Our Team
BTC is led by a team of committed individuals who are passionate about working to build the state we want to live in — a state where, no matter who you are or where you live, you have what is needed to live a good life.
We benefit from the wisdom and experience of an active and involved Board of Directors.
Heba Atwa
Heba builds power for policy change by engaging people directly impacted by policy choices, designing sound policy in collaboration with colleagues and partners, mobilizing people to push for change, and building policy champions.
Alex Campbell
Alex produces research and analysis related to disaster recovery, climate legislation, organized labor, workforce development, and labor market trends. His work focuses especially on the intersections of labor and the environment.
Moriah Collins
Moriah coordinates campaigns and partner activities that mobilize people to advance policy change at the state and local level. She develops policy campaign plans, collaborates on implementation and programs, and sustains connections with partners throughout the policy process.
Brianna Dean
Brianna works to develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy focusing on donor cultivation efforts, foundations, and special events. She maintains donor and financial information, develops appeals, and supports colleagues in building awareness of the organization’s mission by coordinating regional events. She also participates in activities that advance racial equity at the organization and advance BTC’s theory of change.
Logan Rockefeller Harris
Logan oversees BTC’s research and works with our analysts to explore social and economic conditions across the state, conduct policy analysis, create accessible data products and publications for BTC’s partners and the general public. She also conducts issue-specific research on topics including tax policy and early childhood education, and coordinates BTC’s internship program.
Sally Hodges-Copple
Sally produces research and analysis to deepen understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and systemic racism in North Carolina, and builds the will to act on policy solutions that advance the well-being of all people and communities.
Dani Hoffpauir
Dani provides strategic guidance that builds power for policy change. She stewards the organization’s engagement, and in collaboration with colleagues across the organization, identifies and supports connections between policy advocacy, research and partnerships. In connecting more people to the policy process, she manages the Summer Policy Institute and Better NC Fellowship.
Aminah Imran
Aminah is a sophomore in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill. She creates social media content using BTC research, develops communications materials for programs and campaigns, conducts updates to our media contact lists and websites, and works on several other writing, editing, and design tasks as part of her internship.
Maria Lopez Gonzalez
Maria builds policymaker and partner will for economic policy that advances solutions to poverty and racial equity. She leads and supports policy and legislative campaigns and connects those directly impacted by poverty and historically excluded, with the policy process.
Katerina Marroquin
Katerina leads efforts to communicate BTC’s work and narrative with people in an accessible and inclusive way. She overlooks the organization’s digital presence, maintains contact records and engagement, and implements policy and organizational campaigns on our platforms.
Victoria Pittman
Victoria supports the Community Building team to implement and execute strategic field plan tactics that foster community engagement and education on key financial and economic policy issues that impact the daily lives of communities across North Carolina.
Selene Santiago-Lopez
Selene supports in contributing to the development and implementation of popular education workshops and trainings to foster diverse leadership and community engagement. She also maintains connections and relationships with on campus groups and/or individuals and alumni of leadership development activities to support ongoing engagement in the policy process.
Alexandra Forter Sirota
Alexandra oversees the strategic direction of the organization including the stewardship of its financial resources, the creation of trusted partnerships and the leadership of a team of talented colleagues. Alexandra works to connect the dots across policy areas and identify opportunities for building the base of support for policies that will deliver better outcomes for all North Carolinians.
Mel Umbarger
Mel oversees communications and technology for BTC, including strategy, narrative and framing, content creation, media relations, digital communications, website development, training, and all the public and behind-the-scenes technology use.
Board of Directors
Michelle Hughes
Elaine Mejia
Meg Wiehe
Felisha McElvine
Cindy Fink
Dr. Jovita Lee
Kelby Hicks
