Our Team & Board Members

Our Team

To get in touch with a specific staff member or department, please refer to the list of contacts below and we will get in touch with you shortly.
Please do not submit any sensitive, personal, and confidential information such as your account number, Social Security number, personal identification number, credit card number, passwords, etc. in your e-mail message.

MANAGEMENT

Contact us at 212-529-8197

Aissatou Barry-Fall, Chief Executive Officer

Cristian Chirila, Chief Financial Officer
Victoria Rodriguez, Chief Operations Officer
Francisca Fabian, Chief Lending Officer
Alicia Portada, Director of Communications & Community Engagement
Stefanie Diaz, Consumer Lending Manager

FINANCE DEPARTMENT

Rosa García, General Accountant

LENDING DEPARTMENT

Diana Gonzalez, Loan Servicing Officer
Kilcia Perez , Business Lending Coordinator

Katherine Cordero, Real Estate Loan Officer

Cristal Veras, Business Development Specialist

Leelah Pewu, Member Service Repayment Representative

MEMBER SERVICE DEPARTMENT

Kenneth Perez, Member Service Manager
Tiffany Ortiz, Assistant Member Service Manage – North Shore Branch

Luis Mercado, Assistant Member Service Manager – Lower East Side Branch

Ayasilis Nunez, Assistant Member Service Manager –East Harlem Branch

Member Service Representatives (all branches) (212) 529-8197 option 1

MARKETING AND OUTREACH

Gian Alvarado, Marketing and Outreach Specialist

FINANCIAL ADVISING

Tamika Howell, Financial Counselor

David Shusman, Financial Counselor

Our Board of Directors

LESPFCU’s Board of Directors provides leadership, support and advice for our work.

Jorge L. Vasquez, Jr, Chair

Jorge is an Associate Counsel at Latino Justice, New York City. He is a national civil rights lawyer, policy influencer, and social justice advocate. He maintains a broad civil rights litigation portfolio, ranging from voting rights to criminal justice reform. Jorge also works on policy matters and campaigns to address racial disparities in economic justice. Jorge has been featured as a legal expert on national and local news networks including CNN, ABC Live, NPR, NBC Telemundo, Univision, Spectrum News 1, and he has been an opinion contributor to USA Today, The Hill, and other digital and print outlets. Jorge is a proud product of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and a member since 1995.

Eben Sheaffer, Treasurer

Eben Sheaffer is the Federation’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer.  From 2010 to 2013 Eben served as the President of Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, a $9 million full-service credit union and Federation member located in New York, NY.  Eben also serves as the Board Treasurer for the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union.  Eben began his career in the investment industry in 1999.  He has worked as a Quantitative Analyst at Aurarian Capital Management, as a Financial Modeling Consultant for Thomson Financial, and as the technical lead for a Risk Management group at Brown Brothers Harriman. Eben is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Financial Risk Manager.

Pia Longarini, Secretary

Credit Union member since 2013. Pia is the Program Operations & Compliance Manager at TruFund, a national Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), that promotes and fosters economic development within under served communities and among disadvantaged populations. Pia has over 20 years professional experience working in the non-profit sector, in the areas of community and economic development. She has a history of collaboration with both staff and Board members of LESPFCU in small business lending and educational services for small businesses and non-profits to assist them formalize their business practices.

Deyanira Del Rio

Deyanira Del Rio is Co-Director of New Economy Project, an economic justice organization in NYC where she has led policy advocacy, coalition-building, and community education in NYC and beyond on fair lending, immigrant financial justice, and community reinvestment issues. She has served on LESPFCU’s board since 2002. Dey also served for nine years on the Board of Directors of  the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, including three years as a board chair. She is a past Revson fellow and was selected for the Coro Immigrant Civic Leadership Program . In 2009 Dey received the Mujeres Destacadas (Outstanding Women) award from El Diario/La Prensa.

Linda Levy

Linda Levy is the executive consultant and former CEO of Lower East Side People’s FCU (LESPFCU). She has been involved in the Credit Union Movement, and specifically the Lower East Side People’s FCU since 1986.  Ms. Levy held the position of Manager from the inception of the Credit Union through 1991.  She then worked as the Organizing Specialist for the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions for several years while continuing to serve on the Board of Directors of LESPFCU.  In September 2005, she agreed to fill the position of CEO following the purchase and assumption of Homesteaders FCU.

Samuel Owusu-Sekyere

Sam was born in Ghana, participated in the first In-Country Training Program for the US Peace Corps Volunteers in Ghana, and later migrated to USA in 1997. He is the President of the Ghanaian Association of Staten Island (GASI). Under his leadership, GASI has mobilized the membership, participated in volunteer activities in the community, registered as a 501(c)(3) and joined the Staten Island Immigrant Council. Sam also partners with the Staten Island Arts and the Snug Harbor and has held an exhibition on the Kente Cloth at the Newhouse Gallery. He serves as a Board member of La Colmena Community Job Center and was the board chair of El Centro del Inmigrante, both in Staten Island. Sam became a member of the Credit Union in 2013.

Alexis Iwanisziw

Alexis Iwanisziw is Senior Vice President, Policy & Communications at Inclusiv, the national network of community development credit unions and a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) intermediary. Prior to joining Inclusiv, she served as Chief of Staff to the President at the Low Income Investment Fund, a CDFI loan fund. She previously worked at New Economy Project, serving as Deputy Director from 2014-2020, where she led research and policy work on fair lending and community reinvestment issues. Alexis has served on LESPFCU’s Supervisory Committee since 2016 and joined the Board in 2020.

Diana Caba

Diana is the Vice President for Community and Economic Development at Hispanic Federation. A national organization dedicated to advancing Latino causes. Diana launched her career as the founding Program Director of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and has worked with a variety of community development nonprofits throughout New York City and the nation. Diana Caba is a nonprofit professional with expertise in programs and public policy advocacy supporting the economic mobility of underrepresented communities.

Jumelia Abrahamson

Jumelia is the Director of Programs at University Neighborhood Housing Program, a community-based organization in the Northwest Bronx. Jumelia is effective in implementing programs and advocating for financial equity, especially for historically marginalized groups: Latinx, Blacks, immigrants, undocumented, the elderly and low-income residents. For the last 13 years Jumelia has provided wrap-around services and organized community events with many NYC non-profit groups and city agencies. All in an effort to build permanent financial stability and growth with and for Bronx individuals - focused on affordable housing, homeownership, financial literacy and tax preparation.