Eric Gurna
Executive Director

As the founder and Executive Director of Development Without Limits, Eric Gurna designs and facilitates staff development, curriculum and other resources for community organizations and schools on topics including youth development, literacy, diversity, leadership, communication and organizational development. A lecturer in child and adolescent development at the City University of New York, Eric also designs and directs youth programs, including Project Unity, an internship program where teenagers create and perform plays based upon their own experiences and ideas.

Eric previously served as Director of Staff Development for LA´s BEST After School Enrichment Program in Los Angeles, where he co-founded the LA Partnership for After School Education. Eric previously worked for Educators for Social Responsibility and Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families (now Harlem Children’s Zone) and received his Master´s Degree in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from the New School for Social Research.

Eric has presented workshops for dozens of organizations and conferences nationwide, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Beacon Community Center, the PASE/OST Advisory Committee, and the TASC Training Advisory Committee.

To read Eric´s resume, please click here.

Andrea Kamins
Project Manager

Andrea has more than six years of experience as an educator, working primarily with youth in grades Pre-K through 12, in both classroom and after school settings. In her previous position at MLK High School’s after school program, Andrea served as the Internship Program Coordinator, where she developed and implemented job-readiness and life skills curricula that helped students prepare for the world of work. She has also worked with college students and adults, leading workshops on issues related to diversity and professionalism. Andrea earned her Bachelors degree in Psychology from Oberlin College and currently works as an independent consultant, facilitating workshops with youth and young adults on topics ranging from media literacy, health and sexuality, diversity, and professionalism.

Carlos Feliz
Senior Consultant

Carlos Feliz , director of Early Start Fitness, designs and facilitates staff and youth development for community based organizations and afterschool programs. He specializes in the area of youth physical fitness and well being. He also facilitates many workshops focusing on how to successfully work with young people. Carlos also works with incarcerated youth, to help them to improve their literacy, math and social skills. Carlos is a Certified Personal Trainer by the American Council on Exercise.

Kenyatta Funderburk
Senior Consultant

Kenyatta Funderburk is the founding director for Inwood House’s Youth-For-R.E.A.L. and The Community Change Institute. These programs grew exponentially under his eight-year leadership to serve nine schools, a community center and more than 600 kindergarten through 12th grade students in the Bronx each year. Kenyatta’s fundraising efforts to sustain his programs resulted in more than $12 million in government contracts, including 21st Century Learning Centers, The Department of Youth & Community Development and The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development through the City University of New York (CUNY).

Kenyatta is also developing the CareerVisions Institute for the City University of New York Research Foundation. The CareerVisions Institute is a middle and high school program that will be in several Bronx schools and whose goal is to develop the leadership & career ambitions of young people.

Kenyatta is a former Robert Bowne Foundation Research Fellow, a board member and quality advisor for Afterschool Works! NY, which is the New York state affiliate of the National Afterschool Association. He is a winner of the Partnership for Afterschool Education’s 2006 PASEsetter Award for outstanding leadership in afterschool. His “Community Change Project” and “Spell-A-Mania” after-school activities won The After-School Corporation’s Promising Practice Awards in 2003 and 2005. He teaches his Community Change Project at Lehman College and has a Masters Degree in Human Services from Lincoln University, PA.

Belinda Passafaro
Director of Training

Belinda Passafaro has served in the educational field as a teacher, advocate, program director, staff developer and consultant. With over 15 years of experience, she has been committed to the development of inner-city youth in South Brooklyn and the betterment of disadvantaged communities in the city. She is a graduate of Brooklyn College with a Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education and she also completed Columbia University’s Middle Management Program at the Not-for-Profit Institute in 1998.

Belinda formerly worked for the Partnership for After School Education in New York City as a program director, citywide mentor/literacy trainer and technical assistance provider to develop and strengthen after school programs and the skills of their staff. Presently, she is working as an independent consultant providing professional development, program development, and technical assistance to youth-serving agencies and faith-based institutions in New York City and in cities across the country. Her clients include the New York City Department of Education, The After School Corporation, Child Care Inc., Developmental Studies Center, Development Without Limits, YMCA, RR Consulting & Associates and Bank Street College.

Elia Gurna
Senior Consultant and Teaching Artist

Elia Gurna is a consultant, teacher and visual artist. The staff development workshops she designs and facilitates include Everyone Is An Artist, which helps educators learn simple low-budget ways of integrating art into the after-school environment. Other workshops explore conflict resolution through art appreciation and artistic forms of expression, making masks and murals, drawing, painting and sculpting. Elia also facilitates many workshops focusing on how to successfully work with young people.

Elia’s sound collaboration and interactive portrait project were recently included in the Queens International 2004 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art, and several other gallery shows. In addition to her work as an artist and consultant, she also teaches German at Columbia University. She received her BA, cum laude from Columbia University, and holds an MFA in Painting and Sculpture from Queens College, CUNY.

Kim D. Jones
Senior Consultant

Kim D. Jones, has worked in the training field for over 13 years. She creates and conducts staff development and workshops for adults and children in educational settings. Her work has covered topics including effective communication, conflict resolution, youth development, leadership and diversity. Kim has an expertise in working with parents and helping educators work with parents to explore issues of effective communication, conflict resolution and making healthy food choices for the family.

Kim is a former employee of Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR) and Partnership for AfterSchool Education (PASE) and continues a consulting relationship with them. Her clients also include West Orange School District, NYC Department of Education and Strang Cancer Prevention Center.

Sam Quiah
Senior Consultant

Sam Quiah is a trainer and curriculum developer with Development Without Limits, and has worked on initiatives such as the Summer Youth Employment Program, City Scholars, and NY Times Summer Jobs Program. He was formerly the project director of the Human Rights Activist Project with Global Kids, Inc., a project dedicated to empowering urban youth to become leaders in the realm of human rights and international affairs. He received his B.S. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an M.S. in Social Work, with a focus in International Social Policy, from Columbia University. Prior to working at Global Kids, Sam worked as an Immigrant Rights Organizer with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. While at Columbia University, Sam was a graduate policy analyst at the Youth Unit of the United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development. His previous work with youth includes working with South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) as a program coordinator.