Partners

Sara Mogulescu

sara@bennettmidland.com

Sara is a nationally recognized expert in juvenile and criminal justice program design, management, and policy reform. At the Vera Institute of Justice, Sara served as the Director of the Center on Youth Justice, where she led multiple efforts to improve and reform juvenile justice systems at the state and local level through technical assistance, research, and strategic planning. In over seven years at Vera, working in close collaboration with policy-makers, government partners, and the philanthropic community, Sara managed a varied portfolio of initiatives. Sara and her team helped New York City stakeholders develop and validate a detention risk assessment instrument that will gauge the level of risk a youth presents in re-offending or failing to appear in court, and provided expertise and support to the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative. Before joining Vera, Sara was an associate at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer P.C., a New York law firm, where she represented clients in federal criminal matters. Previously, she was a litigator in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis. She holds a JD from the New York University School of Law and a BA from Wesleyan University. 

Principals

Sarah Graizbord

sarahg@bennettmidland.com

Sarah is a manager and strategist with over a decade of experience working in the public sector. Most recently, Sarah directed policy and planning activities for the New York City Department of Correction, after playing a similar role in child welfare and juvenile justice agencies. She has experience in a variety of areas including performance measurement, strategic planning, program audit and compliance, business analysis, and project management. She began her career in public service in New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board, first investigating and later supervising investigations into allegations of police misconduct by the public. Sarah holds an M.S. in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from the New School and an undergraduate degree in Literature and Political Philosophy from Sarah Lawrence College.

Pamela Puchalski

pamela@bennettmidland.com

Pamela is an urban development expert with extensive international experience, including work in India, Brazil and Turkey. She has worked extensively in the area of non-profit organizational development. Before joining Bennett Midland, Pamela directed special projects for the London School of Economics’ Urban Age program, a global network of policymakers, scholars and business leaders. Earlier in her career, Pamela served as Deputy Director and Campaign Director for the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, where she was responsible for creating and managing the Center for Architecture. Pamela holds a M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia University in addition to degrees in Economics and Literature (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Maryland.

Eric Rector

erector@bennettmidland.com

Eric directs the IT planning practice at Bennett Midland. He has guided the design of information systems for a range of clients, including law enforcement agencies, economic development agencies and not-for-profits. An accomplished data architect, Eric has designed information systems that drive operations and help executives monitor and analyze the performance of their organizations. Before joining Bennett Midland, Eric worked as a business systems architect in the private sector. Eric trained as a biologist at Duke University and is an avid organic farmer.

Ben Sprung

ben@bennettmidland.com

Ben is expert in designing and implementing effective management systems in the civic sector. Most recently, Ben developed a performance management framework for a national philanthropy to measure the progress that each of five grantee cities is making in addressing such policy challenges as homicide, economic development, and homelessness. During more than six years at Bennett Midland, Ben has completed business process analyses for a wide-range of not-for-profit and government clients. He has conducted studies drawing upon expansive government or administrative data sets, most recently an examination of sales at businesses near projects which reshaped the local streetscape. Ben has also collaborated with clients in criminal justice and education to develop research databases which match across multiple data sets to enable rapid answers to pressing policy questions. Ben majored in engineering at Brown University.

Managers

Dina Dariotis

dina@bennettmidland.com

Clare Newman

clare@bennettmidland.com

Clare is an experienced urban planner specializing in economic development and public-private partnerships. At New York City Economic Development Corporation she served as a Vice President in the Real Estate division, working with government, not-for-profit and private sector partners as the lead on various development projects and other City initiatives. In her over five years at NYCEDC, Clare executed projects throughout the five boroughs including the restoration of the Loews Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn, the City’s bike share program, and the Applied Sciences tech-campus initiative. Prior to joining NYCEDC, Clare worked in a Manhattan architecture firm focused primarily on residential development and school renovation and expansion projects. Clare was also a member of Teach for America, working as a middle school history and social studies teacher in south Texas. Clare received a Masters of Urban Planning from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Economy from Williams College. She is a member of Women in Housing and Finance and is an AICP certified urban planner.

Matt Segneri

matt@bennettmidland.com

Matt is an expert in civic and social innovation and a trusted advisor to business, government and nonprofit leaders. Prior to joining Bennett Midland, he served as a senior advisor to the Mayor of Boston (Thomas Menino), where he focused on service and civic engagement, safety and security, and innovation and entrepreneurship. Matt joined the Mayor’s Office as an HBS Leadership Fellow. Previously, he worked as a Special Advisor Intern at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Matt also worked as a project leader at Monitor Group, a global strategy consulting firm, where he served domestic and international clients across the private, public and social sectors. Matt holds an AB with honors in Psychology from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Associates and Analysts

John Clarke, Associate

john@bennettmidland.com

John is an experienced analyst and researcher with a background in government and public policy. Most recently, John worked at the McGill Institute of Health and Social Policy, supporting various projects relating to physician immigration policy. Previously, he worked for the Government of Canada, in the office of the Senior Regional Minister for British Columbia. There, he conducted analysis and research regarding the performance of government funded programs and grants, with the aim of improving governmental responses to constituent concerns. John holds a B.A. in Political Science from McGill University, with a minor in Economics.

Temim Fruchter, Analyst

temim@bennettmidland.com

A database specialist, Temim has previously worked in grant-making and donor support at several large not-for-profit organizations, including the UJA-Federation of New York. At Bennett Midland, Temim works with clients in data analysis, database research, payroll management, and the development of quantitative performance measurement systems. When not crunching numbers for Bennett Midland, Temim can be seen performing in the Brooklyn-based band The Shondes.

Michelle Lau, Associate

michelle@bennettmidland.com

Michelle is an experienced analyst and researcher in the not-for-profit and government sectors. At the Environmental Defense Fund, she conducted extensive research around the implementation of new energy generation technologies. Previously, she researched the effects of climate change on crop growth in South Africa with the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Program at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Working closely with members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton, she also participated in the design and analysis of an 80-foot-long replica of the Golden Gate Bridge for an interactive exhibition sponsored by the National Science Foundation; the replica is to be displayed in San Francisco in celebration of the bridge’s 75th anniversary. Michelle graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a minor in Environmental Studies.

Lenecia Lewis-Kirkwood, Associate

lenecia@bennettmidland.com

Lenecia is an experienced researcher with an academic background in international human rights and justice. As a John Jay College-Vera Institute of Justice Fellow, she conducted research on best practices in restorative justice for a Brooklyn-based juvenile justice project. Lenecia graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a degree in international criminal justice.

Dalia Mechanic, Senior Associate

dalia@bennettmidland.com

Dalia is an expert in financial and program management for not-for-profit and government agencies. Most recently, she worked for the Chief Financial Officer of a large not-for-profit, where she designed a strategic plan for managing temporarily restricted grants and fostering greater fiscal accountability to grantors. Dalia has an advanced knowledge of statistics and substantial policy research experience. She holds a masters of public administration from NYU and undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Spanish from Bates College.

Uthman Olagoke, Associate

uthman@bennettmidland.com

Uthman is an experienced analyst and researcher with a strong academic background in social justice and public policy. He has developed his skill set and public policy expertise at the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee analyzing the American childhood obesity epidemic, and with the Climate Justice Research Project researching climate change policy. Uthman graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Government and minor in Sociology.

Sean Stefanik, Associate

sean@bennettmidland.com

Sean is an experienced analyst and researcher with a background in the not-for-profit and government sectors. At the Clinton Global Initiative, he assisted members with developing and reporting on programs in the global health field. Previously, he conducted a cost analysis of youth detention facilities in Ontario and spent a summer compiling research at an HIV treatment center in Nairobi. Sean holds a joint honors degree in political science and history from McGill University, where he was President of the McGill Debating Union.

Yun Wang, Associate

yun@bennettmidland.com

Yun is an experienced analyst and statistician who specializes in economics and public policy research. At the US Government Accountability Office, he conducted a comprehensive study of bank lending to households and businesses to assess the effectiveness of government capital injections. Yun holds a BA in economics and the social sciences with honors from the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University. He is also a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the International Economics Honor Society.

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