We're pleased to announce that FNA will hold its annual elections for the Board of Directors on Wednesday, November 16 at 7pm! Join us in person at the Fishtown Rec.

To learn more about the 14 candidates who are running for 11 open seats, please read their brief statements and bios below.
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Corey Danks
Corey Danks is an independent designer and illustrator who has lived in Philadelphia since 2009, and Fishtown since 2013. He has had the pleasure of building working relationships with local businesses such as City Fitness, goPuff, Grid Magazine, Hello Donuts, Ham + Bone, Libertee Grounds, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers, Villanova University and more. In addition to his full-time work, he has organized and planned a number of art shows and fundraisers at Tattooed Mom under the moniker ‘Most Known Unknown (MKU)’. Since 2020, Corey and MKU have helped raise and donate $11,413 to local charities and organizations such as Philabundance, Youth Art & Self-Improvement Project, Philly Community Bail Fund, BLM Philly and Abortion Liberation Fund of PA. Each fundraiser consisted of 100+ local artists, who kindly donated their work for a good cause. Prior to the pandemic, MKU also teamed-up with coworking space Indy Hall to host monthly drink & draws led by a rotating cast of local artists. In Fall of 2021, Corey and Keith Warren Greiman began hosting ‘Frankford General Market’ in Konrad Square. There have been three iterations of the market so far and each time it has featured 25+ local artists and makers selling their wares. All additional proceeds from each market have been donated to Philabundance and Friends of Konrad Square. Corey would like to join the FNA Board to further contribute to his longtime community, help incorporate and connect local artists, and provide his event planning and fundraising expertise. When he’s not working or planning something, you can usually find him at an art show, concert, yelling at the Sixers or walking around the neighborhood with his dog Milo.

Sarah McAnulty
My name is Sarah McAnulty and I am a squid biologist, science educator, and the current Vice President of the Fishtown Neighbors Association. I have been involved in a wide variety of projects with FNA, including organizing vaccine clinics, overseeing our mutual aid program, facilitating our scholarship for Penn Treaty High School students, and running Fishtown Trivia at the Starboard Side Tavern. As VP, I have made many valuable connections in our community and acquired needed resources for our neighborhood. For example, I secured funding to improve the Rose Garden with a new community bulletin board and rainbow colored bike racks. I want to continue using my fundraising and community building skills to move important projects forward in collaboration with my fellow board members. Additionally, I would like to bring more educational public art projects like murals to our streets while supporting long-running educational programs like the annual spelling bee and March Academic Madness. I have worked hard to make Fishtown a more vibrant and better connected community in 2022, and I hope to continue that work in 2023!

Eva Piatek
My name is Eva and I’m the current Communications Secretary for the FNA Board — which means you’ve probably gotten an email from me! I bring over a decade of experience in nonprofit communications and digital strategy, beginning with my time in the art world working for various galleries, museums, and community art organizations in the Philly area. As a fierce advocate for social justice and civic education, I currently work for a nationally renowned and trusted nonprofit focused on empowering young voters and making information about voting more accessible. I'm running for the FNA Board again because I value the work this organization is doing to connect neighbors from all walks of life — and because I want to keep building on those accomplishments to help ensure continuity for the Board. As someone who has lived in Fishtown the past 11 years and neighboring Port Richmond my entire life, I appreciate the diverse fabric of this neighborhood and believe I am in a unique position to understand the concerns of both new and old neighbors alike. I’m also passionate about caring for some of our lesser seen neighbors — also known as Fishtown’s feral cat community — which is how I ended up with three of my own fur babies who regularly strut around in my front windows.

Ash Kumar
I am a primary care physician serving patients in North Phila, and I see the direct impact of neighborhoods on the health of its people. My goal in running for the board of Fishtown Neighbors is to make Fishtown feel safe for children and seniors to walk outside between sunset and bedtime, to ignite a neighborhood where strangers say hello and engage as neighbors, where more people spend time in shared spaces than on their screens.There are a lot of factors behind a broken system, including fear, not listening, and not enough time in the day, but there is nothing a community that bands together cannot address.

Jerold Grupp
I joined the FNA Board by appointment in the summer of 2021. My wife, my son and I selected Fishtown as our new home in 2016 and moved in in 2020. I bring almost 20 years of School Board leadership (Council Rock) and 42 years of corporate management to the board. In meetings and discussions, Jery looks to help maintain the focus of the Board and the committees on the issue at hand, and helps to represent some other perspectives, which might not otherwise be represented. I ask for your support and your vote, to allow me to continue to serve the residents of Fishtown in the years ahead.

John Scott
I am interested in continuing to serve my community, as a resident of Fishtown for nearly 27 years. I have an extensive understanding of Philadelphia government and politics, and I can use this experience to advocate for positive improvements to our neighborhood. I’d like to focus primarily on pedestrian safety, and especially Girard Avenue. In 2004, I was among the many neighbors pushing to see the traffic lanes on Girard Avenue scaled back. 18 years later Girard is still no safer. We have an opportunity to fix this, along with pedestrian and quality of life issues throughout the neighborhood.

Dustin Bartolomeo-Damon
For those neighbors that I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, I’m Dustin Bartolomeo-Damon. A global pandemic, economic uncertainty, racial injustice, social and political unrest -- the past few years have been challenging. All of which continue to highlight the importance of community. That’s why I’m excited to continue serving on the FNA Board. We have an opportunity to lean into this vibrant community in which we live and operate. To care for each other and bring together our better selves to build trust in the neighborhood, create equitable opportunities, and ensure Fishtown continues to thrive. My wife, Elisa, and I have lived in Philly for 8 years. We’ve enjoyed being engaged in the neighborhood and the FNA since we moved to Fishtown a few years ago. We welcomed a new neighbor to our house earlier this year when we welcomed our son Luca into this world! We continue to organize the Friends of Konrad Square to bring more beautification efforts and capital improvements to the park. We also launched the Hot Meals program during peak COVID that delivered over 500 fresh meals to Fishtown neighbors while supporting local restaurants and continues to help Fishtown neighbors through FNA. After graduating from Penn State, I’ve worked at PwC for the past 15 years. While an accountant by trade, I now lead PwC’s Entry Level Recruiting team -- working with schools across the country to hire over 10,000 PwCers each year. As a first generation college student, I appreciate that my role allows me the privilege to empower the next generation and help make our world more inclusive. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue serving on the FNA Board. Working with you, to take action in our community, investing our passion and skills in causes that are important to the neighborhood, and amplifying opportunities for neighbors and our children.

Jennifer Gow
I am a wife and mom who wants to make an impact for the people in our community. We’ve lived in Fishtown since we returned to the US from living abroad in 2018 and LOVE it here. During the day I work as a marketer at Johnson & Johnson. In the evenings and on weekends we enjoy what our neighborhood has to offer—from parks to restaurants and playgrounds to beer/wine gardens! I’ve been an active weekly Mutual Aid Delivery volunteer with the FNA for over two years and I have been on the board for the past year, leading the Safety Committee. On the committee I’ve led traffic calming initiatives, 311 Safety Walks, “light your stoop” pedestrian safety project, 2 harm reduction narcan trainings and initiated larger projects like improvements to the Berks Path in partnership with KCAPA school. I would like to remain on the board so that I can help to build a stronger sense of community amongst our neighbors, increase safety in the area and help support local businesses/organizations. I’d be thrilled to lead the Safety Committee again, as there is a lot of work to still be done! But I’m also happy to lead the finance/fundraising committee if that is where the most need exists!

Will Dungan
I now serve as the Chair of FNA’s Zoning Committee. This year, our committee implemented verified community voting, reviewed over 50 zoning cases, and held 18 community meetings. In my professional life, I’m a Certified Public Accountant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where I lead financial and operational internal audits and consulting engagements. I love Fishtown and hope to continue FNA’s work on behalf of our neighbors.

Jon Geeting
Since 2017, I have been a Board member of the Fishtown Neighbors Association, where I have been very focused on improving Fishtown’s public spaces, and also increasing the amount of free family-friendly events, and opportunities for neighbors to meet one another. A father of two, with a daughter in 2nd Grade at Adaire, I am rooted in the neighborhood and want to see it thriving over the long term. The past two years I’ve served as President of FNA, where I’ve focused on supporting our committees, fundraising for the Penn Treaty Neighborhood Scholarship and other initiatives, and organizing events like the Music in the Park concert series. If re-elected, I am interested in continuing to serve in an executive role (pending the officer elections) and would like to improve FNA’s volunteer recruitment and coordination, our fundraising, and getting some more fun Fishtown merchandise created!

Kate Geitner
Hello, my name is Kate Geitner and I moved to Fishtown from Denver in 2020. I moved to Philadelphia because I missed living in a walkable city with a sense of community and originality. I found all of that in Fishtown! I walk my two dogs around our neighborhood every day and feel profound gratitude to live here. For the past year, I've been active with the Beautification Committee, helping to run neighborhood clean-up days and participating in the Rose Garden planting. Professionally, I am a social worker with the Dept. of Veterans Affairs in the Homeless Services Department. I also teach graduate social work students remotely through the University of Denver. Having been a social worker for the past 17 years, I have lots of experience organizing projects and events, writing grant requests, providing outreach/education, etc. I would be happy to put these skills to good use with FNA! Most importantly, I bring a love of the neighborhood, a willingness to help and an upbeat attitude! You can often see me walking around the cemetery with my big white dog and my little pug-like dog - feel free to say hi! I also live with a fat cat named Romeo and a Fishtails Rescue foster cat, Puka (she's an adorable black cat, if anyone's looking!). Thank you for considering me for the FNA Board!

Nathan Hyde
I moved to Philadelphia six and a half years ago. After getting a feel for the city and living in several other neighborhoods, I knew that Fishtown was the neighborhood for me. My wife and I have since moved and have lived here for 2.5 years. Since then we have fallen more in love with the neighborhood by the day and spend much of our free time walking the streets and supporting local businesses. I have become increasingly involved in FNA meetings and have taken on assisting with the management of the Berks Path Improvement Project. I hope to use my sales and management experience, coupled with my desire to impact in my community to assist in helping make Fishtown even better than it already is.

Mike Van Dorn
Hello! My name is Mike Van Dorn - I am currently the Beautification Chair of the Fishtown Neighbors Association and am excited to run for a board seat for our upcoming board term. Since moving to Fishtown about a year and a half ago with my wife Rebecca and our cats Angela, Merkel, and Rhubarb, I’ve fallen in love with our neighborhood and have looked to help maintain and grow our unique character however possible. Over the past year, I’ve been actively involved in many of our volunteering projects, including facilitating logistics for our weekly mutual aid deliveries, organizing monthly neighborhood cleanups, supporting mural and art projects, as well as ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the Rose Garden. In our upcoming term, I’m looking forward to continuing to work enthusiastically to make Fishtown the most beautiful and welcoming neighborhood in our city. Professionally, I oversee operations and finance for a small food brand, a role that often involves wearing multiple hats and connecting the dots between multiple parties and viewpoints. I try to take this same approach to my volunteer work - there is no task too big or too small that we can’t accomplish with our collective voice. I look forward to continuing this progress in our upcoming term - thank you for your consideration!

Robert Everett
Hello, Here’s the brief history of ME, Bob Everett, who’s not good at writing self promotions. I’m Bob Everett. Moved to Fishtown in 1982 ) for the availability to transit, interstate roads, downtown. I've seen, lived through many of Fishtown’s changes good or bad depending on who you talk to. Many of you already know me, see me in person or on line around the neighborhood. with Friends of Penn Treaty School , the Fishtown Rec Center where I’m part of their Advisory Council . Or may recognize me from participating as a member of our FNA Zoning Committee( I’m that guy posting notices on fence’s, delivering door flyers for the meetings) and attending other FNA committee meetings. Being at First Fridays, GMM’s, Music in the Park, last month’s Halloween parade, etc. I am currently a member on the 2022 Board of Directors having first been appointed to the FNA Board in December 2020 to fill a vacated seat.Then Re-Elected by members last year. Those who voted for me last year Thank you. I hope you still feel I’m representing you win/lose the best I can and will support me again. Thank you for reading and hopefully you support/trust.