New Haven Civic Innovation Prize Judges

Carlos Brown Jr. is a senior at Davenport College studying Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. He is deeply passionate about helping marginalized populations leverage political power and navigate political systems to protect their communities and interests. Originally from Richmond, VA, Carlos is especially interested in issues of racial and socioeconomic inequality in the south. He served as co-coordinator for the Student Executive Committee of Dwight Hall at Yale, which is Yale’s center for social justice and public service, from 2021 to 2023 and was named a 2021 Newman Civic Fellow. Beyond Dwight Hall, Carlos is a member of Yale’s competitive Model UN team (MUNTY) and Yale’s premier Latin dance team (Sabrosura). Carlos has also served as a Yale College Council Senator, an undersecretary-general for Yale Model Government Europe, and on the board of the Black Student Alliance at Yale. In his time as an undergraduate, Carlos has interned with U.S. Senator Mark Warner in Washington, DC, Georgia Legal Services in Savannah, GA, McKinsey & Company in Washington, DC, and Virginia Organizing in Richmond, VA. In his free time, Carlos loves to dance, try new restaurants, and hike.

Genevive Goubourn-Walker was raised in New Haven, Connecticut. She attended Educational Center for the Arts and studied theater and graduated from Wilbur Cross High School, and subsequently attended and graduated cum laude from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies.

She later received her Master of Arts in Elementary Education at Teacher College, Columbia University, in the City of New York. Genevive is a veteran 5th-grade teacher, having served in both the New Haven and Hamden Public school districts. She worked at ConnCAT for a decade as the CEO, Chief Operating Officer, and Director of Programs and now runs her own business as an independent consultant for nonprofit and educational entities with the aim of problem-solving through increased communication, collaboration, and consideration of possibilities. 

While she serves on a number of non-profit boards in New Haven, Genevive’s primary interest is taking care of and loving her children and an amazing husband.

Bruni Pizarro is the Executive Director of Junta for Progressive Action, the oldest Latinx social services community-based organization in the Greater New Haven area. She is a graduate of the Yale School of the Environment, where she received a Master's in Environmental Science. Her recent scholarship and advocacy centers on climate change-induced disaster, colonialism, and the impact of forced migration on displaced Puerto Rican women. Her scholarly work and professional experience explore how American urban inequality and the built environment shape the lived experience of Black & Latinx communities. Most recently, she was on the Environment & Climate Change Committee of the Transition Team for New Haven’s Mayor, Justin Elicker. Prior to Yale, she worked as a Research Assistant on an ethnobotanical study at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), where she focused on the cultural knowledge of medicinal plants of Latinx and Caribbean communities in New York City. Through her research and advocacy, Bruni hopes to bring forth a racialized and class-based understanding of the downstream effects of disasters on oppressed communities of color. Bruni is also dedicated to environmental justice work as a Board member at Save the Sound, an organization committed to environmental advocacy.