Fran Barrett , Executive Director
For four decades, Fran Barrett has dedicated herself to improving lives and providing opportunities for poor New Yorkers. Fran founded CRE in 1979 to give the leadership of small neighborhood groups in New York greater access to the training, resources and support they needed to sustain excellent services, and to build strong and effective infrastructures to position their organizations to affect poverty. Fran has served on the Boards of FoodChange, the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee, the Community Service Society, and the Campaign for Human Development. She sits on the selection committee for the New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards. Fran plays a leadership role in Gray Matters NYC and the Pipeline Crisis/Winning Strategies Initiative. She has a Masters in Politics and Education from Columbia University. Fran’s work has been honored by a number of community institutions, including the Amethyst Women’s Program, Andrew Glover Youth Program, Asian Americans for Equality, Flatbush Development Corporation, and the Industrial Areas Foundation. In 2005, Fran was inducted into Thirteen/WNET’s Community Hall of Fame, and in 2006 she received the Brooke Russell Astor Award to honor her as “an outstanding individual whose dedication and perseverance have made an important contribution toward improving the quality of life in New York City.”

Holly Delany Cole , Deputy Director (Programs)
Holly joined the staff in 1995. She is a social worker and has worked in a variety of human service settings. Immediately before CRE, she was a freelance consultant for human services and grant-making organizations, with an emphasis on program evaluation, program development and proposal writing. Holly was a member of the program staff at the New York Community Trust from 1983 through 1989, managing several grant programs. Holly sits on the Boards of Educational Equity Concepts and Computers for Youth. She holds a master's degree from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.

Karen Erdos , Director of Development
Karen joined CRE in January 2008 as a Senior Consultant and became Director of Development three months later. She has 20 years' experience in the corporate and nonprofit sectors, including eleven years as a Program Officer at JP Morgan working in the areas of public education, youth, and health and human services. She also has experience in human resources, fundraising, financial analysis and auditing, having worked with such organizations as the St. Barnabas Healthcare System and Price Waterhouse. Karen holds a BS in Accounting from Fairfield University and an MBA in Human Resource Management and Strategic Planning from Wharton.

Louisa Hackett , Managing Director
Louisa joined CRE in 1994. She has more than 18 years of consulting experience with New York City nonprofit organizations in the areas of evaluation, fiscal management and planning. Prior to CRE, she worked at Victim Services Agency (now known as Safe Horizon), Community Service Society, Massachusetts Fair Share and the Museum of the Moving Image. Louisa holds a master's degree in public administration from New York University.

Evelyne Heriveaux , Controller
Evelyne joined CRE in 1990 as our Finance and Benefits Manager and has 20 years experience in financial management for for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Evelyne is active in the fiscal management and women ministry departments in her church and has a history of activism in the Haitian community. She holds an associate degree in accounting and in secretarial science and has completed the Nonprofit Management Program at Marymount College.

Valyrie Laedlein , Deputy Director (Operations and Research and Evaluation)
Valyrie joined CRE in 1990, before which she consulted with community groups in Washington, D.C., New Jersey and Connecticut. She has worked as a volunteer, trainer, and program coordinator with the Peace Corps in Senegal, and as an economist for the U.S. Department of Labor. Valyrie is currently spearheading an ambitious 6-year evaluation study of CRE's effectiveness with community organizations. She holds a master's in business administration from the School of Management at Yale University.

Jean Lobell , Managing Director
Jean started at CRE in January 2002. She brings with her over 15 years of experience in human resources and organizational development. Jean has consulted mostly with Fortune 500 companies, and has worked with governmental and nonprofit organizations as well, at times on a pro bono basis. Before her independent consulting practice, she was Human Resources Manager for an international line of business at Chase (now JPMorganChase) and Vice President for Training and Executive Development at Bankers Trust (now Deutsche Bank). Jean sits on several Boards including the United Way of New York. She has a master's degree in social psychology from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate in organizational psychology from Columbia University.

Randall Quan , Managing Director
Randall started with CRE in April 2001, before which he served as the vice president for corporate responsibility and business development at a health-related Internet company. He has nine years of consulting and training experience with community and youth development groups. He also served as an Americorps Program Officer for the State of Massachusetts during the first years of national service, and as the coordinator of service-learning programs at a college in New England. Randall has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, and a master's in business administration from Columbia University.