MEET OUR TEAM

The backbone staff of Norwalk ACTS is the coordinating body of the partnership. They provide cornerstone capacity, convene and facilitate meetings, and align the efforts and resources of members and community partners who work to improve agreed-upon community-level outcomes.

Tania Priatka is a communications and program leadership professional whose career spans the corporate, nonprofit, and community sectors. As Director of Communications and Engagement at Norwalk ACTS, she leads strategic messaging, partner engagement, and storytelling efforts that advance the organization's cradle-to-career mission across Norwalk. Her work focuses on building meaningful connections, strengthening partnerships, and translating complex community initiatives into clear, compelling narratives.

Tania's passion for communications began early in her career during an internship with The Walt Disney Company, where she witnessed firsthand how effective communication can inspire action, align stakeholders, and foster a shared sense of purpose. That experience led her to pursue a Master's degree in Corporate & Organizational Communications from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and it continues to shape her approach to leadership and engagement.

Prior to joining Norwalk ACTS, Tania held several leadership positions at Jewish Family Services of Greenwich, where she managed immigration and refugee support programs. Her work included cultivating partnerships with local institutions, guiding grant-funded programs, and representing the organization in collaborative efforts designed to strengthen support systems for vulnerable populations.

In addition to her professional work, Tania has dedicated more than a decade to leadership roles within Ukrainian-American educational and advocacy organizations, reflecting her commitment to cultural preservation, community engagement, and intergenerational learning.

Tania is passionate about the role communication plays in advancing collective impact. She believes that shared understanding and compelling storytelling are essential to helping communities move forward together.

Andre T. Nelson serves as Director of Cradle to Career Initiatives at Norwalk ACTS, where he leads cross-sector partnerships and strategic initiatives that improve outcomes for children and families from birth through adulthood. His work focuses on aligning community partners, using data to inform decision-making, and developing collaborative strategies that create lasting, measurable impact.

Prior to joining Norwalk ACTS, Andre served as a Senior Project Manager in maternal and child health, specializing in program evaluation, data strategy, quality improvement, and father engagement initiatives. Throughout his career, he has worked across healthcare, nonprofit, and community-based organizations, helping teams leverage data, strengthen programs, and improve outcomes for the populations they serve.

Andre’s areas of expertise include collective impact, maternal and child health, program evaluation, project management, data analytics, strategic planning, and cross-sector collaboration. He holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Administration from Pace University and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Sacred Heart University.

Andre is passionate about creating healthier communities by strengthening families, advancing equity, and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive. He believes meaningful change happens when organizations work together around shared goals and use data to guide action. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his two children and bowling with his family, as well as exploring innovative ways to strengthen community well-being.

M.J. has been the Early Childhood Development Manager since September 2023. Her responsibilities include leading and facilitating the project management efforts for the Early Childhood Development Initiative to enable progress within community-level outcomes. From March 2020 to September 2023, she was the Manager of Community Engagement at Norwalk ACTS.

Prior to this role, she led a community planning process around social emotional learning and trauma-informed care. Through her work in the social sector, she has fostered valuable relationships and connected community members to support helping them improve their lives. She has led community outreach efforts to actively engage Norwalk families in decisions made about themselves.

As a Parents as Teachers (PAT) Educator, she provided family support, strengthened Norwalk families, and promoted positive parent-child interactions. As a Community Organizer focused on the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness in Bridgeport, she mentored homeless individuals and facilitated the monthly consumer advisory forums. In addition, she co-facilitated an after-school leadership program for middle school girls. Her social work experience began at Family & Children’s Agency in Norwalk as a Coordinator of Volunteer Services and simultaneously as a FEMA Outreach Worker assisting with the recovery efforts and follow-up work with families in Connecticut who lost loved ones in the September 11th terrorist attacks. Besides her work in the social sector, she provided administrative support to the Naramake Family Resource Center including the preschool program, and worked at investment management firms including a pension investment consultant organization.

As a resident of Norwalk for almost 30 years, she has been passionate about improving the lives of children and youth in Norwalk. She has actively volunteered at many Norwalk schools and social service organizations. Her three daughters attended the Norwalk Public Schools for over 20 years. M.J. received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Social Work from the University of Connecticut.

Ray Leslie is the Senior Data Analyst, supporting many of the data initiative projects for Norwalk ACTS. His responsibilities include data collection, manipulation, and visualization projects to support Norwalk ACTS members and to help lead the effort in using student and community data to improve the outcomes for Norwalk’s children. Ray is a long-time member of the Norwalk community. He was born and raised in Norwalk and is also a student who graduated from Brien McMahon High School as a member of the Class of 2010.

Before joining Norwalk ACTS, Ray graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS in Business Management Consulting and spent four years gaining valuable experience in a data-driven atmosphere working for two of the world’s largest e-commerce and travel booking platforms: Priceline.com and Booking.com. His passion for data analytics and technology grew even further during that time. Since then, Ray has devoted his time, focus, and energy toward pivoting career paths and becoming a student of data. Ray is a self-taught Tableau Software and Python Programming enthusiast living in Portland, Maine.

During his free time, Ray likes analyzing sports data and staying active. He enjoys working out, snowboarding, playing in local rec sports leagues, and going on hikes with his wife, Ellie, and Bernedoodle, Otto.

Anamilena was born and raised in Norwalk, Connecticut, actively participating in school and sport activities throughout her education in Norwalk Public Schools. Her family is from Colombia and has four generations living in Norwalk, CT. She graduated from Norwalk High School in 2010 and went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury in 2014.

Following her undergraduate studies, Anamilena embarked on a career as a parent educator in the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program at Family & Children’s Agency. In this role, she provided vital support to families by offering encouragement, educating parents about child development, and helping families connect to resources and their local community.

She then went on to obtain her Master’s degree in Social Work from Sacred Heart University, specializing in Community Organizing in 2020. Anamilena started with Norwalk ACTS as an intern in 2019 and has been here ever since learning and focusing on civic engagement and systems change with young people and the Norwalk community.

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