Members
Members of our Community
Raphael is a full-stack engineer for InternMatch. In college, he studied Cognitive Science with an emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, writing his thesis on the computational evolution of teamwork in artificial agents. Raphael also founded bonus.ly, a peer to peer employee award system. In addition to programming, Raphael enjoys running, cycling, and rock climbing.
Raphael Crawford-Marks on Linkedin
Field & services: development education internet internship web
Member since: October 1st, 2011
Honey & Wax Booksellers offers great works of literature: first printings, beautiful and curious editions, copies with surprising stories of their own. Rare books in Brooklyn, with no downloadable equivalent: honeyandwaxbooks.com
Heather O’Donnell | Honey & Wax Booksellers on Facebook Heather O’Donnell | Honey & Wax Booksellers on Linkedin
Field & services: appraisal books collecting literature reading writing
Member since: November 8th, 2011

Kathie von Ankum is the Principal of A+D Appraisals–providing owners of art, antiques, and collectables with IRS approved appraisals and informal opinions of value.
Field & services: art appraisals art research valuation
Member since: June 12th, 2012
Jim Weber is the president and founder of the college football and men’s basketball site LostLettermen.com. He has previously worked at ESPN The Magazine, NBC Sports and CBS Sports.
Lost Lettermen LLC on Facebook Lost Lettermen LLC on Linkedin
Member since: April 28th, 2011
Sarah Ellison is an award-winning journalist and author of War at the Wall Street Journal. She spent ten years at the WSJ in Paris, London and New York before leaving to write the book. She is currently writing for Vanity Fair and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.
Member since: June 16th, 2010
Transplanted southerner, freelance web developer. I manage a small experienced team that design and build beautiful things on the web with a focus on usability and performance. fitzhaile.com
Fitz Haile | Fitzhugh, LLC on Facebook Fitz Haile | Fitzhugh, LLC on Linkedin
Field & services: compass sass web design web development wordpress
Member since: February 6th, 2013
Matt Easton is an independent consultant conducting research, writing, and advocacy on human rights for non-profits and foundations. His main areas of focus are Southeast Asia and the protection of human rights defenders worldwide.
Matt Easton on Linkedin
Member since: August 19th, 2011
Certified Naturally Grown provides peer-review certification for small-scale farmers and beekeepers using organic methods. Founded by Hudson Valley farmers in 2002, today CNG has 800 members in 47 states. These are the producers at the heart of the good food movement. Find farms near you at www.naturallygrown.org
Certified Naturally Grown on Facebook
Field & services: agriculture certification food grassroots Non-profit
Member since: January 4th, 2012
Lauren Mechling is a novelist and editor. Most recently, she was food editor at the Wall Street Journal. She is currently working on a young adult novel. laurenmechling.com
Member since: August 31st, 2012
Co-founder of BCL, Neil’s professional interests include sustainable real estate development and creating investment models that build strong communities and resilient local economies. www.brooklyncreativeleague.com
Neil Carlson on Facebook
Field & services: business development entrepreneurship real estate writing
Member since: January 1st, 2009
Amy Kisch, is founder / CEO of AKArt, an arts agency which advises artists, art galleries, art fairs, museums, art organizations, auction houses, publishers, corporations sponsors and collectors. Ms. Kisch’s expertise includes the intricacies of the fine art market, fine arts branding & strategy, marketing & PR, publishing, programming, development and collection management. www.AKArt.com.
Amy Kisch | AKArt on Facebook Amy Kisch | AKArt on Linkedin
Field & services: art branding Events Marketing PR Sponsorship strategy
Member since: July 11th, 2012
Build with Prospect is a sustainable design-build collaboration of Prospect Architecture and Prospect Development & Construction located in Brooklyn, NY. Build with Prospect is committed to designing and constructing buildings that focus on sustainable and ecologically sound principles. Wherever possible, implementation of the Passive House Standard in our designs and buildings is our goal. www.buildwithprospect.com
Field & services: architecture construction passive house
Member since: April 18th, 2013
Jens is currently the Creative Director of Stories and Consumer Products at Swedish digital toys studio Toca Boca. As a Play Designer he takes partial blame for kids apps such as Toca Hair Salon, Toca Band, Toca Train, Toca Kitchen and more.
Member since: January 11th, 2013
Jon is a founder and brand director of Minigroup, a site for sharing in private groups. Previously Jon developed and managed brands for Adobe Systems, EyeWire, Getty Images, and Corbis, and most recently was a founding partner of Veer, a stock image and type company.
Jon Parker on Linkedin
Field & services: brand strategy communication internet social media writing
Member since: December 3rd, 2010
For nearly a decade, Andrew has provided trial and transactional services to clients in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Business Transactions, Real Estate Litigation, Real Estate Transactions, Family Litigation, Personal Transactions, Entertainment Law and other civil matters. This varied legal experience and understanding is brought to each case and client he works on. www.AndrewMAyers.com
Andrew M. Ayers, Esq. on Facebook Andrew M. Ayers, Esq. on Linkedin
Field & services: Law Firm legal Litigation Transactions
Member since: October 13th, 2011
Deb Klein is Brooklyn Craft Central. Having founded and grown its successful Craft Market series at the Brooklyn Lyceum, BKCC organizes and produces ongoing events and high-profile biannual markets, bringing together independent artists, crafters, food artisans, entrepreneurs & more. Â Deb also manages a separate PR and Marketing division, offering affordable options for promoting event(s) in the realms of theatre, music, film, and community projects.
Member since: June 29th, 2010
David Lamb (Playwright and Producer) and Jamillah Lamb (Producer) are the husband and wife team behind the award- winning play Platanos Y Collard Greens, and owners of Between The Lines Productions, Inc. Before launching their theater careers, Jamillah served as a Vice President at Citibank, while David worked as an attorney (and moonlighted as a novelist, self-publishing his first novel “Do Platanos Go Wit’ Collard Greens?” which they jointly adapted for the stage). Eight years later, they are still proudly producing the play–which runs Off Broadway in NYC and has toured over 200 colleges around the country–as well as working on new writing and theater projects.
Jamillah & David Lamb | Between The Lines Productions on Facebook
Field & services: entertainment theater
Member since: November 16th, 2011
bottledBrooklyn is about fun, everyday designs that positively affect people’s lives. The bB family originally began designing authentic Brooklyn souvenirs that contained traces of Brooklyn dirt. Our small project quickly developed a bigger purpose – creating smart and artful products that also help clean up hunger worldwide. bB donates a portion of each purchase to end global hunger. Let’s do some good and spread happiness in style. www.bottledBrooklyn.com
bottledBrooklyn on Facebook bottledBrooklyn on Linkedin
Field & services: art charity design gifts lifestyle products
Member since: April 4th, 2013
Karina is Development Director for 21c Museum Hotels, a boutique hotel, contemporary art museum, and award-winning restaurant in Louisville, KY, Cincinnati, OH and Bentonville, AR. The readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine voted 21c Museum Hotel Louisville among the TOP TEN HOTELS in the World in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards. www.21chotels.com
Karina Totah | 21c Museum Hotels on Facebook Karina Totah | 21c Museum Hotels on Linkedin
Field & services: art Hospitality Hotel Museum real estate Restaurant
Member since: April 15th, 2013
Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives is a Jewish congregation in Brooklyn, where doubt can be an act of faith and all hands are needed to build our community. We are creative, serious seekers who pray joyfully, wrestle with tradition, pursue justice and refuse to be satisfied with the world as it is. As individuals of varying sexual orientations, gender identities, races, family arrangements, and Jewish identities and backgrounds, we share a commitment to the search for meaningful expressions of our Judaism in today’s uncertain world.
Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives on Facebook
Field & services: Jewish synagogue
Member since: February 8th, 2012
GallopNYC offers therapeutic horseback riding at three locations in New York City, bringing joy, hope and possibility to children and adults with physical, emotional, social, and developmental challenges.
Brooke Belott is GallopNYC’s grant writer and administrator, and also does freelance writing/grant writing for arts and environmental non-profits.
GallopNYC on Facebook
Field & services: Arts Disabilities Environment Grant Writing Health Non-profit
Member since: April 29th, 2011
TOLA architecture is a full service architecture and design firm based in Brooklyn, New York, with a satellite outpost in the upstate hamlet of Big Indian, New York. Founding partners Lisa Mann, RA, LEED-AP (Harvard-Radcliffe ’85 & Columbia GSAPP ’92) and Keary K. Horiuchi, RA, AIA (Amherst ’80 & Columbia GSAPP ’86) provide the expertise and leadership of over 40 years in the field. After honing their skills at Polshek Partnership Architects, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects, Bogdanow Partners Architects, Turino Kalberer Architects and in their own private practices as NYS licensed & registered design professionals, they have created TOLA. As a partnership, TOLA is devoted to the creation of environmentally sustainable architecture and good clean design for projects of all scales. www.tola-architecture.com
Member since: September 30th, 2010
Mary Dixe Carter’s writing has appeared in The Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Sun, the New York Observer, and other publications. She is presently writing her first novel. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and her daughter.
Member since: April 6th, 2012
Ian works as an Instructional Designer, helping to design and implement learning solutions for organizations. The fun part of the job is helping to roll out solutions in more exotic locales: Australia, China, Taiwan, Japan…The grunt work, tho, has been reserved for BCL. www.macdonaldlearningsolutions.com.
Ian MacDonald on Linkedin
Field & services: instructional design learning solutions
Member since: March 2nd, 2012
Founder of user experience publishing house Rosenfeld Media, information architecture consultant, and author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. www.rosenfeldmedia.com.
Member since: January 14th, 2011
At Ease Mac Support & Production Management (aka, Lisabeth Laiken), has been providing tech support and training for creative professionals for over 15 years. In the office or the home, we make sure computers and hardware do what they are supposed to do, so clients can do what they’re supposed to do: focus on their work. As production managers, we use our in-depth understanding of technology to help creative firms manage an array of projects: trafficking for desktop publishing, digital asset management, video, and events small and large.
Member since: January 4th, 2013
A freelance manager by trade and a patent attorney by training, with active ventures in industrial manufacturing, IP brokerage and early-stage investing. I enjoy brainstorming on pretty much any topic. www.rencol.com, www.atlanticip.com.
Member since: May 23rd, 2013
We offer on-site Mac support and tech consulting for art galleries, creatives, startups and small businesses in NYC. www.blockfactory.com
Josh Sucher | Block Factory on Facebook
Field & services: Consulting mac support tech support
Member since: August 30th, 2012
Elana is the founder and Executive Director of the Children’s Movement for Creative Education, inc which guides youth to understand and overcome the effects of recent and current violent world events through academic, experiential and art-based projects. She has created curriculum projects for public schools and youth organizations in Philadelphia, New York City, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and has served as a consultant to the New York City Board of Education, Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education, Youth Visit the United Nations, and others. She is an oral history fellow at Columbia University and holds a Masters in Historiography of Education at Antioch University McGregor.
Member since: June 4th, 2010

Brian is an accountant, Quickbooks instructor and aspiring documentary filmmaker. With over fifteen years in accounting, he works with small to medium sized businesses and non-profits to accurately track and understand their financials and plan for the future.
Field & services: accounting bookkeeping filmmaker
Member since: April 18th, 2012
Gigantic Mechanic makes games. Â We connect people and places through play. The future of fun is in games that you take with you. Games that help you meet new people. Games that help you explore the real-world, as well as the virtual world. These are the sort of games we make. Â We build iPhone games that make your commute to work more fun. We make location-based games that introduce you to new people and new neighborhoods. We make alternate-reality games that send you scavenging across the Internet for clues. We make games that make the everyday world more fun. www.giganticmechanic.com
Member since: January 20th, 2010
In June of 2009, Keith Hagan and Steve Karas announced the opening of their new company: SKH Music – a music publicity and management firm. Karas and Hagan have logged over 20 years each as respected PR executives in the recording industry. The mission statement of SKH is simple – super-serve a reasonable number of clients with a creative forward-thinking strategy. Upon opening, a respected roster immediately took shape with a very diverse list of clients and over the past two years, a respected array of talent from the world of rock, country, blues, and pop have enlisted the companies services. www.skhmusic.com
Member since: December 1st, 2011
Hannah Tinti is co-founder and editor-in-chief of One Story magazine, and the author of a short story collection, Animal Crackers, and a novel, The Good Thief.  She’s working on her next book at BCL. www.hannahtinti.com.
Member since: May 30th, 2009
When he’s not providing Art Gallery clients with top notch IT solutions, Tim enjoys riding his bike and photographing abandoned railroads.
Tim Willis | Block Factory on Linkedin
Field & services: art IT Support Mac
Member since: May 8th, 2013
Anders Ramsay designed and built his first commercial website in 1996, and has since remained obsessed with making digital products easy to use. He is currently writing a book on the art and science of designing successful software products using fast-paced Agile methods, and also conducts workshops and consults design teams on this topic.
Member since: October 11th, 2011
Eric Safyan | Architect is a general architecture practice based in Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY, specializing in brownstone renovations, landmarks work, new construction and commercial interiors. Current work includes projects in multifamily residential development, retail concept design for a tattoo parlor/clothing store, restaurant design for an artisanal pizzeria, office design for a web development company, and renovations and additions to homes in Brooklyn, NY, specifically in the brownstone community. www.es-architect.com.
Member since: December 3rd, 2009
A former MTV exec, Sheldon founded The Municipal Prints Company to celebrate his passion for the art and design of the ‘20s and ‘30s period. The company’s first release — Constellation Explorer: Compass to the Northern Sky — was a WIRED Magazine 2011 Holiday Wish List selection. When he’s not busy thinking about upcoming prints, he’s working on his first novel about failing upwards in corporate media.
Sheldon Yeager | The Municipal Prints Company on Facebook Sheldon Yeager | The Municipal Prints Company on Linkedin
Field & services: art design entrepreneurship
Member since: January 24th, 2012
Todd Neufeld’s Twisted Balloon Company provides balloon art and entertainment for private and corporate events. Since “retiring” from Patent Law, Todd has appeared on Letterman, the Today Show, and at events worldwide.
Todd Neufeld on Facebook Todd Neufeld on Linkedin
Field & services: art entertainment event planning
Member since: April 25th, 2011
Benjamin Orbach is the Director of the America’s Unofficial Ambassadors project at Creative Learning and a Consultant to Creative Associates International. Orbach is the author of Live from Jordan, a chronicle of his experiences traveling through the Arab world in the run up to the Iraq War.
Member since: December 3rd, 2009
Tilonia is a mission-driven, social enterprise developing the entrepreneurial skills and business capacity of artisan enterprises managed and owned by rural artisans.  Through use of the internet, we create a virtual supply chain linking artisan affiliates with design and sales affiliates for product design and distribution to US markets. The Tilonia artisan collections feature home textiles, women’s accessories and gifts suitable for contemporary decorative styles while still reflective of Indian craft traditions. www.tilonia.com
Member since: January 20th, 2010
Brad and Todd are brothers and filmmakers. Their most recent film, “The Locksmith” is on Netflix. For dough, they make story-based marketing movies (music videos, industrials, commercials, etc). Brad also teaches at Columbia. He is fancier.
Field & services: film story production video
Member since: October 7th, 2011
Generation Schools is an nonprofit organization dedicated to whole-school and systemic innovation in urban public education. Their award-winning work fundamentally restructures a school’s existing resources, particularly human capital and time. The result: a successful public school model that cuts core class size in half for all students and offers a 200-day year without increasing the teacher work year or increasing school costs. www.generationschools.org
Member since: October 14th, 2009
Video maven. Host of new @wnyc segment @newtechcity. Author of multimedia ebook #CameraReady. ex-BBC & Reuters. Brooklyn mama to 2. www.manoushz.com
Member since: September 4th, 2012
Chris is a Sales and Marketing professional with 18+ years of experience in technical sales, primarily in the water and waste water industries. He currently works for Mead WestVaco.
Chris Hubbard on Facebook Chris Hubbard on Linkedin
Field & services: Marketing Sales Water treatment
Member since: April 28th, 2011
Erin has over a decade of experience as a senior manager and consultant to nonprofits. Before founding BCL, Erin worked as a fundraiser and management consultant specializing in helping small, community-based nonprofits grow to achieve their full potential.
Member since: May 30th, 2009
Alex has been conducting qualitative market research in the healthcare industry for nearly 20 years. Her consultancy, A Different Interview, helps clients gain crucial business insights, one project at a time. Alex specializes in oncology and immunology, and allocates 35% percent of her time, pro bono, to nonprofit cancer organizations.
Member since: November 20th, 2012
Karl is a serial entrepreneur focused on healthcare. He currently serves as the Chief Strategic Officer of Medikly, the pharmaceutical industry’s first and only unified, cloud-based platform designed to help marketers better understand, reach, and engage healthcare providers. He is the founder of MessagingLab, a branding and marketing communications firm that has been serving the biopharmaceutical, life science tool, and medical device industry for more than a decade.
Karl Schmieder on Linkedin
Field & services: enhanced communications healthcare innovation strategy
Member since: April 25th, 2011
Carrie is principal of Brooklyn Twinkle a design and communication firm specializing in both web and print design, including identity and branding, websites, advertising, annual reports, business cards, and invitations. She is also Design Director at Calfo Design Group a new media communications firm headed by Jason Calfo—a position she has held and enjoyed since 2006.
Carrie Harvey on Facebook
Field & services: blogger branding communications print design social media website design
Member since: April 29th, 2011
At RG Consulting, the mission is to build homes for our community’s most vulnerable populations. We dedicate our experience in large-scale construction to the creation of affordable and supportive housing and the contribution of real value to our communities.
Richard Greenspan | RG Consulting on Linkedin
Field & services: Affordable Housing construction real estate Supportive Housing
Member since: May 8th, 2013
StoryKeep creates audio, film and multimedia portraits of individuals, families and businesses. We all have a story to keep. Let us help keep yours. www.storykeep.org.
Member since: August 17th, 2011
ioby is a crowd-resourcing platform that connects urban environmental projects in cities nationwide to local donors and volunteers. www.ioby.org.
ioby on Facebook ioby on Linkedin
Field & services: crowd-funding Environment planning urban website
Member since: August 13th, 2012
Matthew began theCoup in 2004 to bring creative strategy, branding, and web development to artists, nonprofits, and innovators. www.theCoup.org
Matthew Willse on Linkedin
Field & services: branding creative strategy design social media web development
Member since: May 1st, 2009

The League of Young Voters Education Fund works where we live: communities most often defined and identified as low-income communities and communities of color. In our communities we find dynamic young people, and train and empower them with on the ground leadership skills which allow them to become civically engaged young folk who are excited about voter engagement! www.youngvoter.org
Field & services: nonprofit
Member since: August 17th, 2011
Anne Musella counsels employees and employers on a wide range of workplace issues, including proper employee classification, executive compensation, independent contractor agreements, employee handbooks, hiring protocol, unfair employment practices, and termination procedures. Â She also works with business venturers to determine appropriate business entities, and executes all aspects of entity formation and corporate compliance. Â Previously Anne was an associate at the boutique firm of Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, LLP. Â Before and during law school, Anne worked as an Associate in the legal department of Goldman Sachs, supporting the attorneys in the firm’s Principal Investment Area. Â www.musellalaw.com
Member since: September 29th, 2010
Michael crafts meaningful graphic design solutions for clients interested in elevating the visual identity of their businesses. Using an intuitive creative process he produces effective graphics that accentuate products, engage audiences and add value to client organizations. www.michaelbenvenga.com
Field & services: branding creative strategy design Environmental Graphics Graphic Design Logo Design Map Design print design Signage Wayfinding web site website design
Member since: May 13th, 2011
Kelly is the Creative Principal of the award-winning, multidisciplinary creative firm, GreenBird Design (GBD). With a focus on brand strategy, whether it be developing new identities or creating marketing tools for existing organizations across multiple platforms, GBD is dedicated to translating stories in a unique and memorable way that will deliver the effective results that clients seek. www.greenbirddesign.com
Member since: March 7th, 2013
Mozilla’s Hive Learning Network NYC is supported by The MacArthur Foundation and The New York Community Trust. Hive NYC links educators from libraries, museums and after school programs to collaborate on creative, digital projects with youth. These projects weave together opportunities for youth to explore their interests while making things with digital media tools and the web.
Field & services: education informal learning innovation technology
Member since: October 4th, 2011
Jenna Ritter is Founder, Senior Teacher and Executive Director of DHARA, a new nonprofit participating in the FJC Fiscal Sponsorship Program. DHARA supports social change through offering awakening and healing experiences to individuals so that they become empowered to take peaceful, thoughtful actions that will maintain flourishing communities. A special focus is given to individuals living in low-income or marginalized communities, recovering from trauma or addiction, or living with various emotional and mental health issues. Supportive programing is also offered to those who serve these populations. www.dharanyc.org
Jenna Ritter | DHARA on Facebook
Field & services: mental health nonprofit stress relief
Member since: October 7th, 2011
Pogo Piggybackers creates and develops screenplays and TV shows. Its mission is to cultivate and nurture the unique vision of aspiring filmmakers.Writer-Director and founder Paolo Monico is a member of the Directors Guild of America. After a decade of experience in directing commercials, he helmed “Four Single Fathers”, a TV movie starring Jennifer Esposito and Alessandro Gassman, produced by Gabriele Muccino (“The Pursuit of Happiness” / “Seven Pounds”), Mediaset and Indiana Production. Pogo is currently developing its first feature and the concept for a TV show.
Field & services: filmmaker story production
Member since: October 3rd, 2011