Bakari Levy serves as a Government Affairs Associate for NCRC’s Government Affairs and Policy team. Originally from New York, Bakari received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Central State University and went on to pursue a career in the technology sector after graduating. He subsequently transitioned into international development with an emphasis on the Caribbean and Latin American regions while working as a policy analyst at the Institute of Caribbean Studies. He has worked on collaborative projects with the Center for Afro Diasporic Studies at the University of ICESI in Cali, Colombia, focusing on coalition building and technical innovation. Bakari is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Global Affairs from the University of Oklahoma.

Eden Forsythe is the Chief Policy Counsel at NCRC.  She most recently served as the Deputy Staff Director for Policy and General Counsel at the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and China. In that capacity, she passed major bipartisan legislation, and oversaw policy for Democrats in human rights, supply chain, clean energy transition, trade, and labor rights. Earlier in her career, Eden was the Senior Counsel for Ranking Member of Ways and Means Sander Levin of Michigan and was part of the core team for House Democrats in securing the passage of the Iran Nuclear Agreement negotiated under President Obama.

Prior to returning to Congress in 2022,  Eden focused extensively on domestic policy affecting low-income people. She was part of the core team in New York state that passed legislation automatically raising hourly minimum wage in the event of inflation for people working in low-wage jobs.

Eden began her career as a deputy district attorney in California where she prosecuted a wide range of crimes. She holds B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of the Pacific, and was the 2009 Yale-in-China Teaching Law Fellow where she taught Federal Rules of Evidence.  Eden was the 2017 Rising Star and nominated to be Best under 40 by her peers in the DC Chapter of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She lives in New York City.

Lauren Wolters joined NCRC in 2024 and is currently serving as a Government Affairs Associate. Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brigham Young University, where she also obtained minors in International Development, Global Women’s Studies, and Sociology. During her studies, Lauren was inspired to pursue a career in policy work to address the many social issues she had learned about in her coursework. She chose to continue her education at the Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service, where she received a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in Public Policy Analysis.

Before joining NCRC, Lauren interned in the House of Representatives, where she had the opportunity to work extensively with legislative staff. She also worked for various nonprofit organizations during her time as a student. Her time on the Hill taught her about the power of good policy, and her time in nonprofits made her eager to contribute her skills to an organization working towards building an equitable future. Lauren is passionate about advocating for marginalized communities and creating meaningful change through well-designed policies. She is eager to contribute her skills towards NCRC’s mission of creating a just economy.

Manan Shah is thrilled to work as the Government Affairs Associate at NCRC and is passionate about efforts to reduce the racial wealth gap. Manan’s passion stems from his experiences in his hometown, Lynchburg, Virginia. As a student of Title I schools, Manan witnessed his low-income, peers of color face systemic barriers such as a lack of affordable housing, food insecurity, and gun violence. Manan made it his mission to pursue racial and economic justice and recently obtained a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and Leadership from the University of Virginia.

With his public policy skills, Manan aims to rectify the legacy of redlining in the United States and create opportunities to build wealth in underserved communities. Alongside a talented team at NCRC, Manan is dedicated to advocating for a just economy.

In his free time, Manan enjoys creative writing, playing the piano, learning about different cultures, and exploring DC with family and friends.

Nichole Nelson, Ph.D. is a Senior Policy Advisor at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Prior to working at NCRC, Nichole was a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow and Policy Analyst in the Economic Justice Program of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. At the Institute, she worked on initiatives to help increase the homeownership rate for Black and Brown New Jerseyans. She was the primary author of the Institute’s report Black Homeownership Matters: Expanding Access to Housing Wealth for Black New Jerseyans and wrote “New Jerseyans Deserve Fair Housing and Fair Futures,” an op-ed on NJ.com that discussed the importance of fair housing in New Jersey. Nichole also wrote amendments to and advocated for New Jersey’s Fair Appraisals Act (S777/A1519), which as of December 8, 2022, passed the New Jersey State Senate’s Committee on Community and Urban Affairs and the New Jersey State Assembly’s Committee on Regulated Professions.

Nichole received her Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania and graduated magna cum laude in 2011. While at Penn, she was the Vice President of the Onyx Senior Honor Society, a historically-Black honor society that emphasizes leadership, scholarship, and community service for Black undergraduate students. After graduating, she worked as an intern at the American Philosophical Society, worked as a Research Assistant at Bryn Mawr College, and later held an internship at the National Urban League. In 2014, she received her Master’s degree in History from Vanderbilt University.

Nichole is a 2020 graduate of Yale University, where she earned her Ph.D. in American History. Her dissertation examined how white supremacy diluted the Fair Housing Movement because a moderate view of fair housing that stressed integration prevailed, effectively overshadowing equitable models of fair housing that called for reinvesting in African-American neighborhoods. At Yale, Nichole was one of three presidents of the Andrews Society, which is Yale’s History Graduate Students’ Association, and served as a member of the History Department’s Diversity Committee. She is also a member of the Yale Chapter of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society.