Adriana Abizadeh is the executive director of the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT) in Philadelphia. The mission, duty and purpose of the KCT is to utilize collective ownership to direct investments on the corridor that preserve culture and affordability while building neighborhood power and wealth in Kensington. The KCT supports sustainable corridor development through thoughtful real estate acquisition, community engagement, broad local ownership, leveraging small business lending and technical assistance, and safety and health programming. KCT’s vision is that Kensington Avenue is a safe, healthy, and socioeconomically diverse commercial corridor with accessible opportunities for the existing and future residents of Kensington.
Prior to serving as KCT’s executive director, Adriana was the executive director of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) in Trenton, NJ. While there she expanded LALDEF’s direct services by increasing staff fourfold, raised the organization’s visibility, tripled the operating budget, and boosted overall capacity.
With deep interests in public policy Adriana has taken every opportunity to utilize her privileged position as a nonprofit leader in order to speak out for what she believes in and to lift the voices of impacted community members. Immersed in policy initiatives, she has facilitated community collaboration to address the intersectionality between immigration status, housing, poverty, and race.
All of Adriana's professional working experience has been in the nonprofit sector and she is passionate about serving others. Adriana has a BA from Rutgers University in Political Science with a minor in Security Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. She also has an MS in Public Policy from Drexel University.
She has committed herself to serving on several boards that reflect some of her deepest passions: immigration, racial and health equity, and youth development. When Adriana isn’t serving her community, she is at home with her two children and their two dogs.
