Meet our Executive Team!

Charlton D'souza

Founding President

Charlton has been a community organizer for over 20 years. A Queens native, he recognized that people of color (including himself) have been underrepresented and underserved by the region's public transportation. He is especially able to empathize with other everyday commuters and work with MTA and elected officials to get the job done! Charlton rides the Flushing and Queens Boulevard subway lines and regularly uses the M55, Q2, Q27, Q32, Q60, Q88, and Q110 bus routes.

Jack Nierenberg

Vice President

Jack is an aspiring transportation planner, graphic designer, video artist, transit enthusiast and social justice advocate. He is dedicated to making the world a better place for everyone and, with his worldly expertise in equity and accessibility in the designs of transportation systems, knows what it takes to do it! He studied graphic design at Pace University and wrote his undergraduate thesis improving accessibility and user-friendliness of public transportation wayfinding systems through their design. Now, he will earn a master's degree in city planning with (of course) a concentration in transportation planning at the University of Pennsylvania. Jack is a regular rider of the IRT subway lines and the M5, M7, M11, M15, M86, and M104 bus routes.

Maana Vora

Fundraising Director

Maana is an undergraduate student at Pace University. She is an aspiring finance major with a passion to making the world a better place and advocating for the people who don’t have the ability to speak up for themselves. Living in the Financial District, she uses the subway system very often.

 Interested in joining our team? Take a look at our open positions here.

Meet our Board!

Danny N.
​Chair

Danny has been a dedicated member of Passengers United and is a regular E and F train rider living in Jamaica, Queens. Having been facing long, unreliable commutes on a regular basis, he joined Passengers United because he is passionate about transit and seeks to improve it to make New York a better city to live in for everyone. He also studied electrical engineering at Queensborough Community College.

Allan Rosen
Vice Chair

Allan is a former director of MTA NYCT Bus Planning with three decades of experience in transportation and a master's degree in urban planning. Follow Allan on X at @BrooklynBus.

Carina Nieves
​Secretary & Treasurer

Carina is a passionate community activist living in Richmond Hill, Queens. She earned her Bachelor's from CUNY Queens College with a Double Major in Urban Studies and Political Science and her Master's in Non-Profit Management from The New School. Carina proudly served two years in Americorps via NYC Service Civic Corps working at Hunger Free America and NYC Parks GreenThumb. Currently, she works for the Dept of Education and volunteers her time to local nonprofits such as South Queens Women's March and the River Fund. She is the current Chair of the Neighborhood Advisory Board for Queens 9 that oversees the community block grant for Richmond Hill and Ozone Park. Carina regularly rides the A, E, F, and J trains, as well as the Q10, Q24, Q55, Q56, and Q112 buses.

Sandra Martinez

Sandra is a community activist who volunteers for various causes. She is also a former journalist at the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and CNN. She now owns Urban Crawls, a walking tour company in New York. Sandra's trains are the 1 and the A.