Our Team

Executive Team

 

 

 

 

 

Philip Weinberg, Chief Executive Officer

Phil’s career has spanned the public and private sectors, focusing on transforming workforce and education systems across the country and on building world-class social sector organizations. In this capacity, he has held leadership positions with educational and human services organizations in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City, as well as private sector positions with the global education company, Kaplan, Inc., and with the management consulting firm, Bain & Company.

Immediately prior to joining STRIVE, he served as President of the New York City Workforce Investment Board, which is appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to drive, coordinate and oversee workforce development services in New York City, advancing the Mayor’s economic and human capital agenda to ensure the availability of skilled workers needed for the city’s growth.

Phil has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including representing New York City on the Workforce Development Council of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Phil holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Northwestern University. A native of Philadelphia, Phil lives in New York City with his wife Jessica and three year old daughter.

 

 

 

 

 

Rob Carmona, Co-Founder

Robert Carmona is a founder of STRIVE, a non-profit organization that under his leadership grew from a small community-based organization to an international leader in workforce development. STRIVE today is a network of service providers in 21 US cities, as well as cities overseas.

Prior to his tenure at STRIVE, Rob held a number of senior positions in the New York City not-for-profit community, as the Assistant Director of Agency Relations at the Greater New York Fund/United Way and Senior Planner for the NYC Volunteer Corps. A Harlem native, Rob had spent his teenage years through his early 20s drug addicted and in and out of prisons. Following an arrest for armed robbery in 1976, he entered an alternative to incarceration program where he got clean and began to attend college. Rob earned a BA from the College of New Rochelle in 1979 and went on to earn a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University in 1982.

Today, Rob serves in advisory capacities (formal and informal) to the US Department of Labor, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and the Office of the Governor of New York, as well as is a frequent speaker at conference and panels on issues related to workforce, fatherhood, re-entry, and young men of color. Rob is on the advisory board of the NYC Mayor’s Young Men’s Initiative and is a founding board member of The Workforce Alliance (now known as the National Skills Coalition). He is also a founding board member of Per Scholas and LIFT and currently sits on the boards of STRIVE, Self-Help Community Services, and Black Agency Executives.

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Stein, Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer

Lisa Stein has over 14 years of nonprofit management experience in a variety of organizations with a common mission to empower members of the community who have been disenfranchised due to extreme poverty, race, disability or other barriers and assist them to achieve greater self-sufficiency. She has been part of smaller, locally focused organizations as well as national institutions. Lisa obtained her MBA from Boston University’s School of Management in their acclaimed Public Nonprofit Program.  She has also received an accredited certificate in federal grants management.

Lisa previously worked for organizations such as Recycle-A-Bicycle, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and Bronx Independent Living Services. She has also worked briefly for the U.S. General Accountability Office.  She came to STRIVE in early 2009 and currently serves as Chief Financial Officer/ Chief Operating Officer. She manages financial reporting and budgeting, government contract compliance, outcome data, human resources and IT functions.

Lisa has taken the best practices from her nonprofit experience, business training, and public sector knowledge and has woven them into her own professional philosophy and work style.  She is passionate about developing effective and sustainable nonprofits and often volunteers her time to network and mentor individuals seeking to bring their passion and skills to bear in the sector.