Contributors
GIVE was created by a large, cross-organizational team of Teaching Artists and Arts Administrators, credited on this page as Developers.
This team was supported by Contributors, who tested, reviewed, and added invaluable insight to the resources at various stages of development; Consultants, who provided their expert knowledge in ICT classroom specifics, disability, and arts education; and Researchers and Fundraisers, who supported the creation and continuation of the project or the associated research to measure the impact of GIVE. Current Trainers work with educators locally and nationally to support to build their schools in utilizing GIVE resources.
Developers
Adriana Guzmán
In Developers onRead MoreAdriana Guzmán is a first-generation American and Queens, New York native. Her foundation in multiculturalism instilled a spirit of global citizenship at a ver…
Amanda Newman
In Developers onRead MoreAmanda Newman (she/her) is a dancer, social worker, and cross-field collaborator. She is the Program Manager of Social Impact with Community-Word Project (CWP)…
Ana Cantorán
In Developers onRead MoreAna Cantorán is a Theatre Artist and Educator based in Brooklyn, NY and born in Puebla, Mexico. She holds a BFA in Dramatic Arts and a MFA in Contemporary Per…
Arielle Lever
In Developers, Trainers onRead MoreArielle Lever is an Arts Administrator / Theater Artist / Teaching Artist, who focuses a great deal of her energy and work around accessibility in theater. She…
Caila Gale
In Developers onRead MoreCaila Gale works for New 42 doing digital things and helped guide the GIVE team in the development of this site from the first RFP to final QA (along with Soci…
Claudia Acosta
In Developers onRead MoreClaudia Acosta is an actor, director, producer and teaching artist. As an arts educator of over twenty years she serves many organizations in addition to GIVE …
Courtney J. Boddie
In Developers onRead MoreCourtney J. Boddie, Vice President, Education & School Engagement, oversees all programs related to school communities including the New Victory School Par…
David DelGrosso
In Developers onRead MoreDavid is a longtime Teaching Artist with The New Victory Theater, where he enjoyed working with students, teachers, and public audiences across a variety of ar…
Elizabeth Argelia Leonard
In Developers onRead MoreElizabeth Argelia Leonard is a writer, educator and editor with a Masters in novel writing from City University London. She has been a teaching artist for the …
Erica Reinsch Tusciuk
In Developers onRead MoreErica Reinsch Tusciuk is the Associate Director of Education/School Engagement at The New Victory Theater. Serving 40,000 students and 160 schools each year, E…
Kate Lee
In Developers onRead MoreKate Lee is a performing artist and educator who uses theater as a tool for social and emotional engagement, education, and community capacity building. Kate h…
Katie Fanning
In Developers onRead MoreKatie (she/her) is an actor, arts accessibility advocate, and educator. She joined the GIVE Team in March 2019, working as the Project Coordinator and Manager.…
Kerry Warren
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreKerry Warren is a New York based actor, teaching artist, and graduate of the Juilliard School’s Drama Division. She has taught with Harlem Children’s Zone, Lin…
Kim Grier-Martinez
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreKim Grier-Martinez, a cisgender Black woman, dance artist, and activist, has been a Teaching Artist for several decades. Additionally, she serves as the Artist…
Kimberly Boyce-Lazare
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreKimberly Boyce-Lazare hails from the home of the Harlem Renaissance. She is an Artivist and Educator with Community-Word Project and Urban Word NYC, championin…
Kimberly Olsen
In Developers onRead MoreKimberly Olsen is the Executive Director of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable. As leader of the organization, Kim works with a large network of NYC-based cu…
Kyla F. McKoll
In Developers onRead MoreKyla F McKoll (she/her) is a theatre practitioner and arts educator. She’s worked in arts education as a Teaching Artist, Administrator, Professional Developm…
Laura Borgwardt
In Developers onRead MoreLaura is an actor and teaching artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked with ArtsConnection since 2011, teaching theater, musical theater, careers in theat…
Leigh Wells
In Developers onRead MoreLeigh (she/her) grew up in central Kentucky, on the ancestral lands of Eastern Cherokee peoples, Tsalaguwetiyi. She is passionate about the potential, importan…
Marisol Rosa-Shapiro
In Developers onRead MoreMarisol Rosa-Shapiro is a theater artist, educator, and facilitator. She has recently appeared in THE UP CLOSE FESTIVAL (New Ohio Theatre, NYC) and in Spellbo…
Mary Kinney
In Developers onRead MoreMary Kinney is a writer, teaching artist, and professional tired person. She regularly cries in planetariums, arranges dried flowers, and makes her own soap. H…
Michele Kotler
In Developers onRead MoreMichele Kotler founded Community-Word Project in 1997. She is a graduate of the NYC public school system. She received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and h…
Rachel Watts
In Developers onRead MoreRachel Watts, Executive Director at ArtsConnection, oversees all aspects of an almost 45-year-old organization dedicated to providing and advocating for meanin…
Renata Townsend
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreRenata Townsend is a Theater Maker and the Head of Enrichment for Trusty Sidekick Theater Company who was commissioned by Lincoln Center to create multi-sensor…
Sam Jay Gold
In Developers onRead MoreSam Jay Gold is a Jim Henson Foundation-supported puppeteer, theater artist, and arts educator. As a former Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Sam trained in traditional…
Steven Tennen
In Developers onRead MoreSteven Tennen spent 52 years working in the field of arts education in New York City-- as a teacher at PS 287k (1968-1972); as the Director of the Arts in Educ…
Tricia Patrick
In Developers onRead MoreTricia Patrick is a performer, teaching artist and arts administrator who strives to keep PLAY at the center of her WORK. Particularly thrilling to her is the …
Yael Ben-Zion
In Developers, Trainers onRead MoreYael Ben-Zion is a New York-based visual artist and educator working primarily in photography. Her practice examines charged social and political issues from a…
Trainers
Alex Velozo
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreAlex Velozo is a trans and disabled artist and educator currently residing in Baltimore, Maryland. Their installations and performances combine cultural imagin…
Arielle Lever
In Developers, Trainers onRead MoreArielle Lever is an Arts Administrator / Theater Artist / Teaching Artist, who focuses a great deal of her energy and work around accessibility in theater. She…
Jean Wong
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreJean is an interdisciplinary visual artist. Her teaching pedagogy centers play, surprise, and collaboration. She is more interested in the liveliness of art pr…
Kerry Warren
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreKerry Warren is a New York based actor, teaching artist, and graduate of the Juilliard School’s Drama Division. She has taught with Harlem Children’s Zone, Lin…
Kim Grier-Martinez
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreKim Grier-Martinez, a cisgender Black woman, dance artist, and activist, has been a Teaching Artist for several decades. Additionally, she serves as the Artist…
Kimberly Boyce-Lazare
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreKimberly Boyce-Lazare hails from the home of the Harlem Renaissance. She is an Artivist and Educator with Community-Word Project and Urban Word NYC, championin…
Lauren Sharpe
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreLauren Sharpe is a theater-maker, movement artist and educator based in Brooklyn. She is an alumna of The New York Neo-Futurists and a frequent collaborator wi…
Nami Kagami
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreNami Kagami is a native of Japan and was trained in both Modern and Ballet with a focus on creative expressions. Upon her arrival in New York, she completed he…
P. Tyler Britt
In Trainers onRead MoreP. Tyler Britt (he/him) is a Brooklyn native, Theater Practitioner, Stage Manager, Teaching Artist and Hunter College alumni with a BA in Theater. Deeply inves…
Renata Townsend
In Trainers, Developers onRead MoreRenata Townsend is a Theater Maker and the Head of Enrichment for Trusty Sidekick Theater Company who was commissioned by Lincoln Center to create multi-sensor…
Seanan Forbes
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreA disabled, trans interdisciplinary artist, Seanan Forbes (they/them) is a writer, poet, performer, photographer, and visual artist. Seanan’s storytelling work…
Sofiya Cheyenne
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreSofiya Cheyenne is a Teaching Artist, multi-disciplinary performer and Disability Advocate/Consultant. She is the Inclusion Director of Little People of Americ…
Susanna Brock
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreSusanna Brock (she/her) is a mad, queer, neurodivergent, Swedish theater maker, performer, director and educator who creates multi-sensory and interactive thea…
Yael Ben-Zion
In Developers, Trainers onRead MoreYael Ben-Zion is a New York-based visual artist and educator working primarily in photography. Her practice examines charged social and political issues from a…
Contributors
Alex Velozo
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreAlex Velozo is a trans and disabled artist and educator currently residing in Baltimore, Maryland. Their installations and performances combine cultural imagin…
Allison Mui Mitchell
In Contributor onRead MoreAllison Mui Mitchell, New Victory Director of Public Relations, oversees the public identity and perception of New 42, New Victory and New 42 Studios across pr…
Andy Gaukel
In Contributor onRead MoreAndy is a Hudson Valley based puppetry artist and educator. His puppetry credits include the world premier of Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home and Ba…
Angel Thompson
In Contributor onRead MoreAngel Thompson is an artist, educator and author. She has over 13 years of teaching experience, working with families and children of all ages throughout NYC. …
Carrie Ellman-Larsen
In Contributor onRead MoreCarrie has been a teaching artist for 16 years, specializing in using theatre as a tool for language acquisition with ELLs and students with disabilities. She …
Christina D. Eskridge
In Contributor onRead MoreChristina D. Eskridge is a performing artist, teaching artist and public health professional, holding a Master’s Degree in Public Health from UC Berkeley and a…
Christopher Totten
In Contributor onRead MoreChristopher is the Assistant Director of Education/School Engagement at New 42/New Victory in New York City, where he oversees all teacher professional develop…
Craig Hayes
In Contributor onRead MoreCraig Hayes has spent the last 35 years in creative fields in NYC. He believes passionately that early exposure to art through family and school made his caree…
Dale Novella Anderson-Lee
In Contributor onRead MoreHailing from the Lowcountry in South Carolina with a home base in Brooklyn, Dale Novella brings Soul, Hip-Hop, R&b and Rock vibes to everything she creates. An…
Erin K. Orr
In Contributor onRead MoreErin Orr is a puppeteer, storyteller, and teaching artist. She focuses on how the interdisciplinary nature of puppet theater offers multiple entry points to l…
Heidi Stallings
In Contributor onRead MoreHeidi Stallings is a NYC-based actor, director, and educator. Graduate of IWU’s acting and music conservatory program, Heidi has appeared: from Broadway (EVITA…
Jamie Dibos Roach
In Contributor onRead MoreJamie Roach is an actor, playwright and facilitator. A graduate of NYU (MA in Applied Theater), and Circle in the Square Conservatory, Jamie has appeared onsta…
Janet Onyenucheya
In Contributor onRead MoreAs a teaching artist, Janet Onyenucheya values authenticity, vulnerability, reciprocity and representation. Janet works as an arts educator with K-12 public an…
Janice T Acevedo
In Contributor onRead MoreJanice Acevedo is an Educator, and Performing Artist from Queens NYC, where she still resides. She holds a BA in Theater Arts from Mount Holyoke College and is…
Javan Howard
In Contributor onRead MoreJavan Howard is a poet and writer from Bronx, NY. He truly believes that the lived experience is the ultimate teaching tool and uses poetry as a social forum t…
Jean Wong
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreJean is an interdisciplinary visual artist. Her teaching pedagogy centers play, surprise, and collaboration. She is more interested in the liveliness of art pr…
Karla Robinson
In Contributor onRead MoreKarla Robinson,TAP Artistic Director, believes deeply in the arts' ability to transform culture and community. As an arts educator with a Special Education Tea…
Katie Rainey
In Contributor onRead MoreKatie Rainey is a Teaching Artist and Director of the Teaching Artist Project at Community-Word Project, where she trains artists to become educators. She has …
Krishna Washburn
In Contributor onRead MoreKrishna is the director and teacher of Dark Room Ballet, a pre-professional dance curriculum designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired …
Lauren Sharpe
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreLauren Sharpe is a theater-maker, movement artist and educator based in Brooklyn. She is an alumna of The New York Neo-Futurists and a frequent collaborator wi…
Libby Mislan
In Contributor onRead MoreLibby Mislan (she/her) is a teaching artist in New York City public schools with Community-Word Project, Teachers & Writers Collaborative, and City Lore. She i…
Liz Bolick
In Contributor onRead MoreLiz has a BFA from the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts. She is a Teaching Artist with The New Victory Theater and is an accomplished produc…
Maria Schirmer
In Contributor onRead MoreMaria Schirmer is a theatre artist, writer and arts educator. She has received a Gallatin Global Human Rights Fellowship with the Jana Sanskriti Center for The…
Molly Goldman
In Contributor onRead MoreMolly Goldman is a Teaching Artist in New York City. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama. She is a contributor to the forthcomi…
Nami Kagami
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreNami Kagami is a native of Japan and was trained in both Modern and Ballet with a focus on creative expressions. Upon her arrival in New York, she completed he…
Rachael Schefrin
In Contributor onRead MoreRachael Schefrin is an actress and senior teaching artist at Community Word Project. Rachael loves using her artistic expertise to find the symbiotic relations…
Seanan Forbes
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreA disabled, trans interdisciplinary artist, Seanan Forbes (they/them) is a writer, poet, performer, photographer, and visual artist. Seanan’s storytelling work…
Sofiya Cheyenne
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreSofiya Cheyenne is a Teaching Artist, multi-disciplinary performer and Disability Advocate/Consultant. She is the Inclusion Director of Little People of Americ…
Susanna Brock
In Contributor, Trainers onRead MoreSusanna Brock (she/her) is a mad, queer, neurodivergent, Swedish theater maker, performer, director and educator who creates multi-sensory and interactive thea…
T. Scott Lilly
In Contributor onRead MoreScott is an actor, director, songwriter and musician who has been teaching these (life) skills to children for 20 years. Scott was part of the original E.A.S.…
Consultants
Alexa Fairchild
In Consultant onRead MoreAlexa advocates for equity, access, and excellence in arts education for students with disabilities and multilingual learners in her role as the Manager of Art…
Aliza Greenberg
In Consultant onRead MoreAliza Greenberg is the Arts Enrichment Coordinator at LearningSpring School, the Project Leader for Supporting Transitions with the Museum, Arts and Culture Ac…
Amy Frey
In Consultant onRead MoreAmy Frey is an occupational therapist at a District 75 school at the New York City Department of Education. As an alumna of the theater program at Muhlenberg C…
Ariela Rotengold
In Consultant onRead MoreAriela is a social worker in New York City, and a teaching artist with CO/LAB Theater Group. Ariela has partnered extensively with young people and adults with…
Charlotte J Martin
In Consultant onRead MoreCharlotte Martin is Senior Manager of Access Initiatives at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, where she oversees the team the develops programs and resourc…
Gayathri Iyer
In Consultant onRead MoreGayathri is a School Counselor at The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria in Queens, where she dreamed to work with daughters of immigrants familiar to …
Grace Law
In Consultant onRead MoreGrace is a an elementary teacher who taught for 15 years in her alma mater elementary school. For the past 3 years, she taught in a Chinese Bilingual ICT clas…
Jano Cortijo
In Consultant onRead MoreJano Cortijo is a gay, immigrant, bilingual arts educator whose independent/on-call/seasonal/per diem work finds him engaging audiences of various ages, abilit…
Jerron Herman
In Consultant onRead MoreJerron Herman is a dancer, writer, moderator, and advocate for the arts who is compelled to disrupt ideas of restriction with images of freedom. Originally fin…
Louisa Mann
In Consultant onRead MoreLouisa Mann was born and raised in Brattleboro, VT. She began her dance training at the age of 3 at the Brattleboro School of Dance. She has a BFA in dance fro…
Marc Fernandes
In Consultant onRead MoreFor over twenty years, Marc Fernandes has been deeply involved in the organizational, programmatic, policy, and advocacy sides of youth development and communi…
Pamela Pritzker-Ridley
In Consultant onRead MorePamela Pritzker-Ridley is a school administrator with teaching certifications in special education and visual art. She is also a nationally certified American …
Pauli Evanson
In Consultant onRead MorePauli Evanson is an elementary special education teacher and has taught students from Kindergarten to eight grade. She earned an MA in childhood education and …
Sarah Brooks
In Consultant onRead MoreSarah is a devoted special education teacher who has worked in various types of classrooms over the last ten years. For the last four years, she has enjoyed wo…
Stephen Yaffe
In Consultant onRead MoreStephen Yaffe is an Arts and Education consultant. He has mentored teaching artists, arts administrators and classroom teachers working with students with disa…
Tobie Franklin
In Consultant onRead MoreTobie Franklin has extensive experience in the field of special education. She has worked in educational and clinical settings in Canada, Israel, and the U.K. …
Williy Pang
In Consultant onRead MoreWilliy Pang has been a teacher in the NYCDOE for the past two decades. At P.S. 295 - The Studio School of Arts & Culture, he is currently working in an ICT…
Researchers & Fundraisers
Fran Van Horn
Read MoreFran's arts education career spans more than four decades, and includes teaching, program development and administration. She is delighted to have worked in pa…
Greg Mytelka
Read MoreGreg Mytelka (he/him) serves as Education Programs Manager at New 42 / New Victory Theater, where he oversees the programmatic and administrative aspects of th…
Lindsey Buller Maliekel
Read MoreLindsey Buller Maliekel, Director of Education & Public Engagement at the leading arts nonprofit New 42 in New York City, is recognized as a global expert …
Melissa Shaw
Read MoreMelissa Shaw is a facilitator who offers a unique consultancy based in the arts, social justice, diversity and inclusion, and social emotional learning. She h…
Sindy Isabel Castro
Read MoreSindy Isabel Castro is an actress, educator, and theatre artist. She is co-founder of Jugando N Play, a multilingual theatre for young audiences. She graduated…