Our Team
Hover or tap on a picture to find out more about each team member
Paulina is the Strategy and Impact Manager and leads the development and implementation of an impact and evaluation strategy across aīre ventures. Paulina has experience working in the public sector in Chile, and the nonprofit sector in Boston, where she worked for The Social Innovation Forum, an organization dedicated to accelerating and building the capacity of nonprofits in the Boston area. She has worked in an array of roles throughout her career including strategic planning, impact and program evaluation, and fundraising and development. Paulina holds an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Boston University.
Nicole is the Operations Manager. She leads the venture studio and its many portfolio projects' financial management, strategic operational development, technological solutions, and talent acquisition. She is driven to build systems with purpose and has a passion for clarity and efficiency in her work products. Through aīre ventures, she has had the pleasure of designing customized solutions for a portfolio of ventures and initiatives that are addressing systemic gaps in access, opportunity, and racial equity. In developing non-profit infrastructure, her primary focus is building tools that remove the operational burden on teams and allow them to focus on their communities and impact.
Previously, her professional work experiences have ranged from elementary education to warehouse logistics and management to software development. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Central Florida’s Burnett Honors College, and her breadth of educational background in fine arts, sciences, and technology has resulted in her developing an inquisitive, creative approach to problem-solving.
She has and continues to work with many nonprofits in the Youth Development and Educational sectors, believing that a foundation for lifelong learning and success begins with early touchpoints that provide support and foster confidence. She currently serves as a mentor at Big Brothers Big Sisters through their School to Work volunteer program in her free time. On the weekends, she enjoys attending ceramics workshops at her local community's pottery studio, biking, and hiking with her partner and their dog, Bear.
Aileen is fueled by a passion for building creative, sustainable, inclusive, and engaged communities. As Director, Nyah Project + Associate Director, aīre ventures, she focuses on strategic partnerships, operations, and programs to sustain and scale the organization. Her past roles have included Associate Director for Venture Café Miami, where she curated programming and partnerships to connect and strengthen South Florida’s innovation ecosystem, as well as spending seven years leading the integration of arts and culture into neighborhood revitalization strategies for the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation. The latter efforts were nationally recognized as a case study for best practices in creative placemaking and community development by the National Endowment for the Art’s Exploring Our Town Program.
She is the recipient of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s HYPE Go Getter Award, BAC Florida Bank’s Community Champion Award, two Knight Arts Challenge awards, and a Public Space Challenge award. A first generation Asian-American, Aileen aims to help open doors for more people of color and women to establish leadership roles, especially in creative fields.
In his role as Associate at Opportunity Connect, Omar focuses on making technological inclusivity a reality in marginalized neighborhoods in Miami. His background as a social science researcher has helped him gain a deep understanding of systemic issues and the unequal access to resources seen in many neighborhoods in the country. In 2021, he earned a research grant from the Dominican Studies Institute at CUNY to study political organization in the Dominican community in Washington Heights. In his previous roles as a community journalist, he was tasked with building rapport with community activists and concerned residents in a mid-sized city in Florida. His stories have been rebroadcasted by several of NPR's member stations in Florida.
As an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Omar hopes to level the playing field by empowering BIPOC communities and other marginalized groups.
Adrienne is the Opportunity Connect Interim Executive Director. She has worked at the intersection of media, technology, and community since 2004. Her background spans from working at CBS-4 Miami in the newsroom to working in communications for Miami-Dade County before starting her first business at 25. She led her agency for 13 years crafting communication strategies for global brands in Latin America & the Caribbean and has produced content in over 40 countries and 7 languages.
Adrienne has architected and launched 3 video streaming platforms and a video marketplace for a global cruise line. She’s the co-founder of Travelspective, a video discovery platform providing a window into destinations and experiences available on Apple TV and in-room hotel channels across cities in Asia and Europe. At the height of the pandemic, she pivoted to building a local streaming service for Miami businesses, non-profit events, and local information available online and on OTT devices.
Adrienne coaches Black entrepreneurs through Babson College's Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership and very excited to lead strategy and execution of initiatives for Opportunity Connect. She is passionate (read: obsessed!) with all things video, the evolution of local networks, and how we connect locally. She is bullish on the OTT space with connected mobile devices, curated platforms, and finding innovative solutions for non-profits to scale impact. The through line of her 20+ years of work has been to make people feel seen and heard. Adrienne’s vision is to usher in the shift from social to the rise of local networks by building a platform that enables people to feel connected to community, wherever they are in the world.
Born in Mississippi and grew up in Tulsa, Adrienne is a proud Miamian of over 20 years. She is a graduate of Florida International University School of Communications & Journalism and received a NCAA Div. I scholarship as a goalkeeper for the Golden Panther Women’s soccer team from 2000-2004.
Melody is the Opportunity Connect Interim Managing Director. She is the an entrepreneur, community leader, and startup ecosystem advocate. Passionate about removing barriers that diverse founders face in accessing proper resources and introductions to grow and scale their businesses.
She has worked with entrepreneurs, investors, and key stakeholders to address the challenges faced by diverse businesses. Her previous work has been managing accelerator programs for Black and Brown founders.
During the pandemic, Melody provided critical support to Latinx entrepreneurs across the country, who faced significant challenges in keeping their businesses afloat. She launched a Medium blog series that highlighted and amplified the untold stories of Latino entrepreneurs during COVID-19, providing them with much-needed visibility and support.
She is also invested in philanthropic work, having raised over $15,000 for disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Currently, she is working on initiatives for relief post-Hurricane Fiona, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to supporting her community and making a positive impact in the world.
On her free time, she enjoys the outdoors, spending time with family, traveling and dancing!
Dana is the Data and Project Management Consultant. She supports various initiatives in a multitude of ways, with a focus on research and data management. She has experience working in the nonprofit sector in areas of mental health, recovery, and social entrepreneurship, and has worked on several consulting projects both domestically and internationally in areas of operations and business strategy. Dana recently graduated with her MBA, with a focus on social impact and strategy from Boston University, Questrom School of Business.
Miami is the engagement coordinator for Nyah Project. She is a bilingual professional with international experience in leadership development with an emphasis on programming, training, and evaluation. Her background includes experience coordinating with government and non-government institutions identifying opportunities to improve well-being in communities through program and organizational development , capacity building, engagement, and collaboration across diverse stakeholders. M.S.Ed. in Community and Social Change.