“NGIN’s vision is ambitious and inspirational. The founding members, the founding donors, NGIN’s Board of Directors and NGIN’s team bring a deep expertise and commitment to building inclusive growth. By uniting economic development leaders across the nation we will identify profound innovations which will change lives and uplift communities.”
Betsey Suchanic – As an Advisor, Inclusive Economic Development, Betsey supports local economic development practitioners across the United States to plan for equity in their local cities, counties and regions.
Before her role at NGIN, she was a Senior Program Manager at the Urban Libraries Council where she led peer-learning communities of public libraries across the United States in Canada in building economic opportunity, digital equity, and impact measurement models. Her background includes working in small business development, microlending, marketing, graphic design, and her own experience as a business owner.
Betsey holds a B.S. in Marketing Communications and Studio Art from Mary Baldwin University and an M.P.A from the University of Delaware’s Biden School of Public Policy.
Deirdre (Dee) Shaw is an Inclusive Economic Development Associate, Knowledge Management. Her work at NGIN supports the Inclusive Recovery Initiative. She acts as the project lynchpin, compiling and organizing critical content on the project, key outcomes and learnings, and stakeholder input and feedback.
Dee’s career has been in Economic development, Public Health, and Policy Analysis within State, Local, and Tribal Government. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, and her graduate degree from Eastern Michigan University in the fields of Economics and Public Policy. Dee has lived and worked in South Korea, Costa Rica, and most notably rural Arctic Alaska; she now resides in Central Florida where she is still thawing out.
Dee loves vegan cooking/baking, traveling, hiking, karaoke, and the Disney theme parks.
Jessica L. González Martínez is Senior Advisor and Co-Lead for the Inclusive Recovery Initiative project at New Growth Innovation Network. Jessica leads a National Community of Practice of regional economic organizations working to implement inclusive economic strategies as well as supports Insights and Innovations which aim to generate deep insights through original research and design innovations to advance the field of inclusive economic development.
Jessica brings experiences across workforce, community, and economic development which build upon solutions that work alongside people and the places they reside. Whether navigating the complexities of gentrification and displacement in neighborhoods in her role at Local Initiatives Support Corporation, or leading federal grant programs at the City of Phoenix (AZ), Jessica utilizes her skills to connect hard to access resources and support to communities most in need. Jessica previously served as Business Librarian at Phoenix Public Library (AZ), establishing greater access points to city services that serve entrepreneurs and leading a team to launch the hive @ central entrepreneurial resource center, aiding entrepreneurs, and small business owners in incubating new businesses.
Jessica holds a MPA from Arizona State University and a B.S. in American Studies & Sociology from Rutgers University. She is currently a PLACES fellow with The Funders Network.
Sean Thompson is Director of Operations at NGIN. Sean provides project management leadership across multiple national projects. Additionally, this role leads NGIN operations and organizational administration, strengthening the foundations and internal infrastructure of the organization.
Sean served as the Director of Local Planning Services with the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), where he led the office’s outreach, technical assistance, research, and policy activities. Sean’s experience at DCA encompasses municipal affordable housing compliance with the New Jersey Fair Housing Act (FHA), a Superstorm Sandy CDBG-DR municipal resiliency planning program, redevelopment evaluations for the Local Housing and Redevelopment Law (LHRL), implementation and enforcement of the Statewide Nonresidential Development Fee Act and serving as the state coordinator for the Main Street New Jersey (MSNJ) program.
In addition, Sean served on a number of boards, commissions, authorities and task force(s), including the NJ State Planning Commission, the Urban Enterprise Zone Authority, NJ Historic Trust Board, Meadowlands Transportation Planning Board, NJDOT Transit Village Task Force, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, and the Housing Disaster Recovery Task Force.
Sean holds a Master of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University and a Bachelor’s Degree from The College of New Jersey.
Swati Ghosh is Vice President, Insights and Innovations at NGIN. In this capacity, she leads NGIN’s program delivery to deliver insights, best practices and innovations which will advance the field of inclusive economic development.
Prior to NGIN, Swati served as the Senior Director of Research at International Economic Development Council (IEDC), where she led the research department in addition to contributing to technical assistance and training programs. Swati has nearly 15 years of experience in economic and community development, including analyzing and designing economic development strategies in entrepreneurship and workforce development, inclusive growth, economic recovery and diversification, and organizational capacity building, among others. She has authored several papers and articles on economic development and related topics.
Swati has a Master of Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Urban Planning from the School of Planning & Architecture, India. Swati is also a Board member and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Work and Economy
M. Yasmina McCarty is CEO and President of NGIN, focused on inclusive economic growth and closing structural opportunity gaps, to ensure that people of color, women and overlooked geographies are a core part of regional economic growth and prosperity.
Prior to NGIN, Yasmina was the Head of Mobile for Development at the GSMA, where she led a global team of 130 people using technology to deliver socioeconomic impact for the underserved in the areas of mobile money, health, agriculture, energy, water, sanitation, climate, humanitarian response, digital identity, digital inclusion, gender equity, and disability. Yasmina was CEO and Co-Founder of GreenMango, a digital platform in India that helped low-income entrepreneurs increase their incomes and worked in microfinance for five years with ACCION USA and Women’s World Banking. Yasmina started her career in the private sector.
Yasmina holds an Executive MBA Global from Columbia University and London Business School and a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University. She has been recognized as a Presidential Leadership Scholar, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Echoing Green Fellow, TED India Fellow, and served as an AmeriCorps Vista.
Press release: NGIN appoints CEO.