Staff

Maryann Hedaa is the Founder and Managing Director of The Hunts Point Alliance for Children.  In 2004, Maryann founded St. Ignatius School for Girls. She was named Principal of St. Ignatius School in 2005 and integrated the boys’ and girls’ programs. Maryann is not new to Hunts Point.  In 1979, she served as the Environmental Education Coordinator for the Bronx Frontier Development Corporation.

Also in 1979, she founded URBAN ADVENTURES, an adapted Outward Bound Program for inner city youth.  She was the Executive Director of the program for six years.  During that time, she developed the Project Discovery Program at South Bronx High School.  This youth leadership program currently exists in several New York City High Schools.

Maryann has taught in the MBA Program, the  Executive MBA Program and the Institute for Not for Profit Management at Columbia Business School.  In addition to her teaching, she served as Director for The Institute for Not for Profit Management and the Assistant Dean of Executive Education.  Her area of expertise is leadership development, with a focus on how to sustain high levels of commitment and motivation in challenging work environments.

Maryann earned a BA in History from St. John’s University, an MA and MS from St. Mary’s College in Ethics and Psychology, an MS from Columbia Business School and an STL in Social Ethics from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. She currently is a member of the Board of Directors for both the Children’s Law Center and the Shakespeare Society.

Griselle Baret is the Director of Education Programs for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children (HPAC).  She is also one the alliance’s founding members—she was an Administrative Intern during HPAC’s inception in 2006. 

Griselle has been working with youth programs since 2003, when she served a Youth Advisor for the Sacred Heart Youth Group, a safe haven for 13-18 year olds of the Sacred Heart Parish in the Highbridge section of the Bronx.  As an Advisor, she helped coordinate and supervise activities Saturday nights to keep teenagers off the streets when they were not in school.  In 2006, Griselle became an Americorps volunteer, working as the Community Resource Coordinator for St. Ignatius School.  She was in charge of maintaining contacts throughout the community and beyond during the 2006-2007 academic year. She also assisted the school’s Graduate Support Program. Currently, Griselle directs and coordinates HPAC’s school-related programs, such as the Hunts Point Children’s Shakespeare Ensemble.

Griselle is currently pursuing her Master’s in Educational Leadership from New York University, where she also earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2006.

Dahiana Lessard is a Bronx-born native from the Highbridge area who recently rejoined the Hunts Point Alliance for Children team as Bookkeeper and the Food Program Coordinator. She was part of the Alliance in February of 2008 as an Administrative Assistant until joining the  Year Up program to improve her communicative, professional and technical skills. During the program, Dahiana earned a six-month apprenticeship at Google, Inc, as a Field Technician. She then worked as a temporary Tech Assistant position at the Riverdale Country School. She was previously an active duty soldier for the United States Army as a Human Resource/Administrative Personnel Specialist for two and a half years.

Dahiana is a single parent with two daughters, currently ages four and six, who are what motivate her to accomplish whatever is set in her path. Dahiana is also working to obtain a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and become a counselor. She is passionate about working to help others and believes working at HPAC will help her perfect the skills she needs to be of help to others.

Ruby Torres is the Social Worker at Hunts Point Alliance for Children (HPAC). She joined our team January 2010. Ruby began her career as a counselor at Beacon of Hope House and went on to pursue her Bachelors at Lehman College where she obtained her BSW in 2001. She earned her MSW in 2004, while enrolled in a one year Advanced Standing Program at Fordham University’s Tarrytown Campus with a specialization in Children and Families.

Ruby comes to HPAC with an eclectic professional background and has been in the social service field working for over 10 years. She brings the knowledge and expertise in working with several populations including, low income, HIV/AIDS, unemployed, former and active substance abusers, veterans, physically disabled, women and children, elderly, and SPMI for several years. Ruby would like to continue advancing her career and building on her skills while assisting the families of Hunts Point. She plans to enroll in a doctoral program to pursue her PHD.

Judithann is the Education Counselor for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children.
Judithann joined HPAC in September of 2010, after spending seven years at the
St.Ignatius School in Hunts Point where she taught Science, headed Special Programs for
academically advanced students, worked in the Graduate Support program, and was the
Faculty Mentor. She was a founding member of the St.Ignatius Girls Program. Previous
to her present position she served on the Board of the Hunts Point Alliance for Children,
for two years.

Through the years Judithann has taught at schools in Pennsylvania and New York City.
Her volunteer work has included Literacy Volunteers of America -New York, whose
focus is on adult literacy, and the New Beginnings program who works to resettle women
who have suffered domestic violence.

Judithann graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in
Education and with a minor in Natural Sciences. She also did graduate work at Cornell
University in their Marine Studies Program.

Mike O’Keefe is the new Webmaster for HPAC’s web site.  He recently graduated from Plattsburgh State, a SUNY school located in upstate New York, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Newspaper Journalism.  He joined the HPAC staff a few weeks out of school to update the website and think of new ways to get the word out about Hunts Point. Mike started writing in high-school for his school newspaper, then graduated to his university’s official paper.  While writing in college, he became an assistant news editor and online editor for the school’s newspaper, where he undertook many of the challenges and issues he deals with at HPAC.

Mike hopes that the people he will see and meet in Hunts Point will help him advance in his post-graduate studies.  He loves to talk to strangers and enjoys the sense of community found in the area.

Recently, Mike helped five local young-adults to create a literary magazine describing thier point of view on Hunts Point called The Five Points. He looks forward to spreading his knowledge about writing and web content to any child in the 10474 zip code who wants to know anything about it.

Victoria Cohen is the Research Analyst and Community Organizer for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children.  She graduated from Brandeis University in 2009 with a BA in Psychology and Hispanic Studies.  Following graduation, she served as a Corps Member with City Year New York in the South Bronx, where she fell in love with her students at PS 48 and the community she found in Hunts Point.

Her interest in Spanish language and Hispanic cultures led her teach English for five months in Chile, her mother’s homeland, with the Chilean Department of Education and the United Nations Development Fund.

After spending a semester working at an Achievement First charter school in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Victoria is thrilled to be back in Hunts Point.  She looks forward to working with the community again as a part of the Hunts Point Alliance for Children.