Who We Are

Chris Troy has over thirty-five years of non-profit, youth development, and ministry experience, and has seen his work impact the communities and lives of at-risk youth and families. During his time in Boston, as founder and president of the Boston Urban Youth Foundation, Mr. Troy established youth ministry programs in partnership with sixteen of Boston’s public schools that facilitated dramatic improvements in the lives of chronically truant students and became the subject of a Harvard Graduate School of Education study. Truancy among the highest risk students was reduced by fifty-three percent in the first year and by sixty-eight percent in the second year. Mr. Troy also created a successful scholarship program that placed students in parochial schools. As a result of both the truancy and scholarship programs, over two hundred youth from high poverty neighborhoods attended college. For these and other initiatives under Mr. Troy’s leadership, the Boston Urban Youth Foundation has received recognition from the Lumina Foundation College Pathways Network, EdVestors, and the Social Innovation Forum.

Collaboration, partnership, innovation, research, and creative programming are all part of Mr. Troy’s background. Since forming Praxis Connections, Mr. Troy has worked with the Luis Palau Association to develop twenty-four church-based, neighborhood-focused collaborations with over three hundred churches that work in the areas of justice, mercy, and education. Mr. Troy has also worked on several collaborative efforts in the high poverty neighborhoods of New York City to decrease poverty and increase opportunity.  Code for Life is an effort that embodies Mr. Troy’s belief that we are all created with tremendous gifts & abilities and incorporates this to reduce poverty and increase opportunity throughout our city.  Mr. Troy lives in his birthplace of Harlem and enjoys jazz & learning.

DaNeilia Francis is a distinguished U.S Army combat veteran, entrepreneur, artist, and marketplace minister. During her military career she served in Iraq & Afghanistan where she has held the position of Logistics Manager. Subsequently, she continued her service in Afghanistan, as a Logistic Analyst with Science Application International Corporation. Following her distinguished service, Ms. Francis has been involved in several entrepreneurial endeavors, to include real estate and financial investments..

Ms. Francis also worked with NY CityServe as an Executive Assistant, where she partnered with teams to catalyze collaborations with faith-based organizations in the areas of justice, mercy, and education. During her time with NY CityServe, she helped facilitate these efforts with 26 neighborhood collaborations involving 400 churches and managed a city-wide service project called Loving Our Neighbor, which involved 500 volunteers at ten sites across all five boroughs of New York City.

Ms. Francis is a native of Brooklyn. She received her Masters of Divinity in Organizational Leadership and a Masters of Professional Studies In Urban Ministry from Alliance University (Nyack College). She also has a MBA from Columbia Southern University. Additionally, she’s studied Music Production at the Institute of Audio Research and is a gifted music artist.