NOW-NYC Staff

Sonia Ossorio, Executive Director, remembers her first NOW protest at the opening night of the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in 1999, which had no women musicians and made no apologies for it. As president of NOW-NYC since 2005, Sonia has led campaigns to increase women's rights in the criminal justice system. In 2007, she launched NOW-NYC's campaign, "Ending the Business of Human Trafficking," and worked with a coalition of organizations to draft New York's first anti-trafficking legislation. Sonia received an Outstanding Public Service Award from NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Under her leadership, NOW-NYC has significantly grown its operating budget and visibility. A former journalist, she has appeared on MSNBC, Hannity & Colmes, the Glenn Beck Show, Impacto Nacional and other national and local news networks and print media.



Jean Bucaria, Deputy Director, has served in this role at the organization since 2007.  She first volunteered with NOW-NYC in 2003, staffing the phones and collecting signatures in the streets on behalf of Title IX.  She continues to play a key role  in creating and implementing programs that support and advocate for women and girls. In 2005, she led an effort to remake the chapter's newsletter of which she is currently Editor-in-Chief.  She has expanded the efforts of NOW-NYC's sister agency, the Service Fund, launching a financial clinic for women going through divorce and initiating an annual gift drive program for sexually exploited girls. She holds a master's degree in Public Administration from Baruch College and has established a record of diverse experience in program evaluation and management in the nonprofit arena.

Brielle Nalence, Program Associate, plays an integral role in developing NOW-NYC's membership events and the fundraising events that benefit the work of NOW-NYC, as well as the outreach programs instituted by the Service Fund. Prior to her joining NOW-NYC, she lead a feminist student activitist organization, through which she developed a feminist networking website for student organizers in New Jersey. She also spent time in Southeast Asia studying human trafficking and issues of refugee women. She received her BA in Women's and Gender Studies and Psychology and a Certificate in Women's Leadership from Rutgers University and has over 7 years of experience working in the non-profit world for women's rights. Her interests include feminism in the digital age and identity politics.

Fall 2010 Interns

Zehra Ali
Miriam Bhimani
Michelle Santoro
Danielle Thies
Carrie Lyn Wolfson

NOW-NYC Board of Directors

Jane Manning, President, has been a member of NOW-NYC since 1992 and has a long and proud history as a leader within the organization. An attorney specializing in criminal law and violence against women, she has worked on the frontlines of the feminist movement. She helped lead NOW-NYC's successful campaign to repeal New York's statute of limitations in rape cases, and she was an architect of the New York State Anti-Human Trafficking Law. In 1992, she was a lead organizer of the Coalition to End Violence Against women, which led a rally of 5,000 demonstrators to the steps of the Democratic National Convention, urging passage of the
Violence Against Women Act.




Rebecca Rafelson, Action Vice President, has hands-on experience motivating and mobilizing both new and young activists to join NOW-NYC's ranks. She most recently chaired NOW-NYC's Queer Advocacy Project and has led NOW-NYC's Gay Pride March contingent for two years running. Rebecca is an innovator: she co-designed a new community outreach training program for members and is launching a Yoga Program for Violence Survivors. Her broad chapter knowledge and record as a grassroots organizer will enable her to drive chapter activism. Rebecca currently specializes in marketing and development for an international medical relief association.



Meaghan Carey, Development Vice President, has been a lifelong feminist. Before she even knew about the women's movement, she was fighting her parents for her right to wear pants to church on Sundays. An attorney whose practice focuses on family law issues, Meaghan sought to head NOW-NYC's fundraising efforts because she believes the power of a thriving activist organization depends on both people's passions and their purses. As Development VP she plans to continue building on her work: Meaghan was instrumental in tripling the revenue of our annual Women of Power and Influence Awards fundraiser and raising the visibility and prestige of this and other chapter events. She also secured a grant with the New York Lawyer's Alliance.



Maureen Shaw, Legislative Vice President, is a publicist by profession, with more than six years experience developing and executing strategic communications campaigns for her clients, which span the online media/publishing, medical and technology industries. Maureen also has direct legislative and organizing experience: she lobbied with NOW-NYC on several reproductive rights issues, and she spearheaded a city-wide campaign on the availability of Emergency Contraception, marshalling volunteers to survey local pharmacies' pricing and availability. She has also drawn on her public relations expertise to help elevate the Chapter's profile, securing and contributing to a five-article series for NOW-NYC on Feministing.com-one of the Web's most trafficked blogs on women's issues-and has established NOW-NYC's social media presence.



Elizabeth A. Mason, Chair, brings twenty years of legal experience in representing women who have been discriminated against in the work place to the position of Board Chair. As an attorney on the front-lines, she understands what key policy changes are necessary to advance women in the workplace. For the past ten years Ms. Mason has conducted the Employment Discrimination Legal Clinic for the NOW-NYC Service Fund, and she has been a legal resource for NOW-NYC for more than fourteen years. Ms. Mason's legal actions have received considerable press attention, with appearances on 20/20, Dateline, CNN, Daily News, New York Times, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, New York Law Journal, National Law Journal, and The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Mason is a past recipient NOW-NYC's Women of Power and Influence Award, which she received in 1997 for her legal and legislative work to protect women who have been raped in the workplace.


Judi Polson, Member, has been an active NOW-NYC member since 2000 and served as Board Chair since 2007. Judi has helped shepherd the Chapter to having stable finances that support operating costs and a staff. Judi has led technology projects for IBM, and she joined Merrill Lynch in 1993, rising to Vice-President and leading institutional markets technology compliance until 2008. She is currently a project manager for a European bank. Judi has substantial activist credentials as well, leading a cadre of demonstrators to the 2004 March for Women's Lives in D.C. and participating in innumerable rallies and protests. An actor, she appeared in the Oscar-nominated film, Kinsey.



Arthur Lundquist, Secretary, serves as the current Director of Volunteers for the NOW-NYC Board of Directors, where he undertook a project to create a volunteer database so that NOW-NYC could bolster our interaction with volunteers and members on key issues. Arthur serves on the board's Women and the Workplace Committee and has been integral to creating resource information on workplace discrimination. Arthur has more than 20 years experience with databases in the legal field. He is proud to call himself a feminist and cherishes his work with NOW-NYC.



Kim Gerstman, Director of Membership, brings over 20 years expertise in fundraising with progressive organizations and will assist in developing a plan to build our membership and our resources. She led a nationwide major gifts program at the American Civil Liberties Union during a critical growth period for the organization which doubled in size during her tenure from 2003 to 2009. Prior to that, she oversaw an annual revenue increase of 500%--from $300,000 to $1.8 million-at NARAL Pro-Choice New York. She currently serves as the Associate Director of Development at the Population Council.




Linda Porto, Director of Programs, is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has produced films on topics related to civil rights, social justice, health, religion and education. As Director of Programs she is dedicated to building on the success and reach of the outstanding public education programs and events NOW-NYC has organized in recent years. Linda has produced media for non-profit organizations, including NARAL Pro-Choice New York, the National Institute for Reproductive Health, and the National Urban League, and she is currently developing a documentary on domestic violence. Her work has been broadcast on PBS, HBO, A&E and the Discovery Channel in the U.S., and on Channel 4 and the BBC in Great Britain.




Elizabeth Vega-Lebron, Director of Volunteers, has expertise which will serve her well in managing and growing NOW-NYC's vital corps of volunteers. Committed to the work that improves access to quality programs and services for vulnerable women and children, Elizabeth has spent the last 18 years working among pioneers of health care reform in New York City to improve health care access. Using her own blend of grass roots social marketing she helped grow two non-profit health plans in New York City, including building Community Premier Plus from a 5 person shop to a $140 million dollar enterprise within 10 years. Elizabeth has received numerous awards including the 2007 Distinguished Latina Award from El Diario Newspaper, and the Angelo Del Toro Award for Civic Leadership from the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, 2006.


K.C. Washington, Director of Newsletter, is a novelist, poet and freelance journalist. She took on a leadership position in the production of NOW-NYC's newsletter, whatNOW, in 2009. Helping to build a diverse team of volunteers, K.C. elevated the quality and scope of coverage, including editing and writing key articles. As Director of Newsletter, she will build on this track record and continue to deliver substantive news, opinion, and avenues for members to get their voices heard. She also carries the banner for women's equality through her writing, by creating daring, smart and independent heroines in her many works of fiction.