Paul S. Ryan has served as Executive Director of the New York City Campaign Finance Board since February 2024. Prior to joining the CFB, Mr. Ryan was the Deputy Executive Director of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation. He is nationally recognized as a leading voice in the areas of campaign finance and democratic participation. He previously served as the Vice President for Policy and Litigation for Common Cause and as the Deputy Executive Director of the Campaign Legal Center.  Through his many professional experiences, Mr. Ryan has proven himself to be a capable manager and organizational leader. He is a graduate of UCLA Law School and the University of Montana.

Daniel Cho is the Assistant Executive Director for Candidate Guidance & Policy at the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB). He serves on the Executive team and manages policies and procedures that affect candidates and their campaign staff in complying with the Campaign Finance Act and Board Rules. Mr. Cho oversees the communications and advice related to campaign financial disclosures and the public matching funds program. He has served in various roles at the CFB as Director of Candidate Services, Payment Coordinator, Auditor, and Compliance Analyst.

Mr. Cho is a past Co-Chair of the Program Committee for the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) and participant in the New York City Leadership Institute. He is a past Chair and Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Korean American League for Civic Action (KALCA). He currently serves as the Vice-President of Civic Engagement for the Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY) and is a member of the Council of Korean Americans. Mr. Cho holds a B.A. in Political Science from Boston College.

As Interim General Counsel, Joseph Gallagher manages the CFB’s legal team, which is responsible for enforcing New York City’s campaign finance laws; drafting rulemakings, legislation, and advisory opinions; representing the agency in litigation; and providing in-house legal counsel. As a member of the executive team, Joseph Gallagher also serves as a senior policy advisor. Joseph Gallagher started with the CFB in 2016 as an Associate Counsel and has served in a variety of roles, most recently as Deputy General Counsel. Prior to joining the CFB, Joseph Gallagher worked as an Associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. Joseph holds a B.S. from the City University of New York, an M.F.A. from Yale University, and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

As the Assistant Executive Director for Operations & Finance, Carlos Obando oversees the Campaign Finance Board’s Agency Chief Contracting Officer (ACCO), Finance Department and Facilities Management/Support Services units. With the support of these areas, Mr. Obando is responsible for the agency's financial, contract and procurement actions, including the facilities management for the agency. Mr. Obando provides recommendations to CFB’s board, senior level executives and program staff on major budget issues, critical agency policy initiatives and resource allocations related to the program areas.

Prior to joining the CFB, Mr. Obando was the Financial Services Executive Director at the NYC Department of Homeless Services, where he managed the Financial Services Department consisting of the Administrative Contracts Unit, Budget Operations and Payment Management Services. These units provided agency wide support related to emergency, non-human services contracts, budget and payment actions in excess of $300 million dollars. Mr. Obando comes to the CFB with over 20 years of city government experience having worked at several mayoral agencies including, the Office of Management & Budget, Housing Preservation and Development and other city agencies. He graduated from CUNY’s Hunter College and has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.

As Director of Product Management and Operations, Crystal Choy oversees the unit’s project management team, which coordinates the planning, execution, and delivery of major/recurring projects such as the Voter Guide, candidate materials, and agency publications. This includes managing project schedules, estimating and procuring resources, identifying and mitigating risks, managing vendor relationships, and ensuring materials are compliant with accessibility mandates. She oversees the Language Access team in fulfilling the translation, interpretation, and other language needs of the agency. She also oversees updates and maintenance of the CFB website and other web properties. Additionally, Crystal manages procurement and budget tracking for the Public Affairs division. She collaborates with the Operations and Finance teams to track contract expiration dates and renewals, monitor spending, coordinate invoice approvals, and ensure the quality and timely delivery of billed work.

Crystal has served at the CFB since 2003 and previously held the roles of Compliance Analyst, Publications Coordinator, Designer (Print & Web), Communications Production Manager, and Associate Director of Production.

Cindy Lou Cuesta serves as Executive Project Manager at the CFB. She works agency-wide to help advance key executive priorities with a focus on technology-related solutions, tools, and processes. Ms. Cuesta has dedicated her career to creating and directing thriving, high-impact departments at mission-driven organizations. Prior to the CFB, she served as Director of Pro Bono and External Relations at a New Jersey legal aid nonprofit—managing across volunteer management, communications & marketing, client outreach, and partnerships. She has also served in leadership roles at several NYC nonprofit organizations including Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, the Opportunity Agenda, and Community Access leading project management, resource development, external relations, and strategic planning. Ms. Cuesta received her JD from Rutgers Law School, her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and is a Coro Leadership New York graduate (LNY 30).

Vincent Fabrizi is Director of IT Infrastructure for the NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB). Through collaboration with executive management and other unit and division leaders, Mr. Fabrizi works to develop, implement, and maintain the CFB’s Network and IT Infrastructure. 

Prior to working at CFB, Mr. Fabrizi was Information Technology Manager at National Bank of Canada responsible for the development of the technology architecture, infrastructure planning and engineering. Mr. Fabrizi has certifications in Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Exchange 2010, FS-ISAC Cyber-Range Business Email Compromise, A+, IT Information Library Foundations Certification (ITIL), VMWARE V5.0, and FINRA Series 99.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Tim Hunter has served as the Press Secretary for the NYC Campaign Finance Board since 2022. Mr. Hunter is a former government staffer and has worked as a Communications Director in both the NYS Senate and the NYS Assembly. Mr. Hunter is also a former candidate for NYS Assembly and a former NYC Votes Youth ambassador. He served as USS Chairperson from 2019-2020 and formerly held a voting seat on the CUNY Board of Trustees where he represented the best interest of the over 250,000 students in the CUNY system. He graduated from CUNY’s New York City College of Technology, in 2020 where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in education, and is currently completing his Master’s Degree in Public Administration at CUNY’s Baruch College. For any press inquiries, please email Mr. Hunter here at thunter@nyccfb.info, or call him at (929)-989-8105.

As Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Amanda Melillo directly manages the agency’s outward-facing units (Marketing and Digital Communications, Partnerships and Outreach, Policy and Research, and Public Relations), which encompass the agency’s voter education and engagement initiatives that inform five million New Yorkers about their elections. Amanda has served at the CFB since 2014 and previously held the roles of Policy & Data Research Analyst and Public Affairs Officer. Prior to joining the agency, she worked on the Voting Rights and Elections team at the Brennan Center for Justice, where she oversaw communications research and trained organizations around the country on how to tailor communications best practices to advance legislative priorities around voting reform. She began her career working in media and local journalism, including the New York Post. Amanda holds a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College, and a master’s in political science from Columbia University, where she studied elections and legislative behavior.

As Director of Document Processing, Rhonda Smith supervises the management of all incoming documentation and data, including mail, hand-delivered campaign related documentation, and electronic submissions. Mrs. Smith also establishes procedures within her unit to meet business needs and communicates them to affected staff. She has been with the Campaign Finance Board for 16 years as of July 2021.

As the Director of Policy and Research, Allie Swatek leads the team that conducts intergovernmental outreach, performs policy and legislative analysis, and produces original, data-driven research on voting and campaign finance issues. Her team writes the Voter Analysis Report and the Post Election Report and manages voter education content, such as the campaign to familiarize New Yorkers with ranked choice voting. Allie also worked as a Candidate Services Liaison during the 2013 election cycle. Prior to returning to the CFB, Allie worked on elections and finance policy issues at the 2019 NYC Charter Revision Commission and supported the governmental affairs team at JPMorgan Chase. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and a Master of Public Affairs degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.

As Director of the Candidate Policy & Communications Unit, Elizabeth A. Upp oversees policy analysis and candidate communications related to compliance with the Campaign Finance Act and Board Rules. Ms. Upp joined the CFB as Chief of Publications, and most recently served as Director of Communications in Public Affairs. She has served on the Publications Committee and chaired the Technology Committee for the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL), and was a moderator and panelist at several of its annual conferences. Prior to joining the CFB, she was Managing Editor of The C++ Report, The Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, and The X Journal, and founding Managing Editor of Object Magazine for SIGS Publications. Ms. Upp holds a degree in English literature from Fordham University and is a graduate of the New York City Management Academy.