Our Board
Brittany Smith, President
Brittany’s dedication to working with youth started in childhood, watching peers facing challenges and troubling situations. That interest presented an opportunity to complete a college Service Learning project as part of her criminal justice program. The assignment led Brittany to join the Rochester Freedom Schools in 2007 that turned into a long-term commitment as she quickly took on a leadership position which she held for over a decade. During this time, Brittany learned ways of connecting with children in positive ways and the benefits of building relationships with scholars, families and the community. This work inspired her to continue her education earning a Master's in school counseling at Roberts Wesleyan College. Today she serves as a Professional School Counselor within the Rochester community helping students with their goals through positive affirmations, navigating life’s hardships in pursuit of a bright future. Through a revamped initiative “continuing the work” alongside a fierce group of community advocates, Brittany uses her voice and servant leadership to stand against injustice that children face through the Freedom Scholars Learning Center organization. Her greatest joy is “believing in children so they believe in themselves.”
Doreen Young
Doreen enjoys being involved with community endeavors that enable her to advocate for youth, families and Seniors; to provide opportunities for them to use their voice as empowerment and as an agent for structural and systemic change. Doreen’s community involvement runs wide and deep including serving on the boards of Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition, Beechwood Greenhouse Collective, City Roots Land Trust, The Historic Parsells Church, and also working with Foodlink, School #33 PTA and school-based planning, and Common Ground Health.
Leslie Newman, Secretary
A founding partner and co-manager of Seven Sisters Community Development Group, Leslie Newman specializes in community development, focusing on affordable housing, asset building, community development financial institution development, organizational development, resource development, and workforce development. Her skills include coalition building, strategic planning facilitation, curriculum development, training, and technical assistance focusing on organizational capacity building and new program development.
Leslie began working in community development as a law student, assisting nonprofit organizations in Detroit focusing on affordable housing, income-generating strategies, and neighborhood revitalization. For over 20 years, Leslie has focused much of her work on asset building in Indigenous communities, concentrating on CDFI development, homeownership, and the creation and implementation of Individual Development Account (IDA) programs. She has also focused on workforce development, supporting the Bay Area Construction Sector Intervention Collaborative in Oakland, California, and working as a coach for Youthbuild programs around the country, assisting programs in New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Kentucky, and North Dakota. Leslie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. She is fluent in Spanish and Hebrew and has conversational knowledge of French and Arabic.
Celine Olgin
Celine has served over 30 years as an educator. She is passionate about working with parents and community, being active with students and families, and listening to and respecting people’s differences and needs. She has actively worked with the Freedom School movement and programs, participating in training in extended day programming, as a leader on the 21st Century Grant using the Freedom School model, and working closely with the staff in our program. She is dedicated to providing opportunities for young people to succeed.
Joyce Duckles, Treasurer
As an Associate Professor of Human Development at the the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education and Human Development Joyce specializes in family studies, community development, informal learning, qualitative grounded theory, and critical participatory research practices. With community research partners, she has presented widely on relational strategies and models of urban transformation and activism, on supporting neighborhood and family well-being, and on addressing inequalities and disparities across community and health through re-framing practices of collaborative research and publicly engaged scholarship.
Nancy Ares
Nancy Ares is an associate professor at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education and Human Development. She has been a co-researcher with the Freedom School in Rochester since 2014.
Brandon White
Throughout Brandon's career as English Teacher, Restorative Practices Coordinator, National Professional Development Provider for classroom and system leaders, Freedom School Servant Leader, and Site Coordinator he has pursued the following question: How do we provide equitable ELA and literacy instruction in a way that affirms student identity and dismantles systemic racism in education?