Supervisory Committee

The Supervisory Committee is tasked with oversight of Brooklyn Coop’s management and reports directly to the Board of Directors. Members who volunteer for the Supervisory Committee commit to 3-4 hours of work per quarter.

Board of Directors

Jose Rolando Guzmán – Chair  Jose Rolando Guzmán is the Assistant Director for Community Preservation at St Nicks Alliance, a community development organization in north Brooklyn. He organizes Northern Brooklyn community residents against displacement and around environmental justice issues.  He has been a member of the credit union’s Supervisory Committee since Dec 2011 and a Board member since 2012.

Rita Sahu — Treasurer Rita Sahu, a CFA has over 20 years of professional experience in banking.  For the last 11 years, she has been with the rating agency Moody’s Investors Service. She is a Vice President – Senior Analyst performing credit analysis on US regional banks. She began her career as a bank examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  She also held positions with Republic National Bank of New York and J.P. Morgan.

Samira Rajan – Secretary  Samira Rajan was named CEO of Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union in October 2008.  She is also the Executive Director of the credit union’s 501c3 affiliate, Grow Brooklyn.  Samira has been with the credit union from its first year when she served as an Americorp*VISTA volunteer. After the year of service was complete, she joined as full-time staff in 2002 as Loan Officer and has taken on increasing levels of responsibility ever since. Her educational background includes a BA from Bryn Mawr College and an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Douglas Jones – Doug Jones is a life-long resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant. He has been involved in initiatives relating to economic and small business development in Brooklyn for the past decade including work for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, New York City’s EDC, and the Bed-Stuy Restoration Corp. Mr Jones has an MFA in Writing from Columbia University and a BA from Morehouse College.

Luis Booth is self-employed as a consultant and expeditor specializing in corrections of Building and other NYC Agency violations. An immigrant from Guatemala, Luis joined Brooklyn Coop 10 years ago when he was unable to open a bank account elsewhere and he remains a strong supporter of the credit union’s mission to widen access to banking services. He has a BA in Economics and Engineering and a MA in Industrial Administration.

Margot Brandenburg is a senior program officer at the Ford Foundation, focused on strengthening the infrastructure of the impact investment market. She has spent two decades working at the intersection of philanthropy, capital markets, and social and environmental justice. Prior to joining Ford, Margot served as founder and CEO of MyStrongHome, and before that, she helped design and lead the impact investing initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation. She holds degrees from Stanford University  and the Wilson School at Princeton University.

Gregory E. Louis is an Associate Professor of Law at the City University of New York, specializing in business, nonprofit, and municipal corporate law as well as contracts. His scholarly interests center on corporate and social power and the enforcement of law, especially as it relates to local immigrant communities and those of color. He holds degrees from Columbia University and Fordham University School of Law.

Laboni Rahman is an housing attorney with The Legal Aid Society currently representing low-income tenants in the Bronx. Previously she has worked with the City Council as well as with Grow Brooklyn defending homeowners against foreclosure. She holds degrees from SUNY Binghamton and Columbia University School of Law.