Kevin Benoit, MBA
Founder & Executive Director
Empowering the urban community has been a goal for Kevin Benoit for almost–20 years. As a freshman in college, in May of 2004, Benoit created Parlé Magazine, an entertainment magazine spotlighting entertainment and featuring celebrity interviews, but also mindful to keep literacy and the written word at the forefront. The publication was created to empower, entertain, educate, motivate, and engage Black and Brown lives within the media industry. Black-owned and Black-led, the publication prioritizes BIPOC voices and stories. The magazine continues to this day.
A first generation Haitian American, Kevin graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2007 with a Bachelors of Science in Legal Studies. He also has a Master’s In Business Administration with a focus in media management.
Over the years he has worked at several nonprofit organizations in a variety of roles, all in New York City. In a quick snap shot he’s worked with formerly incarcerated youth at Police Athletic League; worked with youth with developmental disabilities at Job Path and Hip-Hop 4 Life; and worked with homeless and displaced youth with SCO Family of Services. He’s run after school programming in high schools with Imani House, and worked with students pursuing careers in media at HarlemLIVE. Most recently he worked as an administrator at a charter high school in Brooklyn in the role of College and Career Readiness Manager, developing internship partnerships for high school students and spearheading all aspects of transitioning into senior year and making post-secondary plans.
Ronnette A. Cox
Board Chair
Ronnette (she, her) is a Guyanese graphic designer, consultant, community organizer, and author with over 15 years of experience in Web Design, SEO, and Branding.
An experienced community organizer, Ronnette currently works in digital communications, where she focuses on digital organizing and increasing the online visibility of social justice organizations.
Ronnette sits on the boards of multiple community-based organizations focusing on youth development. She is also the former treasurer and founding communications chair of Brooklyn’s Community Board 17. While volunteering her time, she works to fix websites, implement growth strategies, and prepare these essential organizations for the future.
Aisha Al-Muslim
Secretary
Aisha Al-Muslim is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and the senior editor for newsroom internships at The Wall Street Journal.
Aisha’s career includes business reporting at Newsday, where she was a 2014 Pulitzer Prize finalist for a series on police misconduct. She also served as editor of the Spanish-language community newspaper, El Correo de Queens. She was a reporter for its sister newspaper, the Queens Courier.
Born in Panama, Aisha holds a master’s degree in journalism with a concentration in urban studies from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY). She completed her undergraduate degree at Lehman College, majoring in multilingual journalism and minoring in Italian and Black studies.
Haley Siegel
Haley Siegel began her career in education as a middle school math teacher in the city of Chicago after graduating from Michigan State University with her degree in Special Education-Learning Disabilities, K-12. From Chicago, Haley moved to New York where she continued educating middle schoolers. In the most recent years Haley has stepped out of the classroom, and into the roles of facilitating, coaching and project managing.
Haley has a passion for bringing ideas to life through experiences and deeply believes in educating. To Haley learning is a verb and should be integrated with activities from cultures throughout the world. Haley deeply believes in youth centered work that unapologetically works to shift narratives and centers people whom have historically and systemically been pushed aside.
Haley grounds herself through plants, yoga, cooking, and most importantly laughs with friends and family.
Ahkyra “Akay” Jackson
Ahkyra Jackson is a mother of three beautiful girls. She is a published poet known as Akay on the scene. She is born and raised in Huntington, New York, where difficulties and her home life caused her to run away and ultimately become a two-time suicide survivor. During her recovery process, Ahkyra was introduced to writing, journaling, and poetry. She began to privately write on her own. Ahkyra placed her pain and passion into her poetry where she has been performing and hitting open mics across Long Island and New York City. Throughout all of these adversities she was placed into group homes throughout Suffolk County Long Island, where she managed to graduate a year early from Brentwood High School. It was there that Ahkyra continued her education, receiving her associate’s degree in criminal justice from Stanford Brown Institute and becoming a young mother.
Ahkyra used her hard work and determination to climb the ladder in retail to land her a position in management. Ahkyra soon transitioned from retail management to local government where she was able to work in her true passion for advocating and providing resources for minority communities and youth. Ahkyra’s experiences as a youth fuel the passion for advocacy for those like herself who felt unheard of for so long.
For the last 6 years Ahkyra has worked for Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine within the County Executive Department of Human Services as a department’s neighborhood aide. She is also the founder of the Suffolk County First Youth Council where she led youth to advocate for issues and injustices within their schools and communities. Ahkyra has been featured in Newsday’s online Platform Faces of Long Island, and was highlighted in the Department of Labor’s Workforce spotlight.
Additionally, Ahkyra is also a Runway fashion model who has walked the runway in New York, LA, and Tennessee for top custom designers and top Brands, including Forever 21.
Kay Poema
Kay Poema is a visionary poet, educator, and community leader, currently serving as the 2023-2025 Bronx Poet Laureate. Author of two poetry collections, “Cry Sweat Bleed Write” and “Diary of an Intercessor,” Kay believes writing works as a birthing floor for healing, invention, and re-imagination, where the poetic voice is responsible for both blessing and bruising the inquiring reader.
Kay earned an MFA from The City College of New York, where she also works as an Adjunct Professor and Academic Advisor. When she isn’t teaching or writing, she can be found nurturing her plants and her two sons, in the heart of the South Bronx.
Janine Smalls
Janine is a dedicated professional and proud mom of 2 beautiful souls, one being on the autism spectrum. The journey of motherhood involves both challenging and cherished moments. It is a cherished role that involves love, nurturing and the joy of witnessing a child’s growth.
Smalls recently celebrated her 25-year anniversary with S&P Global Inc. as an Executive Senior Assistant. Within that time, she has worked with many teams / business sectors within Ratings and Corporate including the C-Suite and has received an ACE (Acknowledging Commitment & Excellence) Award. Janine is member of several PRG’s at S&P. Her participation has allowed her to meet employees across all business sectors.
She is a member of The American Society of Administrative Professionals and is PACE (Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence) accredited. Being an Administrative Professional is more than a job because it involves contributing to the overall efficiency and success of an organization. It requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to facilitate smooth operations, making it a crucial role in a workplace. Additionally, the variety of tasks and responsibilities makes the job dynamic and rewarding.
Officers
Carly Fitz-Henley
President
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and raised in the heart of Brooklyn, NY, Carly Fitz-Henley has worked in the nonprofit sector for over fifteen years. She has worked directly with several social and community outlets to benefit and uplift the developmentally disabled population, specifically children, young adults and families living in disparaging and marginalized communities on Long Island and Poughkeepsie, NY. She received her Bachelors of Science in Health Science (with a concentration in Public Health) and Social Science in 2005 and shortly after went on to receive her Masters in Public Administration.
She has had the opportunity to gain experience and knowledge while working in several capacities that include, but are not limited to direct support, administrative, and financial roles. Carly Fitz-Henley hopes to bring her knowledge and support to Parle Endeavors to continue to empower and support all young adults with all abilities in their journey for knowledge and growth in all fields related to media, arts, journalism and entertainment.
Jamica Craig
Treasurer
Jamica Craig is a dedicated Math Educator and Instructional Coach with over a decade of experience inspiring youth to enjoy learning mathematics. In her current role as an Academic Manager for Zearn, she works to ensure the K-8 math curriculum is accessible to all students. She has a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Mathematics. Jamica has previously served as the founding Deputy Director of Applied Science for an XQ Super School in Brooklyn, NY.
Jamica’s passion for empowering youth has kept her involved in various aspects of education. She has served on the advisory board for an educational nonprofit where she helps advance educational equity for students across the nation. Additionally, she has served as a judge for the Best of STEM Awards and has spoken on various panels in support of equitable practices in schools.
Advisors
Fariso Jordan Maswoswe
Fariso is a Los Angeles based actress and writer avidly invested in the condition of the world. Her most prominent work, Georgia, is an Off-Broadway play exploring opposing perspectives on sexual consent.
As the founder and director of Setting the Stage, a theatre-based college-preparation program, Fariso is dedicated to serving youth from underserved communities. She has worked as a teaching artist since 2010 and obtained multiple grants on behalf of both Setting the Stage and Georgia.
Fariso uses her zeal for the arts as a tool for social advocacy, serving as an advocate and educator to promote justice for women, girls, Black people, people of color, people with developmental disabilities, and people who are incarcerated.
Erica Buddington
Throughout Erica Buddington’s 15-year career, she has developed mastery in educational consulting, EdTech, instruction, digital learning, social-emotional learning, Black history, social media, and creative writing. She is on a mission to curate culturally-affirming content that defies and decolonizes the status quo. A Hampton University alumna, Erica is an educator, author, T.V. show producer, and the founder of Langston League.
Langston League specializes in teaching educators how to design and implement culturally relevant responsive instructional material at the intersection of Black history and pop culture. Since its inception, Langston League has served clients across multiple states and two countries, including M.I.T.’s Scratch, Movers & Shakers, Google Code Next, N.Y.C. Department of Education, Achievement First Schools, Medgar Evers College R.O.L.L. Program, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, N.B.C. Universal, Monkeypaw Productions, The League, Up Academy, and Because of Them We Can.
