As the Vice President of Collective Impact, Abe Fernández directs the National Center for Community Schools (NCCS) and oversees the place-based collective impact initiatives at Children’s Aid, one of the oldest and largest social service agencies in New York City. He leverages over twenty-five years of experience in education, youth development, and in the social impact sector.

Before rejoining NCCS in 2019, he was a senior advisor to South Bronx Rising Together, a cradle-to-career collective impact initiative and StriveTogether partnership of which he was a founding co-director. He also led the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative – a statewide effort to plan and implement strategies to mitigate poverty – for the borough of the Bronx. 

Prior to leading these place-based collective impact efforts, Abe served at NCCS for seven years, during which he provided on- and off-site training, coaching, and consultation to community school initiatives across the country and beyond. Prior to joining Children’s Aid, he ran a multi-service community center and led the youth services department of an East Harlem-based settlement house. He started his career as a teacher of middle school mathematics and the director of the Summerbridge program.