Pierre Chin

Pierre Chin is The Center’s Senior Director of Contracts & Finance Administration. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College. Pierre has worked at The Center for nearly 24 years, first as the main office receptionist, then transferring into the finance department as the bookkeeper. Today, he works closely with the Chief Financial Officer, and across the agency with the development team and program staff to coordinate and manage The Center’s federal, state and local government funding. Similarly, he is responsible for managing large private foundation grants. All of this funding, and all of Pierre’s efforts, support The Center’s diverse social service programming. Pierre continues to integrate programmatic and fiscal oversight, aligning with The Center’s strategic planning and arming himself with concrete information and skills to help The Center, and himself, continue to develop.

Cristina Jones

Cristina started her career in the education space working for SCORE! Learning and The After-School Corporation, which provide after-school services to elementary and middle school children. After getting her MBA from Columbia, Cristina joined Public Preparatory Network and developed and implemented finance, operations, and human resource strategies for a fast growing network of charter schools. Cristina went on to work as an independent consultant focused on helping schools, non-profits and small businesses with human resources, talent management and organizational development best practices, and most recently served as the Senior Director of Human Resources for The Fortune Society, a criminal justice nonprofit that supports successful reentry from incarceration and promotes alternatives to incarceration.

Shijuade Kadree

Shijuade Kadree joined The Center in 2015. As the Chief Advocacy Officer, Shijuade is responsible for creating, implementing and managing the annual lobbying strategy on city and state levels to support the powerful programs of The Center, as well as managing two of The Center’s government-funded initiatives related to health and human services provision.

Prior to joining The Center, Shijuade represented indigent clients, zealously advocating on behalf of parents entrapped in New York City’s child welfare system. This work lead her to creative legislative and policy advocacy at the New York City Council as a legislative counsel. In that role, she served as a liaison between Council members and the Council’s central staff, drafting and negotiating legislation in a variety of subject areas with a particular focus on governmental operations, housing, buildings and construction.

Shijuade has also served as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, working on access to financial education, products and services for low-income families, federal and state anti-hunger programs, as well as publishing a manual for state legislators, “Bringing Legislators to the Table: Addressing Hunger and Nutrition in America.” During graduate school, she received the ABA Fellowship for Minorities in Environmental Law and was named a Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys scholar. Shijuade is an alumna of Emory University, with a joint Law and Public Health degree.

Jeffrey Klein

Jeffrey Klein joined New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in 2013, and had previously worked for the organization’s development department from 2006-2010. As Chief Strategy Officer, Jeff oversees The Center’s strategic planning efforts as well as key programs and initiatives in furtherance of the current strategic plan. He manages Government Programs & Affairs, Information & Technology as well as the Family Programs and the Opportunities Programs of The Center.

Jeff is also an Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute and previously taught at Columbia University. His courses include Fundraising, Nonprofit Law and Intellectual Property Law. Previously, he served as the Vice President of Programs & Services for Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic). While there, he was the functional head and chief strategist for program design, account implementation and customer support. He also served as a staff attorney and fundraiser for Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts specializing in counseling nonprofit organizations on their legal and business issues.

Jeff is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law and is admitted to the New York State Bar. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Skidmore College.

Sarah Mikhail

Sarah Mikhail, a licensed social worker, joined The Center in 2013 and is the Senior Director of Community Support. Sarah brought her background in child welfare to The Center and spent her first three years in her former role working to increase advocacy and education for LGBTQ youth within the child welfare system. In Sarah’s current role, she oversees programming that supports the LGBT community in building and sustaining families, career development, immigration support, HIV prevention, TGNC support and mental health services. Prior to working at The Center, Sarah worked as a social worker in the foster care system working to improve outcomes for youth aging out of care. Sarah is also an adjunct professor at NYU’s Silver School of Social Work, where she received her MSW, as well as an adjunct professor at Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work.

Johanna Osburn

Johanna joined The Center in 2017 as the Senior Director of Development. In her role, Johanna oversees the development department and provides leadership and management of the Center’s fundraising initiatives.

Her previous position was as Executive Director of DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, a national funder for organizations serving individuals impacted by HIV/AIDS. She was responsible for overseeing the vision and execution of the organization’s mission and increasing the grant making. Prior to joining DIFFA, Johanna served as Director of Development for Empire State Pride Agenda, directing their fundraising strategies. She also worked on a number of advocacy issues, including the successful fight for marriage equality for same-sex couples. Johanna received her Bachelor’s degree in History from the George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Antonio Ruberto

Antonio Ruberto, Jr., a licensed clinical social worker and CASAC, joined The Center in 2011 and is the Senior Director of Behavioral Health. In this role, Antonio oversees youth and adult substance use treatment, recovery support including the new youth clubhouse, youth and adult substance use prevention, as well as youth leadership and engagement programming. Antonio previously served as Director of Center Recovery, the only LGBT-specific, OASAS-licensed outpatient substance use treatment program in New York. He has previously served as the Co-Chairperson to the Manhattan Borough Council on Chemical Dependency, part of the New York City Federation for Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Alcoholism Services, and was a member of the NYC DOH-MH Quality Improvement Advisory Board. Antonio has also provided workshops and trainings to the ASAP Conference, the NASW Addiction Institute Conference, the New York Criminal Justice & Treatment Conference and The Gay Men’s Health Summit and SYNChronicity Conference, both in Washington, D.C. In addition, he maintains a private practice in Manhattan and is a contracted trainer for the CASAC program at Outreach Training Institute. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Art History from NYU and his Master’s degree from Columbia University.

Mary Steyer

Mary Steyer joined The Center’s communications department in 2012 and is currently the Senior Director of Communications. During her time at The Center, Mary has created and implemented brand identity and strategic plans for the organization’s marketing and communications program across internal and external channels, overseeing print and digital campaigns as well as public relations and media. With her team, Mary has worked to strengthen The Center’s brand and identity to reflect its mission to empower the LGBT community to lead healthy, successful lives.

Mary’s professional background includes a marketing and communications executive position at Daijob, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan, where she focused on recruitment strategy, content creation and outreach to foreign bilingual job-seekers. She was a communications associate at the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation and a media assistant at the Parkinson’s Action Network.

Mary holds a Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University with a dual major in French and Public Relations.

Rob Wheeler

Rob Wheeler joined The Center in 1998. As Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, he provides strategic leadership and oversight of the organization’s behavioral health and community support programming, day-to-day operations and human resources. Rob also leads The Center’s capital improvement program and serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors.

Rob has an advanced certificate in strategic human resources management from Cornell University, the professional in human resources certification from HRCI, and is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional. He received his B.A. in Organizational Sociology and Political Science from the City University of New York Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies program at Hunter College, and his Master of Public Administration from NYU Wagner, where he is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Service.