Joshua Mandelbaum, Executive Director

Joshua Mandelbaum joined 826NYC in July 2013. He formerly served as executive director of Words without Borders and the advertising director of Poets & Writers Magazine. He was the coeditor and publisher of the now defunct literary magazine Ballyhoo Stories and has published fiction in other now defunct literary magazines.

Photo by Morrigan McCarthy.

joshua@826nyc.org

Rebecca Darugar, Director of Education

Rebecca Darugar joined the world of out-of-school time education after completing her Master of Arts in Teaching from the USC Rossier School of Education. She has been a part of the 826NYC community since 2013, serving first as the Volunteer & Programs Coordinator and then rejoining the team as the Director of Education. Before entering the field of education, she worked at anti-poverty nonprofits in New York City to help individuals and families enroll in public benefit programs.

Photo by Alan Winslow

rebecca@826nyc.org

Chris Eckert, Store Manager

Chris joined 826NYC as Store Manager in 2016, after a decade of volunteering in the store, in the education programs, and in the capacity of someone who was willing to blow up 200 balloons or get hit in the head with a steel chair for a student’s film. When he is not managing BSSCo. he tutors, writes, and strives to straddle the fine line between curating and hoarding regarding a personal library. Those are his actual glasses.

chris@826nyc.org

Liz Levine, Programs & Volunteer Coordinator

Liz joined 826NYC in August 2014 after graduating with a BA in Writing and Politics. She has served as a tutor and administrator of her college writing center, assisted teachers at local public schools, and taught English in Peru and Thailand. In addition to running the volunteer & intern program and the Park Slope tutoring location for 826NYC, she also harbors dreams of opening her own literature-themed sandwich shop.

Photo by Morrigan McCarthy.

liz@826nyc.org

Ian Lloyd, Volunteer Associate

Ian Lloyd has worked in the world of education since completing his own at Bard College in 2012, with a degree in History. He then worked extensively as an after-school tutor and as a Middle School math teacher, before finding his happy place behind the scenes of an education nonprofit. As Volunteer Associate, he develops and implements strategies to recruit excellent and invested tutors.

ian@826nyc.org

Rose Connelly, Field Trips Coordinator

Rose graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Arts in Narrative Arts and an affection for matriarchies. Since then, she has worked at a colorful smattering of story-related nonprofits, including StoryCorps, The Moth, and New-York Historical Society. She started volunteering at 826NYC in 2013 and joined staff in August 2016. As Field Trips Programs Coordinator, Rose helps students write heart-racing stories for 826NYC’s legendary, basement-dwelling editor, Ms. Mildew. When not at 826, Rose is a Costumed Interpreter and Educator at the Tenement Museum.

rose@826nyc.org

Brancey Mora, After-School Tutoring Programs Coordinator

Brancey Mora first joined 826NYC in 2015 as a volunteer doing field trips and after-school tutoring. Before joining the team in August 2016, she worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA and the Whitney Museum, where she assisted with group visits and programming. Brancey loves reading, drawing, and the strange and unusual. While not running the Williamsburg tutoring location for 826NYC, she also solves mundane crimes and investigates theories of time travel via the G train.

brancey@826nyc.org

Nico Garbaccio, Field Trips Associate

Nico has been part of the 826NYC community since 2014, originally as volunteer and an intern, and then joining the staff in August 2016. He worked as a sportswriter and as a middle school English teacher before finding his niche in nonprofit education. He considers himself to be just a big kid with facial hair, which is his main superpower for leading a group of rowdy third graders on a storytelling adventure. Aside from helping to oversee our always-lively field trips program, Nico manages the booking and hosting of birthday parties and community events in our space.

nico@826nyc.org