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
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
Kristen Chesak, Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo
Kathryn Dimond, Arts Consultant
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
Mary Jennings, Michigan Technological University
Kendrick Jones, Shop Floor Theatre Company
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
Shannon Easter White, FUNchitecture
Oregon
Chair: Brian Weaver, Portland Playhouse
Adam Davis, Oregon Humanities
Alison Bailey, Regional Arts & Culture Council
Andrew Apter, Retired
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
Seth Truby, Bravo Youth Orchestras
Soo Pak, Portland Parks & Recreation
Suzanne Gray, Portland State University College of the Art
Banner image by Mark Saperstein courtesy of Hyde Square Task Force.