Congratulations to the ECFI Ambassadors for the academic year 2026–2027! These exceptional faculty will serve as peer mentors to guide and inspire future cohorts and provide valuable input for the ongoing development of ECFI programming.
Adriana Diaz-Donoso
Adriana Diaz-Donoso (ella/she/her) is a Music Assistant Professor and Director of Music Education at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. A Peruvian bilingual (Spanish/English) educator with more than twenty years of experience, she studies equity and access in music education, early childhood musical development, and the role of arts organizations in community building and social change. In 2026, the International Society for Music Education recognized her scholarship with the Dr. Marvin Greenberg Award for Research in Music and Development in Early Childhood Music Education. Before joining NYU, she managed the WeBop early childhood jazz program at Jazz at Lincoln Center and taught at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Emily Ann Hoffman
Emily Ann Hoffman (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Undergraduate Film & Television at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. A filmmaker, animator, and visual artist, she has written and directed award-winning short films across animation and live action, with festival credits including Sundance, SXSW, and Slamdance and several Oscar-qualifying awards. Her animation and directing work has appeared on Netflix, HBO, and Hulu, and she is a Creative Partner at Mighty Oak, an award-winning, woman- and queer-owned animation studio. In 2026, she was named an inaugural fellow of the Laika x Gotham Animation Accelerator, where she is developing her animated short The Pond Prince.
Jayna Moceri-Brooks
Jayna Moceri-Brooks, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Her research focuses on firearm injury prevention, suicide prevention among service members and Veterans, and combat-related traumatic brain injury, with close attention to the influence of military culture. Findings from her research have shaped federal policy on the care and recognition of service members with traumatic brain injuries, and she regularly advises members of Congress on blast overpressure injuries and firearm injury prevention. A practicing emergency nurse for more than sixteen years, she received the 2025 NYU Meyers Dean’s Excellence in Policy Advocacy Award.
Manny Patole
Manny Patole is an Industry Assistant Professor at the Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP) at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. His work focuses on making neighborhoods more livable and on advancing equity, sustainability, and inclusion by engaging communities directly in science and data work. With training that spans engineering, law, and urban planning, his current research explores AI and data center value chains, shared equity models for urban livability, and data and technology ethics. He contributes to the NYU Climate Initiative and the Environmental and Racial Justice Network, and his community-engaged work—including his longstanding role with Co-City Baton Rouge—has received national recognition.
Suhail Y. Tayeb
Suhail Y. Tayeb is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Schack Institute of Real Estate at the NYU School of Professional Studies. A real estate developer and investor with more than twenty years of experience, he has guided projects from acquisition through divestment and advised family offices and high-net-worth individuals on portfolio strategy and risk. His teaching and research center on sustainable real estate, including green building, ESG, and the retrofitting and repurposing of the built environment to lower carbon emissions and deliver social impact. The author of several books on real estate investing and valuation, he chairs NYU’s Annual Conference on Sustainable Real Estate.