Tonnetta Graham is a Philadelphia native who is a Founder and current Executive Director of the Strawberry Mansion Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to neighborhood preservation, commercial, residential and economic development and planning. She has successfully lead community engagement efforts and negotiations on a wide variety of development projects that have led to community benefits that stabilized the neighborhood and empowered its longtime residents. Her additional service efforts include board affiliations with the Strawberry Mansion Neighborhood Action Center, East Fairmount
Park Coalition, Community Partnership School Trustee Board and the Audubon/Outward Bound Discovery Center. She also serves as an Instructor for the Philadelphia Citizen’s Planning Institute and is a contributor to its Citizen’s Tool Kit and Philadelphia’s Neighborhood Preservation Tool Kit. Tonnetta has a BS in Human Resource Management from Indiana University of PA and her MS in Higher Education and Organizational Leadership from Drexel University with additional certifications in Volunteer Management and Citizen Planning. She enjoys spending time with her family, especially her teenage son Luke, and friends.
Brandon Taylor serves an Assistant Program Officer at LISC Philadelphia, providing programmatic and administrative support for the office’s Equitable Neighborhoods portfolio, which includes capacity building, estate planning, West Philadelphia Promise Zone initiatives, community engagement, and community safety. In his current role, he supports the execution of a holistic and strategic approach to community development that intends to result in
transformative and equitable outcomes by the communities that LISC serves. Prior to LISC, Brandon worked as a Program Manager at The Trust for Public Land overseeing the design and construction of parks and playgrounds in Philadelphia. He graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional studies, and a minor in architecture. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, preparing good food, and enjoying the outdoors with his wife and their two-year-old son.
A native of Puerto Rico, Verónica has made Philadelphia her home over the past twelve years. She firmly believes in everyone's ability to participate in a greater conversation; one that affects the way we live, and the pursuit to improve it. While studying architecture at Temple University, Verónica honed her passion for urban affairs into the creation of Building Relationships in Communities [BRIC]; a collective that creates stronger neighborhoods through inclusive projects and fostering relationships between traditionally separate communities. At Philadelphia LISC, Verónica is responsible for providing programmatic and administrative support to Equitable Community Development, Affordable Housing, and Economic Development. She serves as a continuing education instructor at Temple University and as chair for the Design Advocacy Group’s Equity Task Force.