OUR STAFF:
Parisa Norouzi
Executive Director
parisa@empowerdc.org
Linda Leaks
Lead Housing Organizer
leaks_linda@yahoo.com
Ben Parisi
Child Care Organizer
Ben@empowerdc.org
Executive Director Parisa Norouzi is well known and respected in the D.C. community both because of her commitment to social justice and her knowledge of issues affecting DC’s low and moderate income residents. After graduating with honors from Marlboro College in Vermont with a degree in Environmental Policy and Interest Group Politics, she quickly decided to enter the field of organizing for social change. After spending her early career in organizing around environmental justice issues, she joined the staff of WISH where she worked for one year, organizing around affordable housing, child care and other “safety net” preservation efforts. She co-founded Empower DC with Linda Leaks in December 2003. She has served as the lead organizer of the Ivy City Coalition, the People’s Property Campaign and the Child Care for All Campaign. She holds a Masters Degree in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.
Lead Housing Organizer Linda Leaks is widely recognized as one of the foremost tenants rights experts and grassroots organizers in the District of Columbia. Ms. Leaks has over 30 years experience in organizing. She started her organizing career as a tenant-activist, becoming involved in housing issues through her efforts to hold her own slum landlord accountable. Before co-founding of Empower D.C. in 2003, she worked for 18 years on the staff of Washington Innercity Self Help (WISH). There she worked as an organizer and co-op trainer, helping to lead the development of several limited equity housing cooperatives in the District of Columbia. She also helped to organize the political involvement of low- and moderate-income tenants whose work strengthened our city’s tenants’ rights laws and was responsible for the critical grassroots organizing effort that led to the initial victories in the battle to fund affordable housing through the Housing Production Trust Fund. She holds a Masters Degree in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.
Child Care Organizer Ben Parisi has been actively involved in a number of youth and adult education programs since 2003. For two years he was a teacher of ESL and GED classes with Community Impact, an organization that provides free employment, education, and health services to low-income residents in New York City, and he served on its Board of Directors. As a Fulbright grantee in Egypt, he worked with community centers in Cairo to provide English language training to Sudanese and Iraqi refugees. Before coming to Empower DC, Ben assisted social workers facilitating the resettlement of Arabic-speaking refugees to the US. He holds a BA from Columbia University.
Current Board Members
- Brian Anders
- Netfa Freeman
- Tony Norman
- Jennifer Morley
- Oscar Madsen
- Nicole Armbruster
- Maria Jones
- Dana Powell
- Farah Fosse
- Benito Diaz
- Adrienne Lynch
The Role of the Board includes:
- Serve as collective leadership of Empower DC along with the staff team
- Provide guidance to the organization in accomplishing its mission, goals and activities
- Help set policies, define goals and decide position
- Help carry out the goals and mission of the organization, represent the organization in coalitions and in the public and be actively involved in campaigns and activities
Other duties include:
- Monthly meetings
- active participation in at least one organizational campaign or activity
- dedicating at least 8 hours a month to the organization
- participation in quarterly membership meetings