Executive Director
Shari Suchoff is founding Executive Director of BCC. Shari has played a key role in developing and implementing population health management initiatives for over a decade, and has led efforts related to addressing social factors impacting health while managing a hospital-based transitional care program and community engagement activities with a large and diverse network of partners. Prior to joining Maimonides, Shari served as senior policy advisor on health care issues to Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand during the consideration of the Affordable Care Act, and as a health policy advisor to Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. She holds a Master’s of Public Policy and bachelor’s in government and politics from the University of Maryland. Shari serves on the Board of Directors at Little Essentials, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting New York’s at-risk families with young children aged zero-to-five.
Ph.D., Deputy Director
Gretchen Susi is Deputy Director of BCC. Gretchen previously led the MIT Community Innovators Lab’s work in Brooklyn, carrying out participatory action research efforts to address the social determinants of health and build community wealth. Prior to her work with MIT, Gretchen was the Director of The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change, implementing place-based equity-promoting strategies nationwide. Gretchen has served on the adjunct faculty of the Graduate School at Columbia University, and holds a doctorate in environmental psychology from the Graduate Center of CUNY.
Director of Programs and Development
Alison is Director of Programs and Development at Brooklyn Communities Collaborative and Maimonides Medical Center, where she has been an employee since 2018. Since joining the organization, she has held roles as Senior Project Manager and Manager of Practice Transformation. Alison is skilled in nonprofit operations, fundraising, and project management, and possesses a demonstrated history of working in the hospital and health care industry. Her previous roles include Research Associate at the CUNY Research Foundation as well as Office Administrator at various private healthcare practices. Alison holds a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, bachelor’s degree in child and family studies from SUNY College at Oneonta. Her additional areas of expertise include practice transformation, quality improvement, policy implementation and evaluation, and qualitative research and analysis.
Manager of Community Engagement
Kristian Balgobin is Manager of Community Engagement at BCC. He previously served as a Faculty Researcher on the Global Disease Epidemiology and Control team at the International Vaccine Access Center – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Kristian holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of San Francisco and a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. In addition to his degrees, Kristian has certificates from Johns Hopkins University in Health Disparities and Health Inequality and Health Communication. Born in Barbados and raised in Brooklyn, Kristian is a community-oriented nonprofit strategist with a passion for social justice.