Meet The Team
Adam Rust
Adam has authored numerous publications on consumer finance, payments and mortgage lending and has served on the Board of Directors of the US Faster Payments Council and as a consumer representative to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee.

Adam has authored numerous publications on consumer finance, payments and mortgage lending and has served on the Board of Directors of the US Faster Payments Council and as a consumer representative to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee.
Adam Rust
Senior Policy Advisor
Alyssa Wiltse
Alyssa Wiltse joined NCRC in 2018 as the organization’s new Media Manager, with a dual function of managing media relations and increasing the organization’s storytelling capacity. While she has always been passionate about social justice issues, Alyssa had previously focused this passion on the international environmental sector, working for seven years as a journalist covering the global freshwater and sanitation crisis and more recently working as a media relations and publications officer for an international rainforest and species conservation organization. She also has a B.A. and M.A. in environmental policy from West Virginia University and George Washington University, respectively. However, current domestic challenges encouraged Alyssa to expand beyond this experience to focus more closely on what matters to her most here at home, eliminating all barriers to an equitable society. When not working towards a more fair, just and healthy world, Alyssa enjoys spending time with her family, reading mystery novels and gallivanting in the great outdoors.

While Alyssa has always been passionate about social justice issues, current domestic challenges encouraged Alyssa to expand beyond this experience to focus more closely on what matters to her most here at home, eliminating all barriers to an equitable society.
Alyssa Wiltse
Media Manager
Amanda Palmer
Position: Special Assistant and Chief of Communications for the Office of the President
Phone: 202-464-2703
Email: apalmer@ncrc.org
Amanda Palmer serves as Special Assistant to and Chief of Communications for the Office of the President of NCRC. Prior to joining NCRC, Amanda worked at Credible Behavioral Health, Inc. as the Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President. She has over 15 years’ experience working in various industries, including nonprofit and healthcare. She received her bachelor’s degree in Communications from American University.

Amanda has over 15 years’ experience working in various industries, including nonprofit and healthcare.
Amanda Palmer
Special Assistant and Chief of Communications for the Office of the President
Anneliese Lederer
Anneliese Lederer is the Director of Fair Lending and Consumer Protection for NCRC. Anneliese is a graduate of the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and Yeshiva University Stern College for Women. She is a member of the bar in the state of Maryland. She has previously worked and interned for a diverse group of legal practices and legislative interests.

Anneliese is a graduate of the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and Yeshiva University Stern College for Women and is a member of the bar in the state of Maryland.
Anneliese Lederer
Director, Fair Lending & Consumer Protection
Bob Hassinger
Bob Hassinger is NCRC’s Workforce Development Coordinator. He has worked in the workforce education field for over 25 years, much of it in the public sector. After working for three years as the Adult Education Director at Ulster Board of Cooperative Educational Services in upstate New York, Bob was appointed by the New York State Education Department Commissioner as the New York State Education Department’s Workforce Technical Assistance Director overseeing all adult education workforce programs in New York State. After serving in this position for three years, Bob took a position with the Yonkers Public Schools as the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director. In this role, Bob oversaw a program that served 27,000 k-12 CTE students and over 4,000 adult workforce students. Bob served for five years as the state representative to the NY Big Five school districts on the statewide Association of Career and Technical Education Administrators (ACTEA) board. Bob also designed and wrote grants to implement adult education workforce training programs in Buffalo for the Buffalo Public Schools and for the Westbury Public Schools. He has also done extensive work over the last 15 years with the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) in New York City, helping to design and implement workforce training programs for all union members in the city.
From 2007-2012, he was the Post Secondary Director of Career and Technical Education with the University of the District of Columbia Community College (UDCCC).
Bob Hassinger
Workforce Development Coordinator (P/T)
Bruce C. Mitchell, PhD
Bruce is NCRC Research’s Senior Analyst. As an urban geographer, he recognizes the crucial role of place in determining the range of economic opportunities available to people. He specializes in the application of quantitative methods, including conventional and spatial statistics, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze patterns of inequity in U.S. cities. He is deeply interested in the historical and structural factors which have shaped the present demographic and socioeconomic patterns of neighborhoods. These factors include segregation, redlining, suburbanization, urban renewal and gentrification. He has published works on environmental justice and disparities in access to financial services for minorities and people of lower socioeconomic status in U.S. cities. Bruce holds a PhD in Geography and Environmental Science and Policy from the University of South Florida, School of Geosciences.

Bruce specializes in the application of quantitative methods, including conventional and spatial statistics, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze patterns of inequity in U.S. cities.
Bruce C. Mitchell, PhD
Senior Research Analyst
Caitlin Rountree
Caitie Rountree is NCRC’s Director of Membership and Events. She joined NCRC in 2011 after doing faith-based community organizing in Toledo, Ohio, with the DART Center. Caitie is responsible for growing NCRC’s membership and ensuring that NCRC members are equipped in their efforts to build wealth in their communities. She also oversees NCRC’s Just Economy Conference and statewide summits. Caitie lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she chairs the board of Urban Hope, an affordable housing organization serving the rapidly-gentrifying East End of Richmond. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary.

Caitie lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she chairs the board of Urban Hope, an affordable housing organization serving the rapidly-gentrifying East End of Richmond.
Caitlin Rountree
Director of Membership and Events
Chloe Sabharwal
Chloe Sabharwal is NCRC’s Conference and Events Manager. In addition to managing the Just Economy Conference and NCRC’s regional summits, she is also responsible for ensuring our events support our organizing work and engage our members. Chloe previously served as NCRC’s Membership and Events Organizer from 2016 through 2019, playing an key role in NCRC’s organizing, membership and conference planning work. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, where she majored in Economics and minored in Spanish Language, Business and Cultures.

In addition to managing the Just Economy Conference and NCRC’s regional summits, Chloe is also responsible for ensuring our events support our organizing work and engage our members.
Chloe Sabharwal
Conference and Events Manager
Cypriana Hicklen
Cypriana Hicklen comes to NCRC with 17 years of nonprofit experience. Prior to NCRC, Cypriana worked at the Textile Museum for 17 years, where she served as Accounting Manager. Cypriana also brings with her 20 years of tax professional services experience. She is currently enrolled in University of Maryland Global Campus pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

Cypriana Hicklen comes to NCRC with 17 years of nonprofit experience and is currently enrolled in University of Maryland Global Campus pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
Cypriana Hicklen
Grant Accountant
Dotun Akinsade
Accounting Manager
Emma Stevens
Emma Stevens is the Operations Coordinator at NCRC. Her responsibilities include managing inventory and serving as a back-up to other special assistants and departments. She has extensive administrative experience through her prior employment as an office assistant at both the Accessibility Resource Center and the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at her university. Emma completed an ethnographic research project while studying abroad in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. She also previously interned at Relief International in Washington, D.C. Emma attended the University of New Mexico, where she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and International Studies.

Emma completed an ethnographic research project while studying abroad in Isla Mujeres, Mexico and previously interned at Relief International in Washington, D.C.
Emma Stevens
Operations Coordinator
Gerron Levi
Gerron Levi is an attorney with nearly 20 years of federal and state government affairs experience. Her background includes serving in the Maryland General Assembly, where she authored laws on education, crime and ex-offender reentry and was a member of the National Conference of State Legislatures, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Foundation of Women Legislators and the American Council of Young Political Leaders. During her tenure, the Maryland State’s Attorneys Association named her as Legislator of the Year in 2010. She also served as Assistant Director of the Legislation Department at the AFL-CIO and as a Legislative Representative for the Laborers’ International Union. She lobbied Congress on a host of law around wages, working conditions, immigration, trade, health care and pensions. She is featured in the documentary How Democracy Works Now as the top lobbyist for the AFL-CIO on federal immigration reform. She also served as senior staff for former U.S. Representative Gus Savage and for U.S Senator Dianne Feinstein. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Howard University, School of Law.

Gerron has served in the Maryland General Assembly, where she authored laws on education, crime and ex-offender reentry and was a member of the National Conference of State Legislatures, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Foundation of Women Legislators and the American Council of Young Political Leaders.