Detroit native Darnell Adams is the Director, Detroit Community Initiatives for the Gilbert Family Foundation. He brings more than 10 years of community development, strategic planning, and thought leadership experience to his role. Throughout his career, Darnell has strived to build and adjust resources that directly affect Detroiters.

Prior to joining the Gilbert Family Foundation, Darnell served as Vice President, Neighborhoods at Invest Detroit where he led equitable investments in the city’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund districts with a special focus on supporting BIPOC developers. Previously, he served as the Director, Inventory for the Detroit Land Bank Authority where he oversaw the strategic disposition of 94,000 publicly owned parcels.

Darnell is a graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in Urban & Regional Planning. Darnell continues to push community development work forward as a board member of several community development organizations across Detroit and shares his work through local, national, and international forums.

Andrea serves as a Senior Program Manager on the Detroit Community Initiatives team. Her work involves managing a portfolio of investments that reinforce the foundation’s commitment to grow opportunity and equity for Detroit residents and businesses. In addition, she is responsible for supporting the Economic Mobility, Arts and Culture, and Public Space teams as it relates to our North Star Strategy.

A native Detroiter, Andrea began her career in the non-profit sector creating and delivering products and services to support housing stabilization, economic mobility, and environmentally sustainable practices in Detroit. Prior to joining the Gilbert Family Foundation, she worked at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation where she managed business retention and expansion projects throughout Wayne County.

Andrea is a graduate of the University of Michigan and New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service where she received a degree in Urban Planning.

Brandi Brown is an Associate Program Manager on the Economic Mobility Team with the Gilbert Family Foundation. Through the lens of community and family development, Brandi focuses on building strategies that remove economic hardships and lack of financial opportunities across generations.

Brandi began her service career as a AmeriCorps member with City Year Detroit, where she spring-boarded learning partnerships with Detroit Public School Community District. Brandi’s equitable collaborations with Youth on the Edge of Greatness, Matrix Human Services and College for Creative Studies helped to launch Detroit Neighborhoods Arts Workshops, the first Detroit joint initiative aimed at creating entrepreneurship pathways for young artists. With dual background in holistic health, Brandi’s professional principles are founded in supporting Detroiters through trauma-informed practices and partnerships.

Brandi’s work with the Gilbert Family Foundation’s Economic Mobility Team fosters co-designed initiatives that helps Detroit households reimagine their ability to grow and maintain their income through increased wages, skills attainment, and pathways to entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Gilbert Family Foundation, Brandi programmed the over-arching Rocket Family of Companies’ team member-facing initiatives at Rock Connections. Brandi attends Wayne State University, where she is earning a degree in Psychology and Urban Education & Equality Studies.

Cayla Chamberlin is a Senior Program Manager with the Gilbert Family Foundation. A passionate public space professional, she works to create safe, inclusive, and active parks and public spaces in Detroit. In her role on the Public Spaces team, she works with neighborhood organizations, non-profits, and government entities to invest in public spaces throughout the city.

She has experience working on a variety of projects in Detroit including the building of the Esplanade in downtown Detroit, the redevelopment of McDuffy Park in the Piety Hill neighborhood, and has been leading the Downtown Detroit Markets in Cadillac Square since their creation in 2017. Chamberlin is a graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in English and an additional degree in Communications.

A Detroit native, Jasmin leads a diverse portfolio of Detroit-based community investments that support arts and culture programming and the creative workforce. With extensive experience in sponsorship, event production and partnership development, she manages funding decisions that enrich the quality of life of Detroiters by providing access to culturally enriching experiences.

In 2017, she created the Rocket Community Fund’s Small Business Murals Project, which connects art and entrepreneurship by pairing local artists with small business owners to bring art to their space and neighborhoods. To date, nearly thirty small businesses throughout the city have been gifted murals. Moreover, Jasmin is passionate about the importance of representation and works to break down barriers to the arts by ensuring Detroit youth are provided opportunities to explore creative career pathways. This passion resulted in a dynamic partnership with the College for Creative Studies that includes the Gilbert Family Foundation’s first-ever, endowed scholarship that focuses on Detroit high-school students of color.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed the Digital Access for the Arts Program to provide arts and cultural organizations with the tools needed to safely service their communities. She lives by a simple work mantra, “do what I can, while I’m here,” and it is her hope that she’s made an impact on the city and people that she loves so much.

James Feagin serves as Director of Economic Mobility for the Gilbert Family Foundation. The Economic Mobility team helps Detroiters improve their ability to succeed in the future economy by deploying investments that focus on increasing wages, growing opportunities for skills attainment, and providing pathways to entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining the Family of Companies in 2020 as Director of Entrepreneurship for the Rocket Community Fund, James served as Lead Strategist for Projects +PEOPLE. His former clients include the New Economy Initiative, the Knight Foundation, and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. He also previously consulted with Rock Ventures, supporting the development and launch of Detroit Demo Day.

With over 20 years of experience in economic & community development, James serves as a strategic advisor both locally and nationally and is an entrepreneur at heart.

Laura Grannemann is the Vice President of Rocket Community Fund and Executive Director of the Gilbert Family Foundation. Laura joined the Rock Family of Companies in May of 2014 after graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in International Development.

In her dual roles, Laura focuses on breaking down complex systems related to economic development and neighborhood stabilization, including Detroit’s tax foreclosure crisis, the mortgage market in the city, and creating education programs that prepare students for 21st century jobs in Detroit. She also oversees all volunteer engagement and giving initiatives for the Rock Family of Companies via the Rocket Community Fund.

Throughout her time with the Rock Family of Companies, Laura has led projects that bring together community, public and private partners such as Rehabbed & Ready, Motor City Mapping, Neighbor to Neighbor, the Make It Home program, and the Detroit Tax Relief Fund. This work has affected tens of thousands of Detroit residents, allowing families to stay in their homes, become homeowners, and build equity and opportunity.

YooRi Kim is Scientific Officer of the Gilbert Family Foundation, where she is on a mission to find effective treatments for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). She develops and oversees the Foundation’s research portfolio, which is focused on vision restoration for individuals with NF1 optic pathway glioma, treatment of NF1 brain tumors, and NF1 gene therapies. Previously, she served as a medical philanthropy advisor at the Milken Institute, helping philanthropists strategically invest in biomedical research in various fields, including neurology, oncology, psychiatry, genetics, and precision wellness. YooRi graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a minor in Spanish. She received her master’s degree in physiology and biophysics from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Efrén Muñoz is a Scientific Analyst for the Gilbert Family Foundation. In his role, he will support the Scientific Officer to advance projects and research that further the goal of curing neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). He has a background in physics and molecular engineering and has spent the past several years applying his skills to develop technologies that better analyze and characterize biological systems.
Growing up in the city of Detroit, Efrén spent his extra time participating in organizations whose goals were to alleviate the pains that many people felt within the city, both economically and medically. He has learned so much from his time spent investing in the communities of Detroit, and it has substantially informed the trajectory of his career.
Efrén holds degrees from Wayne State University (B.S., Biomedical Physics) and The University of Chicago (M.S., Molecular Engineering).

Kinnus Paul, is a lifelong Detroiter and graduate of Detroit Northwestern Highschool. Kinnus has over 13 years of experience in talent pipelining, small business support and program management specific to skilled trades. Supporting Detroiters as an ecosystem partner is his mission and fuels his appetite to be the change he wants to see in the community he loves.

Caroline Poole oversees the logistics and behind-the-scenes work of the grantmaking process at the Gilbert Family Foundation. As the Associate Grants & Operations Manager, she supports the Economic Mobility team in executing projects that create a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city, invest in small businesses and skills training, and build economic opportunity for Detroit residents. Her work is also directed towards Curing NF where she collaborates with scientists to manage research projects for the foundation’s Vision Restoration Initiative. Caroline comes to the Gilbert Family Foundation with years of experience in the nonprofit industry. In her previous role as the Communications & Strategic Initiatives Manager at Global Ties Detroit, she was responsible for leading projects to improve the organization’s infrastructure and outreach. Caroline received her B.A. in Professional Writing from Michigan State University and her M.A. in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University.

Kayleigh Roy manages the day-to-day and long-term operational planning of the Gilbert Family Foundation’s grants across pillars as well as for NF Forward, a nonprofit founded by the Gilberts. Acting as Director of Grants and Operations, she interfaces with all members of the Foundation’s team and grantees to cultivate and maintain strong partnerships across the Curing NF and Building Opportunity and Equity pillars of the Foundation. Kayleigh previously worked in an operations and grants management role at the Quicken Loans Community Fund, and prior to joining the Family of Companies, she supported urban development research at the Virginia Department of Transportation. Kayleigh graduated from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture with a degree in Urban and Environmental Planning.

Dorienne Sherrod is the grant and operation manager for Art & Culture and Gene Therapy initiatives for the Gilbert Family Foundation. She will be handling all aspects of grants and sponsorships from the organization. Additionally, she will be supporting NF Forward, the sister organization to the foundation. Prior to joining the team in 2022, Dorienne has worked in nonprofits and program management in Detroit. Dorienne graduated from Arizona State University in 2016 with a degree in Public Policy and Public Service with a concentration in Business and Global Health.

Julia works passionately on the Grants and Operations team to ensure the daily and long-term success of the Gilbert Family Foundation and NF Forward. She manages the Public Spaces pillar of the Building Opportunity and Equity initiative, as well as scientific research grants on Neurofibromatosis (NF) brain tumors. Julia has a professional background in the nonprofit sector, working in volunteer management, donor relations, and fundraising; she has a degree in Philosophy from Oakland University and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from Eastern Michigan University.

Mar Paricio Sunyer works hand in hand with the Grants and Operations team to manage the day-to-day operations of the Gilbert Family Foundation and its sister nonprofit, NF Forward. As Grants and Operations Manager, Mar has experience working in all aspects of the organization: from managing grants, coding a website, managing Salesforce instances, to executing a silent and live auction. Mar joined the Gilbert Family Foundation in 2019, shortly after graduating from Clemson University with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Nonprofit Leadership.

is the Director of Public Space for the Gilbert Family Foundation. JJ joined Rock Family of Companies in February of 2022 after serving as the Deputy Director of the City of Detroit’s Parks & Recreation Department.

In his role, JJ comes to his work and volunteer activities with unbridled enthusiasm and positive energy to unlock inclusive and equitable access through community engagement and robust (and sometimes atypical) partnerships. He has an appreciative grasp of the critical role that quality programming – especially sports and after school – has had on his own life’s trajectory. He remains committed to giving back and creating opportunities for everyone, no matter their ability, race, gender, or socio-economic status.

Kalyan Vinnakota manages the grants funded by the Gilbert Family Foundation’s Vision Restoration Initiative. Dr. Vinnakota is a bioengineer with over a decade of post-PhD experience in academia, military medical research, and the biomedical research industry. His major scientific contributions are in the areas of computational modeling of biochemical pathways and cellular transport processes. He has developed computational and experimental approaches to study a wide range of problems including regulation of mitochondrial metabolism, localization and mobility of Ras proteins, and pharmacokinetics of small molecule therapeutics in translational animal models. He is passionate about applying his interdisciplinary research experience towards advancing therapeutics for patients with unmet needs.