Board of Directors
Memo Salazar, Board co-chair
Memo is a Mexican-born filmmaker and writer, as well as a longtime resident of Sunnyside, Queens. He is also a local business owner, a recipient of Arena’s Five Borough Future fellowship and of the 2019 Queens Latinx leadership award for community activism. He is currently working as the head of Production at World Science Festival, bringing accessible science to the public via live events and online shows.
Jenny Dubnau, Board co-chair
Jenny Dubnau has lived in Jackson Heights for over 20 years. She is also a working artist who rents commercial workspace, and sees commercial displacement as inseparable from gentrification. She’s a founding member of the Artist Studio Affordability Project and a member of the Justice for All Coalition steering committee. Her efforts to fight gentrification and displacement continue, and she is actively involved in a coalition working for equitable development of publicly owned land.
evie hantzopoulos, Board Treasurer
Evie has lived in Astoria since 1999 where she has been active in community affairs. She currently serves on Community Board One, and co-founded the 31st Ave Open Street Collective, Frontline Foods Queens, and Astoria Mutual Aid Network. In January 2022, she was appointed as Executive Director of the Queens Botanical Garden.
Shrima Wagley Singh, Board secretary
Shrima has been living across Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights since her family came to the US from Nepal in 1997. Previously, she served as the Small Business Program Manager at Chhaya CDC and was an organizer with Queens Neighborhoods United. She is currently the Director of Community Engagement at Start Small Think Big, a national nonprofit supporting small businesses, and the chair of the health committee in Community Board 4.
DOUG MCPHERSON, Board Member
Doug is an affordable housing developer at Apex Building Group who has helped create over 6,000 housing units for low- and middle-income families across New York City, Connecticut, and Greater Boston. He previously served as Interim Manager of the ReAL Edgemere Community Land Trust and held roles at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development and Empire State Development. He earned his master’s degree in city planning from MIT and bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sarah Helden, Board Member
Sarah Helden has been involved with Western Queens CLT since 2025. She has over a decade of professional experience in the nonprofit sector and is currently employed by the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, where she has worked on programs involving property acquisition, foreclosure prevention and home repair loans. She strongly believes in the power of community engagement, anti-displacement and land justice.
Staff
pedro TEJADA, PROJECT MANAGER
Pedro Tejada is a Master of Urban Planning candidate at Hunter College and an affordable housing development professional with over five years of experience in real estate finance, acquisition analysis, and project management. Born and raised in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and living in Queens for the past 15 years, he has witnessed the pressures of a housing market that has priced many families out- including his own- and is dedicated to advancing permanently affordable, community-controlled housing models that provide long-term stability. Through financial modeling, capital stack assembly, and mission-driven development, he seeks to strengthen CLT capacity and expand equitable housing opportunities in New York City.
pamela herrera, land justice Coordinator
Pam case-managed rapid rehousing families and individuals in our neighboring state, NJ. She has a history working in Western Queens as Woodside on the Move’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator. She is also a social worker with a long-term goal to eliminate homelessness. Pam joined WQCLT as our first part-time staff in March 2022, and transitioned to full-time in September 2023.
