NEDAP 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 more than 140 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 recently completed a 3-year term on the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council, and serves on the boards of directors of the Consumer Federation of America and North Star Fund.  In December 2008, she received New York Lawyers for the Public Interest's Felix A. Fishman Award, for "her exceptional service on behalf of low income communities."

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, NEDAP's Associate Director, leads initiatives to promote equitable financial services access and reinvestment in immigrant communities.  She has trained hundreds of community groups, conducted research and GIS mapping, and testified at legislative and regulatory hearings on a range of fair lending and financial justice issues.  She is co-author of NEDAP's rights-based financial education and homeownership courses.  Dey is board chair of the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union, and serves on the board executive committee of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.  She was a 2005-2006 Charles H. Revson Fellow and a 2007 Coro Immigrant Civic Leadership Program participant.  In 2009, El Diario/La Prensa named her one of the year's Mujeres Destacadas (Outstanding Women) in the Latino community.

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.

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.

Alexis Iwanisziw

Alexis Iwanisziw joined NEDAP in July 2008 as Program Associate.  She conducts research and field work for several anti-predatory lending and immigrant financial justice initiatives.  Alexis recently received her master's degree in Community Organization and Planning at Hunter College School of Social Work and previously worked in the Research and Statistics Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Susan Shin

Susan Shin joined NEDAP in October 2008 as Staff Attorney with the Consumer Law Project.  She coordinates the Consumer Law Clinic, a new initiative to provide legal assistance to members of community groups in NYC.  Susan previously worked as a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society in New York City.  She graduated from New York University School of Law in 2006.

April G. Tyler    

April G. Tyler joined NEDAP's staff in November as State & Local Campaigns Coordinator.  April is coordinating NEDAP's various fair lending coalitions, and providing technical support to augment local groups' outreach and education on foreclosure prevention and fair lending matters.  April spent the past few years as a real estate broker and working on various political campaigns.  She worked in the affordable housing field throughout the 1980s and 1990s.  She has long been affiliated with NEDAP, having served on our Board of Directors from 1996-2006.

Mireille Martineau

Mireille Martineau joined NEDAP in November 2008 as Office Manager.  She previously worked at the NYC Department of Design and Construction before interning at NEDAP starting in September 2008.  She is currently a graduate student at NYU's Wagner School of Public Service in the Urban Planning program.  Mireille is a recent graduate of Fordham University, where she majored in urban studies.