Neil Fitzgerald, Director and CEO
Neil Fitzgerald has been involved in education in New York City as a teacher, coach, and administrator since 1996. As founder and director of the Arts and Athletics afterschool program in the early 2000s, Neil has managed the expansion of the organization to four schools, employing over a hundred amazing teachers and regularly serving close to a thousand children.
Neil earned his BA from Brown University and two masters degrees in education from Teachers College, Columbia University. As an athletics coach, Neil is certified by United States Track and Field as a Level II coach in three specialties: Sprints, Endurance, and Youth Athletics.
Ryan Zavala, HR Coordinator
Ryan Zavala joined the after-school team in September 2012 as our human resources coordinator and quickly took on a range of other responsibilities, including supervising operations across all of our school sites. Ryan has a degree in nursing and spent ten years working in acute rehabilitation with spinal cord injury patients and military service personnel returning from duty. Among his growing list of responsibilities, Ryan is spearheading ongoing efforts to recruit and hire teachers for a variety of new after-school activities.
Sayeed Ramnath, Site Supervisor at PS 452
Sayeed Ramnath joined the afterschool team in September 2016, first as a sports specialist. He quickly took on a range of other responsibilities, including supervising operations at PS 452. Sayeed obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Lehman College. He has a strong background in early childhood education and has enjoyed teaching and mentoring students for over 8 years. Sayeed has a deep passion for empowering his students and helping them reach their full potential as well as building the athletics enrichment program in the Arts and Athletics Organization.
Lisa Baccus, Site Supervisor at PS 334
Lisa Baccus is a new addition to the leadership team. She started off her career as a teacher and soon moved on to education management. She earned her BA in Psychology and her MS in Education. She has five years of leadership experience with a focus on professional development and project management for enrichment programming. She was also a scholastic chess player, learning the game at the age of 5 and continuing to play throughout high school.
Marlen Cuevas Duarte, Co-Site Supervisor at PS 452
Marlen has been part of the Arts and Athletics team since 2021. She’s known for her warm and welcoming presence at the front desk and is often the first point of contact for families and students. Before joining Arts and Athletics, Marlen honed her leadership skills as a supervisor at a previous afterschool program. She holds a BS degree in Criminal Justice from CUNY John Jay College and is currently advancing her expertise with a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Pace University.
Lucas Rivera, Co-Site Supervisor at PS 452
Lucas has worn a number of hats at Arts and Athletics, managing recess activities at two of our sites and as assistant site supervisor at one of our sites before taking on the role of site supervisor at PS 452 last year.
Elisa Colon, Site Supervisor at PS 9
Elisa joined Arts and Athletics in the fall of 2023, bringing with her a wealth of experience from various camp and educational enrichment settings. She is well-versed in educational programming and personnel management. Elisa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Whitman College, where she worked in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for three years. During her time at Arts and Athletics, she has contributed as an instructor in our Upstarts Pre-K program, as well as in coding and technology, and has played a key role in streamlining the organization’s check-in and sign-out procedures.