Manny Silva is Empire Clean Cities’ Community Engagement Manager. He is a native New Yorker who was born and raised in the catchment area of South Queens. A majority of the roles he has held over the last decade have directly or indirectly allowed him to build relationships in the region. Before joining Empire Clean Cities Silva served as a Chief of Staff to a NYC Council Member, managed a successful county wide political campaign, managed a coalition of nonprofits, sat on multiple community advisory boards, led efforts to involve community members in City budget allocations through Participatory Budgeting, and unsuccessfully ran for NYC City Council.