Leadership & Staff

Jennifer Fassbender (she/her) is the Managing Director of Healthy Communities at Reinvestment Fund. She provides leadership in strategic planning, program development, delivery, and quality control components for various program initiatives; including Invest Health and the Building Healthier, more Equitable Communities (BHEC) New Jersey initiatives; and engages with external stakeholders on strategic partnerships and relationship development. With over several decades of experience in healthcare delivery and administration, research and public health advocacy, she has held numerous leadership roles at large organizations such as the American Diabetes Association, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania. She is the chair-elect of the Council on Black Health, represents Reinvestment Fund on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Obesity Solutions and is a national advisor for the City Health Dashboard. She has co-authored numerous scientific publications and regularly collaborates on presentations at professional meetings. She studied at the Pennsylvania State University and did her graduate work in Exercise Physiology at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. She has worked at Reinvestment Fund since 2017.

Leah Rusenko is the Program Manager for Social Determinants of Health at Reinvestment Fund. She works with the national Invest Health and regional Building Healthier, More Equitable Communities (BHEC) program initiatives. She brings nearly a decade of experience in community health and philanthropy in both local and international arenas. She is passionate about the intersection of urban health and sustainable development. Her professional background includes managing place-based initiatives, coordinating state-wide cross-sector collaborations, overseeing large grant portfolios, and building a research institute for health equity. Most recently, she led the Independence Blue Cross Foundation team in strategic development, execution, and assessment of the Foundation’s programs and activities. Ms. Rusenko holds a Bachelor of Science in International Health from Georgetown University.

Sara Vernon Sterman (she/her) currently serves as Chief Program Officer at Reinvestment Fund. In this position, she expands on Reinvestment Fund’s work in Healthy Communities by focusing on investment models that integrate the organization’s lending and policy work in education, health care, childcare, food, social services, and affordable housing. Additionally, she co-directs Reinvestment Fund’s Pay for Success investments. Previously Ms. Sterman served as Chief Lending Officer, responsible for leading business development, originations and relationship management within Reinvestment Fund’s lending operation. Prior to joining Reinvestment Fund in 1999, she taught elementary school in New York City and Washington, D.C., with the Teach For America program, and was a program director for Teach For America in eastern North Carolina. Ms. Sterman holds an M.S.W from the School of Social Work and an M.B.A from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.