NEDAP Full-Time Staff

Sarah Ludwig

Sarah Ludwig, NEDAP's Co-Director, is a leading advocate on community equity and financial justice issues.  Since founding NEDAP in 1995, she has worked with hundreds of grassroots groups to develop local organizing and advocacy strategies to address redlining and lending discrimination.  Sarah co-leads New Yorkers for Responsible Lending, a state-wide coalition of 139 community and consumer groups and community financial institutions dedicated to combating predatory lending practices. Sarah was a 2000 fellow in the Rockefeller Foundation's Next Generation Leadership Program, and in 2002 received the Union Square Award.  In 2004, she was selected as a Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World awardee.  Sarah was appointed in 2006 to serve on the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council, and in 2007 was appointed to the NYS Blue Ribbon Commission to Modernize Financial Services.  Since 2003, she has been an adjunct professor in urban planning at NYU's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.

Josh Zinner

Josh Zinner joined NEDAP's staff as Co-Director in December 2007.  He previously served as long-time Director of the Foreclosure Prevention Project at South Brooklyn Legal Services (SBLS).  The Project was the first of its kind in New York City, combining litigation, outreach, education, and advocacy to combat predatory lending.  While at SBLS, Zinner litigated numerous cases in federal and state court, and was at the forefront of policy and advocacy work around abusive lending practices.  Before founding the Foreclosure Prevention Project, Zinner worked at Legal Services for the Elderly, where he litigated housing and consumer law cases.  Prior to law school, Zinner worked as a social worker, primarily with the homeless.  In 2001, Zinner received the NYS Bar Association's Denison Ray Award, for his "extraordinary commitment to providing zealous and skilled representation to low income and disadvantaged clients."

Deyanira Del Río

Deyanira Del Rio is NEDAP's Associate Director.  She leads the NYC Immigrant Financial Justice Network, trains community groups on fair lending and community reinvestment issues, and co-authored NEDAP's rights-based financial education and homeownership courses.  Dey serves as board chair of Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union and as a board member of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.  She has received fellowships from the Charles Revson Program at Columbia University and Coro Immigrant Civic Leadership Program.

Claudia Wilner

Claudia Wilner joined NEDAP in September 2005 as a Staff Attorney with the Consumer Law Project.  She directs the NYC Financial Justice Hotline and Consumer Law Clinic.  Claudia previously worked as a Skadden Fellow at the Mental Health Project of the Urban Justice Center and as a law clerk for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  She graduated from New York University School of Law in 2002.

Thu Tuyen T. To

T.T. To is Program Associate at NEDAP.  She joined NEDAP in December 2005.  She provides paralegal support to the Consumer Law Project, staffs the Financial Justice Mapping Project, and is responsible for grants administration.   T.T. previously worked at NEDAP from 2000-2002 as an administrative assistant.  She graduated from Columbia College, Columbia University in 2005.

Rebeca Gamez Djokic

Rebeca Gamez Djokic joined NEDAP in September 2006 as the Community Education Coordinator.  She oversees NEDAP's community financial education and fair lending training programs.  Rebeca previously worked as a Princeton University ReachOut '56 fellow at New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), where she developed the NICE ESL and Workers' rights program for immigrant families. She graduated from Princeton University in 2005.  She was a 2007 CareerWays Public Service Fellow at NYU.

Saara Nafici

Saara Nafici joined the NEDAP staff in September 2006 as the Projects Coordinator. She provides technical support to community groups, collaborates on GIS mapping projects, engages in coalition organizing, and organizes the annual Community Reinvestment Workshop Series.  Having studied ecology and later city planning, Saara previously was involved in urban agriculture and environmental education in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as bicycle-youth education in Boston.

Adrienne Wheeler

Adrienne Wheeler is the Publications Production/Office Manager at NEDAP.  She manages the production of the public access show On The Money with NEDAP.  Currently, she volunteers with the NYC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild for demonstrations.  She is also finishing graduate studies.

Maria Alvarez

Maria Alvarez works with NEDAP's Consumer Justice Hotline as an ace interpreter, translating communication between Spanish-speaking callers and hotline staff.  Maria is also responsible for the translation of NEDAP's Financial Literacy & Justice curriculum into Spanish. 

Alexis Iwanisziw

Alexis Iwanisziw conducts research and field work for several anti-predatory lending and immigrant financial justice initiatives.  Alexis is pursuing a master's degree in social work at Hunter College and previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.