Staff

 

Mohamed Attia, SVP’s Director, immigrated to the US from Alexandria, Egypt in 2008. He worked as a vendor for nearly ten years selling hot dogs, halal chicken and rice, and smoothies. He became a member of the Street Vendor Project in 2012, was elected to the Leadership Board, and served on the board until 2018, when he joined SVP’s staff. He lives in Bensonhurst with his wife.

 

Chandi Guntupalli is SVP’s Development Associate. She is a first-generation Indo-Canadian who grew up in India, Kuwait, Canada, and the United States. She started her non-profit career in direct services advocating for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in the South Asian community, and then moving into fundraising and development. She has a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from Rutgers-Newark.

 

 

 
Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez is SVP’s Deputy Director. She brings experience in policy development, restaurants, and community organizing for equitable economic justice. At SVP she has worked to pass city legislation to reform the street vendor industry, pass state legislation to create a $2.1 billion relief fund for excluded workers, and initiated a food relief program during the pandemic that employed vendors to make healthy, culturally sensitive meals for​ distribution across the five boroughs. She has previously held positions at NYC Small Business Services, Community Service Society, and Fundación Corona. Carina holds a Masters in International Affairs and Urban Social Policy from Columbia University, and was recognized in City & State’s Labor 40 under 40 in 2021. 

 

 

 

Rui Li is SVP’s Women & BIPOC Business Empowerment Organizer She immigrated to the US from China as a child and is committed to helping and empowering the immigrant community. She has extensive experience in China and Japan, where she worked in consulting and education. She holds a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University.

 

 

Eric Nava-Pérez is SVP’s Latinx/Spanish Speaking Member Organizer. He is a first generation Xicano community and labor organizer that believes membership led organizations are integral to the development of social movements and systemic change. Eric was born and raised in East Harlem, New York City.

 

 

 

Jennifer Salgado

 

Jennifer Salgado is SVP’s Lead Organizer. She is the daughter of immigrant parents who migrated to the US from a small town in Guerrero, Mexico. For the past few years, she has been an education organizer in the Bronx and Brooklyn where she’s worked to elevate parent voices and bring their issues at the forefront in otherwise exclusive spaces. At the Street Vendor Project, she hopes to build power within the vending community to create longstanding change for Black and Indigenous People of Color and this way pay homage to her family, who turned to street vending when they first arrived in the states. Jennifer was born and raised in the Bronx where she currently still lives.

 

 

 
 
Matthew Shapiro, our Legal Director, grew up in Miami, where as a boy he was once ticketed by the police for selling mangoes by the side of the road without a license. He joined SVP on a fellowship in 2009, after graduating from Cardozo School of Law and the University of Florida. Matt recently spent a year in SE Asia on a street food sabbatical with his wife, Shari.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fawzia Syed is SVP’s Bangladeshi Member Organizer. She is the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants who have worked 30 years as restaurant workers inNYC. She has nearly a decade of experience in community organizing, outreach and engagement, specifically within the South Asian and Muslim community; facilitating educational workshops and access to advocacy services for low-income immigrant families and firstgeneration youth, and working with restaurants workers in NYC. She cares deeply about community, is an avid reader and lover of all things food related.

 
 
 
 
 
Hannah Towfiek is SVP’s Middle Eastern & North African Member Organizer. The daughter of Egyptian immigrants, Hannah is a born and bred Brooklynite who is dedicated to giving back to the communities that raised her. She has recentlygraduated from The City College of New York with a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations.