The Grand Street BID Welcomes Two New Team Members

Meet the newest additions to the Grand Street BID’s team, Megan Diebboll and Yaz Mansi. Megan is coming on as a Project Manager, and Yaz as a Community Engagement Coordinator. With backgrounds in urban planning and community building, Megan and Yaz are excited to work with the BID in improving the quality of life of the Williamsburg community.

Megan is an urban planner and social justice advocate with a background in community development and prison reform. A Southwest Detroit native, Megan graduated from the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan with a Masters in Social Work and Community Organizing. Throughout her career she’s acted as a facilitator for creative workshops in local prisons and jails to provide therapeutic outlets. Working to support disadvantaged incarcerated people made her aware of the systemic issues that led to their incarceration; This led Megan to pursue her Masters of Urban Planning (MUP) at Hunter College, with a concentration in environmental planning. Megan’s bringing her experience as a planner and advocate to the Project Manager role, where she’s primarily focusing on creating stronger connections with businesses in the adjacent commercial corridor to Grand Street.

Yaz recently graduated from The Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College, with a bachelors in Public affairs. Born and raised in Queens, Yaz’s passion for public spaces and placemaking was cultivated by the community he was surrounded by. This inspired him to pursue a career in the public sector, with hopes of working to better the lives of his fellow New Yorkers. Throughout his career Yaz has acted as a communicator and placemaker, working as a liason for the New York City Council and as a social justice advocate. Yaz is bringing his experience in community building and his passion to improve New York City to his role as Community Engagement Coordinator, where his work focuses on cultivating the BID’s connections with both the businesses and the community of Grand Street. 

Yaz and Megan are excited to work to better the Grand Street BID and can’t wait to meet you all!

Grand Street BID Welcomes New Team Member

Kathie Brill is the newest addition to the Grand Street Team as the Community Engagement & Marketing Coordinator. A Brooklyn native, Kathie is excited to contribute to the BID’s ongoing community building and to work with local business and property owners as well as residents.

Kathie recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design with a Masters in Historic Preservation, concentrating in Preservation Planning, policy and community development. Growing up in New York City fostered a passion for urban spaces and an interest in architecture and planning. Throughout an early career in architectural administration and graduate school, Kathie became increasingly aware of the power of cultural resources and the intersection between the built and social environments. With experience in municipal government, non-profit programming, and events she is joining the Grand Street BID with conviction to connect with district members, partners, and volunteers to propel the BID’s mission of improving the quality of life in the community.

Kathie can’t wait to meet all of you in the Grand Street BID, and will be making her way to all the businesses on the corridor in the coming weeks.