation. Other current volunteer activities include Bridges Outreach to the Homeless. Jordan has held past Board positions at Temple B’Nai Or in Morristown, He earned his B.S. in Economics from Cornell University and MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
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Harsh Parikh is a Principal at PGIM, the Global Investment Management Business of Prudential Financial, Inc. Prior to PGIM, he was Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management. He also worked for GMAC RFC and Countrywide Capital Markets in portfolio management and fixed income research respectively. Harsh earned his advanced business degrees from the University of Southern California and the prestigious EDHEC Business School in France. Harsh did his undergraduate studies in Computer Engineering at Gujarat University, India.
Harsh brings his expertise to the Literacy Volunteers of America board as a result of his passion to give back to the community in which he lives and works. He enjoys providing investment advice and business development plans to help grow organizations. Harsh, passionate about education, says he thoroughly enjoys teaching languages as well. |
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Jamie Stieger, Treasurer
Executive Director, Administration & Finance, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
With nearly two decades of experience in the business world, Jamie Stieger has always had one focus: helping to make people’s lives better. Jamie is currently the Director, Administration & Finance, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center at Rutgers University. Jamie advises the executive director and also coaches senior leaders at FXB, which is committed to improving the health of vulnerable women, children and families, including those affected by HIV.
She implemented training programs for healthcare providers to better improve HIV care in the United States. Jamie also developed a 24-hour crisis response program for victims of sexual assault. Prior to that, she provided crisis counseling and referrals to parents of children with disabilities. Jamie’s humanitarian efforts are a complement to our dedicated board. Jamie earned a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Public Health from Rutgers and a Bachelor of Arts and Social Work from the University of New Hampshire.
She implemented training programs for healthcare providers to better improve HIV care in the United States. Jamie also developed a 24-hour crisis response program for victims of sexual assault. Prior to that, she provided crisis counseling and referrals to parents of children with disabilities. Jamie’s humanitarian efforts are a complement to our dedicated board. Jamie earned a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Public Health from Rutgers and a Bachelor of Arts and Social Work from the University of New Hampshire.
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Diana Agu
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Mariella Andrade
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Diana studied Law & Criminology in London, but climbed the corporate ladder working in Project & Business management. She spent the last 15 years in various leadership positions in Technology and Financial Services and held varied roles such as Project Manager, Head of PMO, COO, Global Head of Strategy.
Diana has curated many programs for women, young people and professionals that focuse on career growth and business ownership in the market place and for entrepreneurs. She is a mentor, coach and speaker, she also actively works with the Google developers’ group (GDG) NYC chapter to curate and speak at some of their events. In 2021, Diana pivoted to healthcare where she manages Curain Healthcare Services. Diana supports various charitable initiatives and currently she serves as a board member for Horizon4hope, a nonprofit helping disabled persons in Nigeria, Jide Lawore Ministries (JLM), a ministry outreach focusing on missions and helping train Pastors globally. She is also the President of Morris County Special Education Parents Advisory Group (SEPAG) for the school district, and with joining LVAEP, she hopes to continue to support education and empowerment for others |
Social worker Mariella Andrade, a native of Riobamba, Ecuador, is the rape hotline manager for Family Service League/SAVE (Sexual Assault and Violence Education) of Essex County. She is responsible for the assessment, counseling, and education of victims of sexual violence, ensuring that they receive supportive counseling to reduce and cope with trauma and are connected with vital services available in the community. She has previously served as a counselor and social worker for various organizations.
Mariella is bilingual and has worked as a substitute public school Spanish teacher. She holds an associate’s degree in education from Essex County College and attended Rutgers University, where she earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in social work. She also has earned certification as an advocate for domestic violence and sexual assault victims and is a board member of the Anti-Racism Committee at SAVE of Essex County. |
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Victoria Gray
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Kathleen Mollica
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Victoria Gray is a first-generation college graduate from rural West Alabama, who earned a self-designed undergraduate degree in Public Policy and Government Affairs from the University of Alabama, and a Masters in Secondary Education from Mercy College (New York). Previously a doctoral student in Drexel University’s Educational Leadership program, she has paused her studies there to pursue a Master of Social Work degree at Rutgers University, with a focus on policies impacting poverty and marginalization.
For nearly three decades, Victoria has worked in the educational pipeline, first as a lobbyist and policy advocate, then as a classroom teacher and building-level leader, student affairs officer and now, as a career and college access and success leader. In each role, Victoria has worked to make academic and personal pathways equitable and accessible for Black and brown communities, of which she is a part. Active in several local organizations, including Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., the Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills, the NAACP of the Oranges and Maplewood, the Women of New Jersey, Inc., the National Association of Black Social Workers, and The Affirmative Action Commission of the City of Orange Township. Victoria was most recently tapped to join the Board of Directors of Literacy Volunteers of America, Essex and Passaic Counties. Victoria’s two daughters bring her the most joy! Jillian, 20, is a Junior at Rutgers University and a scholar of housing policy; Charlotte, who will be nine years old on St. Patrick’s Day, as long believed the parade and fanfare was for her! |
Kathy Mollica is an active tutor and a trainer of tutors for LVA, an organization to which she has belonged and contributed to for more than 20 years Kathy is a career librarian. She retired as the director of the Passaic Public Library and once worked as the library's assistant director. In her retirement, she works part-time as a reference librarian for the Hawthorne Public Library, where she also heads the literacy program for LVA. Kathy is president of the Zonta Club of Passaic/Clifton, an organization that is active in community affairs. She earned a master's degree in library science from Pratt Institute in New York City.
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Cheryl Locastro
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George Pillepich
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Cheryl Locastro is the head of Children’s Services at the Bloomfield Public Library and an instructor in the English for Speakers of Other Languages program offered by Literacy Volunteers of America, Essex & Passaic Counties, and the Maplewood Memorial Library.
She has a passion for working with students and has gained valuable experience over the years as an art teacher and education specialist at public schools in Bergen and Passaic Counties, as well as at Montclair State University where she taught art history and criticism to middle school students enrolled in a gifted and talented program. She possesses enviable outreach skills and is credited with creating, strengthening, and maintaining lasting partnerships between her employers and the communities that they serve. Cheryl currently supervises and manages all workers in the Bloomfield Public Library’s Children’s Department where she also creates and oversees programs for children from birth to age 12, including the library’s arts and crafts programs and the Storytime program, a local favorite. Cheryl earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art education from Rowan University, a master’s in art history from Montclair State University, and a master’s of library and information science from San Jose State University. |
George Pillepich is a retired senior finance and operations executive with more than 35 years’ experience in non-profit and commercial firms. He is a former finance director for Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders USA, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning international non-profit organization that provides emergency medical care around the globe. There he oversaw budgets that funded humanitarian projects and missions in 60 countries. George also served as finance director for Global Potential, the not-for-profit organization that seeks to make leaders of youth in underserved communities from New York City, to Nicaragua, Haiti, and Senegal.
George is a certified public account and a co-inventor on a U.S. patent for software application design. He graduated from Fordham University and launched his professional career with the national accounting firm Ernst and Young, before holding senior finance, operations, and technology positions at investment management firms like Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investors, State Street Bank & Trust, and Schroder Real Estate Associates. He enjoys volunteering as a financial literacy instructor. |
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Sally E. Rice
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Maria Roman
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Sally Rice is the President of the Board of Trustees of Literacy Volunteers of America, Essex & Passaic Counties, Inc. She has been a leader in literacy for almost four decades, first as Supervising Librarian and Coordinator of Adult Services for the East Orange Public Library and now as a retiree since 2006. Sally became active in literacy as the library’s representative to the Essex Literacy Consortium in the 1980’s. Through this work, she was invited to become a member of the Board of Directors of LVA Essex County. She continued her board service when the Essex and Newark LVA organizations merged in late 1993. Sally served as President from 1995-2006 and again from 2009 to date. She served as Board Secretary from 2007-2008. Other volunteer leadership positions include her work as a founding member and the first President of the Government Documents Association of New Jersey. Sally served on the Bernie L. Edmonson Community Education Center Advisory Council in East Orange and on several committees for the New Jersey Library Association. Sally earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the American University in Washington, D.C. and a Master’s of Library Science from Rutgers University. She is also an active board member for her local public library Friends organization.
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Maria Roman is a bilingual, early childhood and special education teacher in Passaic County schools. Her approach to teaching is straightforward and commendable: She believes that students fare best when they are encouraged to keep open minds and think creatively, and when teachers inspire them to do so. If lifelong learning were a movement, Maria could easily be its spokeswoman. In addition to her university degrees, she has earned more than a dozen certificates in teaching and educational leadership. Maria earned an associate degree in art at Essex County College and, at Montclair State University, a bachelor’s in English literature with a minor in psychology, and a master’s degree in early education, and education and teaching students with disabilities. Beyond the university and the classroom, Maria is the owner of a photography studio, an enterprise that specializes in commercial photography, marketing, advertising, public relations, and brand building and awareness.
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Trainers
Mary Kao
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Mary O’Connor
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Mary Kao joined LVA Essex & Passaic Counties as a tutor in 2001 and is one of our longest serving volunteers. An artist and teacher of origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, she became a trainer in 2007 and has since turned hundreds of volunteers into eager tutors, using her unique style of teaching with easily obtainable pictures and paper art. Mary grew up in India, speaks several languages, and grew passionate about literacy and education after observing obstacles faced by her mother, who was discouraged from attending school as a child in China. Mary was named NJALL “Teacher of the Year” in 2018 and LVA “Educator of the Year” in 2014. She earned a bachelor’s degree in interior design from Washington State University.
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Mary O’Connor is a trainer, a tutor of multiple students, our tutor support specialist, and a lead workshop presenter at LVA Essex & Passaic Counties. In a 43-year career in education, she worked as an English teacher in the New York City school system, a religious studies teacher at several New Jersey Catholic high schools, and an assistant principal and principal at Marylawn of the Oranges Academy in South Orange. She retired in 2008. She became an LVA tutor in 2010 and a trainer in 2013. Mary was named NJALL “Teacher of the Year” in 2014 and has also won LVA’s “Educator of the Year” award. Mary earned a bachelor’s degree at St. John’s University and a master’s degree at Seton Hall University.
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Darnelle Richardson
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Carolyn Van Doren
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Darnelle Richardson has been a leader in adult education for almost 30 years. She has been a Master Trainer with Literacy Volunteers of New Jersey since 2005 and has recently joined LVA Essex & Passaic Counties’ roster of tutor trainers.
Darnelle ‘s studies in education and business led to her current position at the Jersey City Public Library Literacy Program where she wears many hats. Darnelle is Program Coordinator, Tutor Trainer and Instructor. She leads a team of staff and volunteers to achieve the best possible outcomes for the diverse population of students her organization serves. Along with working with basic literacy and ESL students in improving their speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension of English, Darnelle also finds time to teach Public Speaking classes. Darnelle has been a member of Toastmasters International, Jersey City since 2005. She received the Distinguished Toastmaster award in 2013, the organization’s highest educational/leadership honor. |
A retired human resources manager who has recruited and hired more than 100 technical employees for IT and engineering jobs, Carolyn Van Doren is both an LVA literacy tutor and a trainer of basic literacy and ESOL tutors. She joined the organization as a volunteer in 2008. Carolyn is the former vice-president of the Girl Scouts of Essex County and also served as a national delegate, a board member and the chairperson of several committees for the organization. In her management career, Carolyn specialized in finding positions for displaced workers, negotiating with labor unions, arbitration, and employee grievance procedures and policies. She is a contributing writer for the Minority Interchange Newsletter. Carolyn received a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Industrial Relations from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in Counselling from Upsala College.
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