Emma Bailey, Associate Producer, Citizen Film, Co-Host, Spokespeople
Emma is an artist that is drawn to storytelling in the form of photography and audio as a way to build community. In her daytime hours, Emma is an associate producer at Citizen Film, a documentary production company dedicated to crafting stories to foster active cultural engagement. She also co-hosts a monthly storytelling series called Spokespeople and facilitates peer-to-peer workshops meant to provide a space to learn collaboratively, dialogue honestly and build allyship. Prior to joining the Bay Area’s creative community, Emma grew up in Massachusetts and received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout the year she delights (and sometimes dismays) her friends with her holiday photo email series that renders alternative insights on traditional holidays.
Ryan Biega, Membership & Grants Manager, Intersection for the Arts
Ryan Biega was born and raised in Redondo Beach, CA. In 2009, Ryan graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in the History of Art. While attending college, Ryan was actively involved in the LBGT community on campus and volunteered at local East Bay schools for professional development and artistic programs. After graduating, Ryan moved to beautiful San Francisco and began a gallery internship at Intersection for the Arts. After six months of critical training in arts administration and curatorial practice, Ryan worked as a program intern at California Lawyers for the Arts. Ryan returned to Intersection for the Arts to assist the organization in its bold move to the 5M Project, a creative downtown development designed to catalyze the innovate ideas that build our economy and community. In August 2011, Ryan was brought on as the Membership & Grants Manager at Intersection. He is passionate about creating sustainable models for arts organizations and ensuring the longevity of California’s rich cultural fabric. When he is not working, you’ll probably see him perusing exhibits or enjoying the food and wine of the Bay Area. Ryan is thrilled to be joining the Emerging Arts Professionals Fellowship and looks forward to this transformational experience!
Christy Bors, Programs Manager, Arts Council Napa Valley
Christy Bors is a painter, journalist, and arts manager native to Napa Valley, CA. Growing up in Napa, an area with small town charm and international acclaim, has developed Christy’s interests in community integration and engagement through the arts, specifically in tourism-centric regions. Currently the programs manager for Arts Council Napa Valley, Napa County’s designated cultural organization for the arts, Christy develops countywide programs to further Napa’s definition as an arts destination. Also an avid arts journalist, Christy writes about the arts for publications including the Napa Valley Register, North Bay Bohemian, Napa Valley Life Magazine, and the Examiner. Christy is the recipient of two NextGen Professional Development Grants in 2011 and 2012 for her focused studies on nonprofit arts development and the UC Chancellor’s Undergraduate Scholarship in 2007. Christy earned a B.A. in Art and History of Art and Visual Culture from UC Santa Cruz in 2007. With an added love for international travel, Christy has lived abroad in Rome, Italy, and spent extensive time in Latin America—both regions have influenced her own aesthetic as a painter and cultural advocate.
Arielle Brown, Theatre Teaching Artist, Destiny Arts Center, Artistic Director, The Love Balm Project
Arielle Julia Brown is a theatre artist and arts administrator based in Oakland, Ca. Over her 10-year career, Arielle has worked most intimately with 7Stages Theatre, Theatre Without Borders, Destiny Arts Center, La Peña Cultural Center and EastSide Arts Alliance. As a playwright, arts administrator and teaching artist, Arielle’s theatre work is rooted in peacemaking on both local and international levels. Arielle is the Artistic Director of Love Balm for my SpiritChild, a Bay Area theatre ensemble that explores the testimonies of local mothers who have lost children to systemic violence. The Love Balm Project has been featured at 7Stages Theatre, Theatre of Yugen, The MilkBar and Eastside Arts Alliance. Arielle’s international theatre experience includes work in Senegal and East Africa. Arielle received her B.A. from Pomona College where she studied Theatre and Africana Studies.
Allison Byers, Communications Associate, California College of the Arts
Allison made the jump to San Francisco from Northern Virginia in the fall of 2011 to work in public relations and social media at California College of the Arts. Passionate about the arts from a young age, Allison studied Art History at Virginia Tech and earned her Masters of Arts Management from George Mason University. Allison has worked with a wide variety of arts organizations, including commercial and non-profit contemporary galleries, and the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Allison was also a Founding Partner and served as Executive Director for Curating for a Cause, which creates fundraising events and exhibitions that unite non-profit organizations, artists, and audiences through worthy causes and quality art. Allison’s interests lie primarily in curating and gallery management, the intersection of art and social change, and the impact of social media upon the arts sector.
Shuai Chen, Executive Director, Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts (SCRAP)
Shuai Chen is the Executive Director of SCRAP, the Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts. A scrounger herself, Shuai has always seen the potential in materials and creates art and jewelry out of paint chips, soda can tabs, bathroom tiles and test tubes. Her job at SCRAP allows her to utilize her problem solving skills while juggling fundraising, program and staff management, communications and branding, volunteer engagement and outreach, partnerships and more. In her spare time, she likes trying out new restaurants, creating art, watching reruns of horrible TV shows and board games.
Leah Curran, Administrative Manager, Oakland Ballet Company
Leah Curran was born and raised in North Dakota, where at age 11, she began her dance training and never looked back. In 2001 she moved to Missoula, MT to earn a B.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography, as well as a B.S. in Finance at the University of Montana. Leah moved to Oakland in 2007 and promptly immersed herself in the Bay Area dance community—both as a performing dancer and as an arts administrator. Prior to joining Oakland Ballet as Administrative Manager, Leah spent four years working in the finance industry and discovering that her real career calling was in arts administration. Leah serves on the Board of Directors of Push Dance Company, teaches dance, and has become passionate about making the arts accessible to all—especially in the community she and her husband have made their home—the fabulous city of Oakland!
Drew Foxman, Senior Director, Communications, Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives, American India Foundation
Drew Foxman is a nonprofit leader whose career spans the arts and culture, education, social justice, and international development sectors. He specializes in strategic development through the design and execution of programs, campaigns, and brand development that chart and drive organizational growth. Drew has deep roots in the Bay Area arts scene, where he was Director of Education for the San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ) and created a standards-based literary arts and music curriculum that served thousands of middle school children and founded a social justice-based music composition and performance program for youth. He was named Arts Scholar for the Organization of American States for his conceptual models of music and social justice, and featured as panelist and speaker at international forums on the role of arts in catalyzing democratic processes. Drew consults with a range of nonprofits in the arts, culture, and education sectors in organizational development, strategy, and fundraising. In his current role as Senior Director, Communications, Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives with the American India Foundation, he created and directs a US State Department cross-border collaboration empowering young people in India and Pakistan with interactive learning experiences through multimedia, music, dance, and theatre to ignite understanding and take action in their communities.
Duygu Gün, MBA Candidate, Hult International Business School
Born and raised in Turkey; having lived in Italy, Germany and the UK, and having traveled around the world, I filled my luggage with a variety of languages and an insatiable cultural curiosity. After completing my bachelor degree in management in Istanbul, I worked in tourism and consumer electronics industries. In the pursuit of my passion for music and performing arts, during my studies and besides my full-time job, I continued working as a freelancer or volunteer in the art and cultural sector. I worked for festival organizations, proposed intercultural communication projects for non-profit organizations, was a founding member of an international art organization, managed a Brazilian music duo and recently developed the web strategy of an art gallery. I would like to work on emerging business models and strategies for art organizations while melding world cultures with arts and technology. My three indispensable passions are traveling, music and dancing Forró.
Alison Konecki, Freelance Arts Program & Development Consultant
Alison is a Freelance Arts Program and Development Consultant and a recent San Francisco transplant. She graduated with a B.A. in Art History and English from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. and received an M.A. in Art and Museum Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. During her tenure at Georgetown she spent a semester in London where she completed a course in Art and Business with a focus on contemporary art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Prior to her move Westward, Alison was the Development & Community Outreach Coordinator for Transformer, a non-profit alternative art space in Washington, D.C., where she coordinated public programing initiatives including the organization’s Framework Panel Series, and assisted with development operations ranging from grant writing to donor cultivation. While in D.C., Alison also served as Co-Founder of Knowledge Commons DC – a free, self-generating “school” designed to provide non-traditional community learning and instruction.
Christine Laquer, Assistant Manager of Media Services, San Francisco Symphony
Chris is a digital publishing professional who loves getting lost on the internet. She grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from Brown University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics. She also studied writing and editing, then learned about web development at her first job in San Francisco in 2008. She is currently the assistant media services manager for the San Francisco Symphony, an occasional freelance web designer for small businesses, and unofficial webmaster of the Laquer Family History wiki. In her free time, Chris enjoys painting in acrylics, cooking, and rooting for the Giants.
Gladys Malibiran, Self-employed: new media, arts, and education for social change
Gladys Malibiran is a communications specialist, nonprofit professional, and passionate arts advocate who enjoys curating content in the intersections of new media, the arts, and education for social change. She is a first generation Pinay with strong East Coast roots who has happily called San Francisco home for the past 8 years. Gladys graduated from Boston College where she studied Communications, Fine Arts, and Cultural Diversity. Since then, she’s worked with various nonprofits, arts & cultural groups, philanthropy, and educators on multimedia projects and capacity-building programs including: community organizing, gender equity, diverse leadership development, and educational technologies. Currently, Gladys runs a communications consultancy offering project management, new media content production, and creative services strategy. She’s also exploring innovative arts entrepreneurship approaches and strengthening creative cross-sector partnerships between nonprofits, socially responsible businesses, and arts communities. Gladys’s other interests include holistic health, art therapy, online culture geekery, and alternative comedy.
Jeanne Pfeffer, Company Manager, FACT/SF, Program Director, Jess Curtis/Gravity
Jeanne Pfeffer is a performing arts manager and fundraiser, currently working as Company Manager of FACT/Sf and Program Director of Jess Curtis/Gravity. Jeanne has worked coast-to-coast in arts administration, beginning her career in 2006 as an intern at the American Dance Festival (ADF). She worked withADF again in 2007 and 2008, and made the move to San Francisco in early 2009. Jeanne joined FACT/SF in March 2009 as a Marketing Intern, and quickly advanced to her current role as Company Manager. In 2011, Jeanne joined Quinn Associates as a fundraising and PR consultant. In May 2012, she joined Jess Curtis/Gravity as Program Director, overseeing all U.S company operations. Also that year, Jeanne served on the Host Committee for the 2012 DanceUSA Conference in San Francisco. Jeanne received a double B.A. in Theater and Sociology from Beloit College (Beloit, WI) in 2007.
Karena Salmond, Program Director, Performing Arts Workshop
Karena is a small-town girl from Kalamazoo, Michigan who has called San Francisco home since 2004. She is currently the program director at Performing Arts Workshop, an arts education organization dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts. Prior to joining the Workshop, she held roles as a museum educator and visual arts instructor. Karena received her BA in Fine Arts from Kalamazoo College and a MA in International & Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco. It was in college that she rediscovered her love of ballet, which she continues to practice today. When not working, she enjoys dancing, traveling, and eating her way through the world. In another lifetime, she’ll be the next Alexander McQueen.
Gregory Stock, Museum Educator, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Gregory coordinates public programs at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco along with a team of four under the direction of Renee Baldocchi. At the de Young, he provides support and logistics of Friday Nights at the de Young, a weekly “art happening” public and free event for all ages themed to the permanent collection and special exhibitions. At the Legion of Honor, he coordinates the Chamber Music Series and special exhibition programming. Other programs include special lectures and academic symposias for special exhibitions. Interests cross between public art, digital tools, collaboration and social enterprise. He has been in the Bay Area for four years and graduated from Saint Louis University with a BA in American Studies and History.
