Our Friends
Tara Abrol
Tara Abrol grew up in New Jersey, Malaysia, California, and Georgia, and attended Georgia State University, where she studied Anthropology and concentrated in
Applied Anthropology in the Nonprofit Sector. She has a wealth of experience working with children - she has worked as a camp counselor at both sleep away and
day camps, assisted in a pre-nursery, tutored, mentored with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and led workshops on nutrition, self-esteem, and sexual education. Most
recently she worked with LEAP (Learning through the Expander Arts Program) as a teaching artist, leading story-telling activities with kindergartners and first
graders, and cultural anthropology activities with third and fourth graders. Coming to Friends in the fall of 2007, she is thrilled that, as a Friend,
she is able to form such deep relationships with her children.
Keidera Archie
Keidera Archie became a Friend in summer of 2007. Born in New York City and raised in the Poconos of Pennsylvania, she
graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2006, where she studied visual art and psychology. She has worked with children and
adolescents throughout high school and college. Just before joining us, she participated in City Year, working in an elementary
school in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Other interests include art and activism. She is thrilled to be a part of an organization
in which everyone cares so deeply about the children we serve and the work we do.
Jennifer (Nefer) Bovea
Jennifer (Nefer) Bovea began with Friends in fall 2005.
Nefer graduated from SUNY Stonybrook in 2001 with a BA in psychology, with a concentration in youth development. After graduation,
she worked for four years providing preventive services to at risk children and their families. As a craftswoman and designer, Nefer
brings creativity, patience and dedication to her work with her children. The fruits of her knitting and weaving often adorn her, as
does a radiant smile. She is fluent in Spanish.
Daniel Felder, Senior Friend
Daniel Felder, Senior Friend, graduated from
SUNY Cortland in 1984 and made a career in the banking industry before
joining Friends in 2003 to fulfill his dream of making his living
working with children. Danny has volunteered for years in the youth department of his church in the Harlem
neighborhood where he lives with his wife and young daughter within blocks of our
Friends Place headquarters. All of his boys look up to him, only
incidentally because he stands six feet, five inches tall. In 2006 Danny was designated a Senior Friend assuming
responsibilities for resource development and community liaison.
Jeremie Knight
Jeremie Knight grew up in Central Florida, and began college at Florida A&M as an architecture student. He soon realized that he wanted to work more
directly with people, and switched to studying criminal justice - after spending time in the juvenile courts, he began concentrating on juvenile justice and
children´s services. He worked with children in the summers, as well, as a counselor and then head counselor at the Fresh Air Fund’s Camp Hayden-Marks
Memorial, a camp that provides boys from New York City´s disadvantaged communities with a tuition-free summer camp experience. Upon graduating in 2006, he
worked in a foster care prevention program in The Bronx, providing counseling and referral services to families. He joined Friends New York in the fall
of 2007, eager for the chance to see the kids with whom he works grow and develop over the long-term.
Ayesha S. Owens
Ayesha S. Owens grew up in the Bronx until her family moved to rural
South Carolina when she was 14, just after she finished her session at the Fresh Air Fund’s upstate Camp Mariah. She longed to
return to New York all through high school and after entering Clemson University in Carolina she arranged to spend each of her
summers working as a counselor at the Camp Mariah, whose career awareness program enables nearly 300 inner-city adolescents to
explore educational paths and career options, while enjoying camp adventures. By the time she graduated with honors with a BA in
psychology in 2004 she had become assistant camp director, supervisor of the head counselors and a staff recruiter. She then happily
returned to the Bronx, where she was in charge of a large after school program immediately before joining us as a Friend in
spring 2006. She now relishes the one-on-one role of a Friend.
Kyrra Rankine
Kyrra Rankine graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Creative Writing and Sociology.
After earning her degree, Kyrra joined Teach for America, and was placed at CIS 166 in the Bronx where she
established the first program for gifted middle school students in one of the lowest-performing public
school districts in the nation. She also taught 6th and 7th grade English, creative writing, U.S. History,
world civilizations and geography. By the end of her tenure, standardized test scores had increased by
30% and the gifted program had doubled in size. She joined Friends in spring 2004. Kyrra has coached children in diving, gymnastics, rock
climbing and drama.
Eric Rweyemamu
Eric Rweyemamu joined us in spring of 2007, coming to us from
Harlem Children's Zone, where he worked with high school students as a Student Advocate/Guidance Counselor.
He grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, having moved there from Tanzania with his family at a young age.
Passionate since childhood about education and literacy, he has worked as a tutor and advocate at a variety
of New York City's youth services organizations, including as an assistant teacher at the Carter G. Woodson
Cultural Literacy Project in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and as a youth coordinator for an after-school program
at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House in Harlem. He received his B.A. for an Individualized Major from NYU
in 2001 (incorporating Metropolitan and Africana Studies), and his M.A. in American History from the
University of London in 2003.
Paul Stevens
Paul Stevens graduated in 2003 with a BS in
psychology and African and African-American studies from the SUNY campus at Brockport, where he was
president of his fraternity and active in student government. He joined us as a Friend in the Spring
of 2006. While still in college he worked with emotionally disturbed children in classroom settings. After
graduation he was employed in treatment, crisis intervention and conflict resolution for children in
residential treatment, and case management with families and children to prevent psychiatric
hospitalization. This experience has prepare him to work with the challenges posed by our children with
insight and patience.
Anthony (Tony) Sylvester
Anthony (Tony) Sylvester, a native New Yorker, joined Friends in fall of 2007. He attended the New York Military Academy for high school, where he
graduated from JROTC, then moved on to Columbia Union College in Maryland, from which he graduated in 2005 with a degree in Public Relations. In his first year
of college he began working with the T. C. Williams Youth Enrichment Program, a program created for inner city youth from lower income neighborhoods in D.C. and
Maryland that provides an alternative to the streets. Back in New York City, he worked as the recreational coordinator for TIPS (Total Integrated Programs and
Services), and at the Heavenly Angels Daycare Center, where he provided homework help, counseled children, and oversaw the activities area. Passionate about
boxing and basketball as well as working with children, he is thrilled to be involved on a one-on-one level, and that, as a Friend, "there is no limit to how
much you can help your kids." He plans on pursuing a Masters in Social Work in the near future.