Meet the Team
Kaiylah Wallace
Director of Partnerships & Community Relations - Southern RegionKaiylah was born in Lansing, Michigan into a military family who bounced around from Texas to Georgia before eventually settling in Sanford, North Carolina due to her parent’s ever changing duty station assignments.
“I know that God’s purpose for my life is to help people and be a light for those in the dark. I have had my own personal struggles with things like mental health and understand that everyone needs a little compassion.”
Driven by a passion for helping people and building stronger communities, Kaiylah co-founded Revamp during the 2020 pandemic. She studied Geography and International Studies at the UNC Charlotte with a focus on sustainable development and human geography principles. Her background in community engagement spans multiple sectors, including city planning, urban consulting, and grassroots organizing.
Currently based in Texas’ Dallas–Fort Worth area, she continues to expand Revamp’s mission through strategic partnerships, public communications and community outreach efforts.
A fun fact about Kaiylah? She loves to cook and has visited 21 countries with hopes to one day travel to every country in the world! 🌎
Pruthu Patel
Senior Client Partner, Politics & Commercial Real EstatePruthu is from Hamptonville, North Carolina and a recent graduate of UNC Charlotte who currently works in logistics and real estate, where his key initiative is employing youth, providing them with guidance & mentorship.
Pruthu co-founded Revamp after he and Joshua Mason organized the UNC Charlotte March for Justice in 2020, the largest march in the school’s history. Councilwoman Renee Johnson encouraged he connect with others doing similar work and introduced him to Leslie & Kaiylah Wallace. From there, he handled all logistics and executive-level partnerships for the group.
Pruthu believes people should work together rather than remain divided, creating a more united front. His goals include hosting community events that engage people from diverse backgrounds and foster a sense of comfort and belonging. In 2021, Pruthu co-founded Pair, a modernized HMIS software company designed to help counties and states improve the homeless data they track for HUD.
In his free time, Pruthu enjoys playing basketball, listening to music, traveling, spending time with friends and family, meeting new people, and volunteering with local organizations.
A fun fact about Pruthu? He enjoys politics! 👨🏽⚖️
Leslie Hunter
Senior Client Partner, Politics & Creative StrategyLeslie was born in Saginaw, MI, but taken to Lansing at 9 mos due to neglect. He’d move to Charlotte’s Westside where he met close friends & mentor Sam, who showed him “things outside the hood” like skateboarding, anime & rock music. Sadly, lifelong misbehavior at school & home led to an expulsion, sending him to live with his biological mother in Michigan for the first time at 12.
“By 5 I’d stab people w/pencils, break arms, keep throwin' my bookbag on the roof. Mama said the poor man’ll climb up everyday. Denyin’ baptisms, punchin’ deacons in the balls so often at church, the pastor avoided me. Man, I remember comin' home at like 3am one time in the 5th grade & my sister beat my a**! Instead of checkin' in after school, I spent all day goin’ through houses w/the neighborhood crackhead & her sons. Stole a watermelon on the way back though (mama’s favorite). Figured that’d lessen the a** whoopin’ [laughs]. Be feeling so bad now. Kinda over-index on niceness, ya know? Wasn’t never no bully or mean. That’s lame. I just ain’t have no conscious and did what I wanted.”
Despite his new family, sports & YouTube income, Leslie changed after Sam’s killing. He'd smoke cigarettes and sell/use drugs at 14 before running away, cycling through arrests & shelters until reading Proverbs one night in jail, sparking his walk with God. He'd move back to Lansing, join a MSU bible study group, write for Nice Kicks, serve as a campaign treasurer & youth soccer coach while on felony probation. Upon release in 2018, he'd reunite with family in Charlotte & go to average $700/day in cannabis sales.
Leslie co-founded Revamp and Pair, a HMIS software company that tracks homeless data for HUD, to help the underserved. His past activism includes BLM Lansing, Tamika Mallory & Until Freedom's Breonna Taylor Campaign and Meek Mill & Jay Z’s Reform Alliance in a campaign that successfully relaxed Michigan’s probation and parole laws. He’s worked for Live Nation, Department of Agriculture, Alexander Youth Network, Monarch & The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center and has spoken at UNC Charlotte, Central Piedmont & Montreat College, as well as multiple CMPD BLET/Juvenille Diversion classes. In 2021, he received the City of Charlotte Police Community Relations Youth Leaders Award.
In his free time, Leslie likes to make r&b music, trade SPY options, play sports, Call of Duty & watch YouTube. He’s an active Black Political Caucus member & Pre-Med Biology student at UNC Charlotte on a psychiatry track. His favorite shows are Power, The Breakfast Club and Stranger Things.
A fun fact about Leslie? He plans on joining the Army! 🇺🇸
Catherine McMillan
Catherine is a native Charlottean and graduate of Duke University, who's passionate about civic engagement and active in the nonprofit sphere. At school, she stays involved in student government, peer advising and the Kenan Institute for Ethics.
In Durham, she’s worked at the Community Empowerment Fund on the Advocate Community Engagement team, supporting new Advocate recruitment and training. Back home in Charlotte, she lead Greater Charlotte Area Mutual Aid (GCAMA), a youth-led nonprofit organization that centers Resilience, Resources and Relationships in community-engaged projects.
Catherine will be continuing her work with GCAMA in partnership with the Living Archive, a new oral-history initiative sponsored by the Duke Endowment to chronicle community narratives in creative and dynamic ways.
In her free time, Catherine enjoys rollerblading, playing the piano, spending time with friends & family and doing the work needed in her community.
A fun fact about Catherine? Her family owns chickens! 🐔
Senior Client Partner, AI & Software Solutions
Siddhant Patnaik
Chief Financial Officer - Southern RegionSid was born and raised in Lucknow, India. He recently came to America and graduated from UNC Charlotte double majoring in Operations & Supply Chain Management & Finance with a minor in Data Analytics.
Sid joined Revamp to give back to his community and to help increase assets and provide financial support so nothing hinders our ability to help. In his free time, he has a passion for cars and loves to work on anything with an engine.
A fun fact about Sid? He can speak 6 languages! 🤯
Jordan Hyzkias
Senior Financial AnalystJordan is a native of Durham, North Carolina and a recent graduate from UNC Charlotte, who is passionate about building stronger communities through financial knowledge and service. At school, he stays involved in efforts that support student success and well-being, including contributing groceries through NABA to the Jamil Niner Pantry to support underprivileged college students, and creating financial literacy programs that help students better understand and manage their funds throughout their college career.
In Charlotte, Jordan has built experience across internal auditing, commercial real estate, and advisory work through roles with Deloitte, Project Destined, and Red Stone Equity. Through this work, he has supported housing-related projects, worked with market research tied to HUD, and helped organizations improve how they manage and track their systems. He is especially interested in how finance can be used in a practical way to support communities and create more access to opportunity.
In his free time, Jordan likes working out, cooking, driving, fixing cars, and spending time with friends and family. He’s driven by a passion for helping others, living a healthy lifestyle and always finding ways to grow & learn.
A fun fact about Jordan? He was once 300 lbs, a journey that continues to shape his discipline, mindset, and commitment to a healthier life! 🏋🏽♂️
Ian Stonebrook
Ian is a father, husband and writer based in Austin, TX.
A creative strategist and communications specialist with 16+ years of experience in culture-based storytelling, canvassing sports, music, fashion, and business, he currently writes for ESPN’s Andscape, Complex, Okayplayer & more. His past publishing stops include multiple cover stories for Kevin Durant & Rich Kleiman’s Boardroom, Senior Editor work at Nice Kicks & online editorial for Jordan’s companion piece to The Last Dance.
Notably, he led narrative production on The JD Sports Podcast which amassed over 20M organic impressions in its inaugural season. Outside of work, he’s known for his charitable work and time spent with at-risk youth throughout his life.
A fun fact about Ian? He graduated from Michigan State University & loves to hoop! 🏀
Board of Directors