Meet our Board of Directors

  • Jackie Council is the Communications and Outreach Coordinator for Alternatives Federal Credit Union. She is the owner of Lega-C Healing, where she uses intuitive forms of healing including Reiki to help individuals access, and create their own self healing journey; she was also previously Director of Altagracia House of Healing at Program of P.E.A.C.E, a nonprofit in Chemung County that assisted survivors of violence to break down barriers to access services. As an immigrant and small business owner, and with over a decade worth of advocacy in this community, being on the board of an organization that strives to break down barriers for all people fits into Jackie’s life's mission. She strives to amplify the voices in the community who are often not invited to the table, saying, "You have to sit with the chefs to change the menu."

  • Tanya Hernandez is the family policy advisor in the western New York region for the Office of Children and Family Services, where her role is to amplify the voice of parents and caregivers who have experienced the child welfare system by incorporating them within New York State’s child welfare structure.

    With a passion for advocacy and building bridges, Tanya uses a DEI framework and lived experience to help bring the family voice to the child welfare system.

    Tanya is a bilingual, credentialed family peer advocate with almost 20 years of experience in child protection, juvenile justice, domestic violence, and health care. She worked most recently as an advocate for Muslim and refugee families in western New York.

    As a priestess within the Santeria religion, Tanya assists individuals in the quest for self-discovery, personal growth, connecting to ancestors and spiritual transformation. Tanya has also served as a facilitator for Red Tent, a sacred space where women gather to honor femininity, stand in their truth and find support as they navigate the intricacies of their emotions.

  • Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, EdD., is Executive Director of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC), an inclusive, social justice community center in the City of Ithaca.

    During her 20-year tenure as a member of the Tompkins County Legislature, she created and chaired the Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Committee and co-authored legislation to make Tompkins County a living wage employer, one among several equity-centered legislative actions she initiated. For two years, she also chaired the Legislature.

    Educated both abroad and domestically, Leslyn holds two Bachelors of Science degrees (K-12 Education and Intercultural Communication/Adult Education), an MBA, and a doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership.

    She is a 25-year veteran facilitator, mediator, and a certified mediation trainer.

    For over 12 years, Leslyn ran her own training and consulting business providing coaching and speaking engagements for several agencies, universities, and governments on developing internal communication and conflict-management procedures, diversity, inclusion and empowerment, as well as race relations.

    She has lived her entire life on the premise that it is important to stay involved in organizing and advocacy, and committed to dismantling systemic barriers impacting marginalized and minoritized communities through local organizations, public office, public schools, and volunteerism.

  • Tilisa Stubbs is the founder of Home Equity Real Estate (HER) Investments LLC. She chose HER to represent her business because women are doing some truly miraculous things in the real estate space and she is ALL THE WAY here for it! After a chance encounter with her first private money lender who gave her $100k, Tilisa knew that having an endless amount of capital would give her the fuel to take her business to the highest of heights.

    One thing that she loves as much as real estate is being able to help women succeed in life and business, which is why she is a proud board member of Amplify Equity.

  • Asia Johnson is a writer, storyteller, and filmmaker who has worked with several organizations in the criminal justice reform space, including The Bail Project, Shakespeare in Prison, Prison Creative Arts Program, Hamtramck Free School, and the Michigan Prison Doula Initiative. Asia is a 2019 Right of Return Fellow, 2019 Room Project Fellow, 2021 Brennan Center for Justice Fellow, 2022 Art for Justice grantee,2022 Highland Leader, and a 2024 Galaxy Gives Fellow. Her Chapbook, An Exorcism, was released in 2018 and her directorial debut, Out of Place, was released in 2022.

    Asia studied at University of Michigan-Dearborn and is the Manager of Storytelling and Media Productions at Zealous. When Asia isn’t helping to uplift the stories of those impacted by the criminal legal system and making her dream of a world without cages come true, she is writing poetry.

  • Mike Katz is a retired entrepreneur who has owned and operated many businesses including a screen-printing company, a travel agency, a marketing consultancy, and a number of franchises.

    In addition, Mike has done Major Gifts fundraising for a number of local not-for-profit organizations including Hospicare, the Sciencenter, and SUNY Cortland. I am a native New Yorker, a resident of Ithaca, NY, and a graduate of Princeton University.

    Mike is passionate about helping provide support and resources for people who have great ideas for starting a business but feel that the opportunity to do so is not open to them.

  • Kevin Mietlicki is the President and CEO of Alternatives Federal Credit Union (AFCU), a CDFI Community Development Credit Union in Ithaca, New York.

    Kevin has spent 32 years in the credit union industry delivering on the credit union model of “People Helping People”. During his tenure at AFCU, the credit union has made many changes to its services and products in order to better serve historically underserved communities in the financial system.

    Kevn uses his industry knowledge and position at AFCU to advocate for low-income and minority communities in the financial services industry at the local, state and national levels of government; he also volunteers his time as board member for several local service organizations.

    Kevin has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Albany and earned his MBA in Finance from SUNY Buffalo.

Emeritus Members

  • Richard Furnas served over 15 years on Amplify Equity’s Board of Directors. He is a Teaching Associate at Cornell University, and Owner of Microcomputer Power. Richard is a passionate advocate for social justice, transparency in organizations, financial equity, and extending business support services to a broad and diverse community. He has long experience advocating for diversity and its measurements in contexts ranging from natural habitats and biodiversity to personal identity and ethnic diversity.

    Academic credentials: BA Biology, MS Biology, MS Mathematics, PhD Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.