Leadership

Creating Connection is led nationally by:

• Arts Midwest: a nonprofit that promotes creativity, nurtures cultural leadership, and engages people in meaningful arts experiences, bringing vitality to communities and enriching people’s lives
• Metropolitan Group: a social change agency that crafts and integrates creative and strategic services that empower public purpose organizations to build a just and sustainable world 

Local leadership teams have been assembled to advise and provide guidance to state and regional pilot and exploratory efforts. These local teams include:

California (San Jose)

• Chair: Kerry Adams-Hapner, San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs
• Marilee Jennings, Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
• Lisa Mallette, City Lights Theatre Company
• Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez, MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana
• Larry Hancock, Opera San Jose
• Rick Jenson, San Jose Downtown Association
• Brendan Rawson, San Jose Jazz
• Joan Phillips, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles
• Lisa Vollendorf, San Jose State University
• Wisa Uemura, San Jose Taiko
• Tamara Alvarado, School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza
• Connie Martinez, Silicon Valley Creates
• Andrew Bales, Symphony Silicon Valley

Massachusetts

• John Beck, ArtsBoston
• Blair Benjamin, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art 
• Nick Capasso, Fitchburg Art Museum
• Richard Chacon, WBUR
• Cathy Edwards, New England Foundation for the Arts
• Jen Erickson, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
• Allyson Esposito, The Boston Foundation
• Jay Finney, Peabody Essex Museum
• Priscilla Kane Hellweg, Enchanted Circle Theater
• Justin Kang, City Awake
• Giles Li, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
• Greg Liakos, Massachusetts Cultural Council
• Wayne McWorter, ArtsEmerson
• Celina Miranda, Hyde Square Task Force
• Myran Parker-Brass, Boston Public Schools
• Ann Smith, Featherstone Center for the Arts
• David White, The Yard
• Matt Wilson, MASSCreative
• San San Wong, Barr Foundation

Michigan

• John Bracey, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs
• Kristen Chesak, Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo
• Justin Christensen-Cooper, Northeast Michigan Center for Fine Arts Inc. (Art in the Loft)
• Kathryn Dimond, Culture Source
• Shanna Draheim, Michigan Municipal League
• Kimberly Driggins, City of Detroit
• Greg Fielder, Greater Flint Arts Council
• Mary Bevans Gillett, Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network and North Sky Nonprofit
• Chelsea Holmes, Council of Michigan Foundations
• Mary Jennings, Michigan Technological University
• Kendrick Jones, Shop Floor Theatre Company
• Marjorie Kuipers, Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities
• Angelika Lee, Creative Many
• Omari Rush, Culture Source
• Vincent Tilford, Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation
• Sarah Gonzales Triplett, Creative Many
• Alison Watson, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs
• Pasqua Warstler, Bonifas Fine Arts Center
• Shannon Easter White, FUNchitecture

Oregon

• Chair: Brian Weaver, Portland Playhouse
• Adam Davis, Oregon Humanities
• Andrew Apter, Umpqua Valley Arts Association
• Brian Rogers, Oregon Arts Commission & Oregon Cultural Trust
• Carol Shepherd, Musica Maestrale
• Chuck Sams, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
• Crystal Muno, Linkville Playhouse
• Cynthia Fuhrman, Portland Center Stage
• David Laubenthal, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
• Freda Casillas, Oregon Shakespeare Festival
• Gayle S. Yamasaki, Klamath Falls City Schools
• Jeff Hawthorne, Regional Arts & Culture Council
• Jordan Anderson, Oregon Public Broadcasting
• Julie Vigeland, immediate past chair Oregon Arts Commission
• Kregg Arntson, Portland General Electric
• Martha Richards, The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation
• Phil Ortega, LIFE Art
• Sara Mason, Eugene Symphony
• Soo Pak, Portland Parks & Recreation
• Suzanne Gray, Portland State University College of the Art