Our People

Born in the Philippines and raised in Flushing, Maria is a working parent and public education advocate. After the 2016 General Elections, Maria felt compelled to become more active in politics. She now serves her community as the Female Queens County Democratic County Committee Member for Election District 23 of Assembly District 28 in Forest Hills, Steering Committee Member of Queens County Committee for All (QCC4ALL), and Treasurer for Amplify Her.

A lifelong Forest Hills / Rego Park resident, Ozzie leads school-based community and youth development programs for a local non-profit organization. He's an active community organizer and a fighter for equity, justice, intelligent government regulation and scientifically research-based policy. Ozzie is a proud NYC public school and CUNY, Queens College graduate. An avid sports fan, his favorite teams are the Mets, Knicks and Bills. Clearly, he's a glutton for punishment.

Ashley is a lifelong resident of LeFrak City, Queens. She holds a BA from the University at Buffalo and an M.P.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Ashley works for the City of New York Human Resources Administration where she assists families and individuals experiencing financial hardship. She has a passion for civic engagement and is currently an executive board member of Queens Community Board 4.

Ximena Frankel was born in Lima, Perú and immigrated to the U.S. as a child where she grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. She currently lives in Forest Hills, Queens with her spouse and son. A long-time activist and community organizer, she holds a MSW in Community Organizing, Planning and Development from Hunter College of CUNY. She is the NYC Employer Organizer and National Social Media Manager at Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network where she advocates for domestic workers rights, and works to dismantle systemic racism as a parent organizer with D28 Action for Equity, and for police-free schools with the Alliance for Quality Education. A former yoga teacher, Ximena grounds her work in 20-plus years of yoga and meditation practice. Since becoming a parent in 2017 she has been working even harder to help envision and create a more just world.

Miriam Bensman was born in Kew Gardens and returned to North Richmond Hill 20 years ago. A writer by trade, she has spent innumerable hours in meetings, planning anti-war rallies and labor support actions, and even more time knocking doors for candidates. Most recently, she has campaigned for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (2018), Tiffany Caban (2019), and Mel Gagarin (2020). She was elected as a Democratic Judicial Delegate in 2020, and is now Political Director for John Choe’s Campaign for Council in 2020.

Sahand comes to CQUID from years of campaign work, from everyone from AOC to local state committee campaigns. He also serves as Communications leader for Central Queens Redistricting Coalition.