Meet the Team

Betsy Cohen is Youth Communication’s executive director. She leads Youth Communication’s team, and is focused on growing the organization’s impact over the next several years. Before taking on the role as executive director, she served at YC’s deputy director, working closely with founder Keith Hefner. Betsy has worked in a variety of roles focused on NYC public schools at the Center for Supportive Schools, Success Academy Charter Schools, and at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She has a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from Emory University in comparative literature. She lives in Jersey City with her husband and rescue pitbull named Doug.

Janill Briones-Lopez is the director of partnership development at Youth Communication. A former YC writer, Janill returns to help the team nurture existing educational partners and cultivate new partner relationships. Janill has an extensive background in business development and sales and is a Hunter College alumna with a B.A. in psychology. Janill is passionate about being in tune with her Latinx culture, traveling to new places, and reading diverse books.

Dr. Anne Desrosiers graduated with her PhD in Contemporary Learning & Interdisciplinary Learning from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education in 2019. As an entrepreneur, world traveler and agent of change, Anne’s role as Founder/Executive Director of The World is Your Oyster (TWIYO pronounced twee-yo) since 2013 and passion for world travel informed her research areas of experiential learning, positive youth development, and global competence. To that end, Anne has personally traveled to 59 countries, and traveled with over 100 youth to Martha’s Vineyard, Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden in her work as scholar and philanthropist. For over a decade, Anne has used education and curriculum writing as a platform for social justice and to support inner city youth in harnessing their true leadership and intellectual potential. Raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn and a proud Haitian-American, first generation immigrant, Anne has employed culturally responsive pedagogy, didactic teaching, and performance to reach her U.S./AP U.S. History students in both high & middle schools. Traveling to 6 out of the 7 continents and 56 countries to date—Anne has spoken to students, on panels, and at conferences internationally. As a facilitator, Anne has hosted workshops, professional development trainings, and special events in her multiple areas of expertise.

Tara DeWorsop joins YC as the managing director of external relations with 14 years of experience working in development and communications with international and local non-profits. Her work has taken her across the U.S. and around the globe to countries like Japan, Thailand, China, and South Africa. In 2016, she received her MBA from NYU Stern with a specialization in social impact, entrepreneurship, and innovation and is currently a multi-sector communications Ph.D. candidate. She is a passionate advocate for continuous learning and finds joy in connecting people to meaningful experiences and causes! In her free time, she loves going or long walks near the closest body of water and trying her hand at different art forms.

Hande Erkan is the communications associate at Youth Communication. A 2023 graduate of Baruch College with a degree in business administration, she majored in marketing management with a journalism minor. Hande is passionate about using her marketing skills to create positive change within our communities. Hande is bringing nearly a decade of connection with YC. Her journey with YC began in 2015 as a teen writer in the intensive Summer Writing Workshop, followed by several YC internships, and a volunteer ambassadorship. Beyond her work at YC, Hande advocates for women’s empowerment through New York Women in Communications, and has previously contributed to platforms like NBC News and TBWA Ad Agency, and champions animal rights.

Kinyanna Evans, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, is a youth worker committed to creating empowering spaces for her community through education reform work. Growing up with Caribbean heritage, Kinyanna used her identity as a foundational tool to reimagine how learning spaces can become emancipatory tools. She graduated from DePauw University with an education studies major and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies minor. Since graduating, she has worked in several youth programs such as Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF) and St. Nicks Alliance, through different roles from youth facilitator to program manager. Kinyanna is passionate about how education and community organizing work centers marginalized voices as leaders in their learning. She is ready to bring this energy and passion to help create the YC curriculum! Kinyanna loves baking and spends most of her free time making treats for her friends.

Tim Fredrick, PhD, is the managing director of education programs, leading the team that implements YC’s professional development and curriculum programs. He has been a teacher for over 20 years from kindergarten to graduate school, and everything in between. His dissertation, completed at New York University, focuses on how 9th graders used language to achieve agency in a New York City ELA classroom. His career in education has always been dedicated to creating educational spaces that center and validate young people’s experiences, interests, cultures, and goals.

Janelle Greco is the senior director of training at Youth Communication, a role in which she oversees all professional development services at the organization. Prior to joining Youth Communication, Janelle worked as director of the Pre-College Academic Programming Department at LaGuardia Community College and previously served as director of training and advancement at The Doe Fund–an organization dedicated to providing training and career services to those who have been homeless, in foster care, and previously incarcerated. Janelle has a B.A. in English and secondary education from Springfield College and an M.A. in English from Northeastern University. She lives in Brooklyn, is a creative non-fiction writer, and a firm believer in the power of storytelling and sharing experiences with others.

Keith Hefner founded Youth Communication in 1980. He won a MacArthur Fellowship in 1989, and he was a 1986-87 Charles H. Revson Fellow on the Future of New York City at Columbia University. He is a 2004 graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, Institute for Non-Profit Management, Executive Level Program. In 1997 he received the Luther P. Jackson Award for Educational Excellence from the New York Association of Black Journalists. He is the executive editor or co-author of several dozen Youth Communication books and programs, including Real Men and The Teen Guide to Sex (without regrets). Keith works with the editors and education staff on editorial quality control, and he works with the management team on strategy and to support fundraising.

Samantha Lilienfeld is YC’s director of operations where she supports the organization’s internal development and external communications, working in support of the writing program, teen-written story distribution, and education programming. Prior to joining Youth Communication, Samantha worked with the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Community Schools as an AmeriCorps VISTA and Coro NY’s Participatory Budgeting Youth Fellowship program. Samantha has an M.A. in American studies from CUNY Graduate Center and a B.A. in comparative ethnic studies from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She lives in Brooklyn by way of Los Angeles.

Joanne K. Narrido is the development associate at Youth Communication. Joanne joins the YC team and brings over 10 years of experience in art non-profits and higher education. Her passion is creating sustainable pathways for equitable access to resources for marginalized communities. Joanne has an MFA in arts administration from Baruch College (CUNY) and a BA in sociology from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is currently pursuing a fundraising certification in the Heyman Program at NYU. In her free time, she likes to not take herself too seriously, sew, build and restore furniture, read, hike, travel, pet her chickens and cats, stare into space… pretty much all of the things.

Cecilia Pou Jové is the Administrative Associate at Youth Communication and is originally from San Juan, PR. Cecilia has B.A.s in Comparative Literature and Arabic Studies from Williams College. Prior to joining the organization, she has worked in libraries as a Curatorial Assistant in undergrad and as a Bilingual Children’s Outreach Associate at the New York Public Library. Moreover, she has worked as a Project Manager for a language services provider. In her free time she enjoys drawing, language learning, and reading!

Virginia Vitzthum has been an editor at Youth Communication, on (mostly) and off since 2008, where she has won several awards. Before that she wrote for, among others, salon.com, Elle, Washington City Paper, Ms., Time Out New York, and the Village Voice. She has written two books and contributed to several others. She has edited fiction and nonfiction books, substance abuse treatment guides, book reviews for Publisher’s Weekly, and, her favorite, the autobiographical stories teens write for Represent and YouthComm (YCteen) magazines.