Our Team

Community-Word Project seeks to build a team that reflects the backgrounds and experiences of our students and creates an inclusive environment for all employees.

Staff

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Autumn Tilson

  • Program Director, Arts Access for School and Community Partnerships
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Brandy Hill

  • Office Manager and Executive Assistant
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Craig Hayes

  • Deputy Director of External Affairs
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Dale Novella

  • TAP Co-Director of Communications, Operations, and Facilitation
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Javan Howard

  • TAP Co-Director of Curricula, Mentorship and Facilitation
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Michele Kotler

  • Founder and Executive Director
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Maria Schirmer

  • Program Coordinator
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Libby Mislan

  • TAP Coordinator
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Miranda Agnew

  • Young Adult Program Manager
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Kaitlin Hines-Vargas

  • Director of Development

Teaching Artists

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Cornell Carelock

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Libby Mislan

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Natalie Willens

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Nichelle Ryan

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Phyllis Capello

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Reilly Horan

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Valerie Hallier

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Jean Wong

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Mayele Alognon

Smiling woman in a sun dress with bright sunshine in a field of natural grasses

Amanda Dettmann

Woman with in lilac shirt with a bouquet of wildflowers near her face and green garden and trews in the background

Emma B.B. Doyle

Portrait of woman looking at camera with a pond and Sunset Park, NYC in the background

Jenny Luna

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Lily Sarosi

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Anu Annam

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Dale Novella

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Seanan Forbes

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Adriana Guzmán

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Maria Schirmer

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Ann Noling

A smiling person leaning to the left, wearing a green button down shirt and gold chain, bathed in rainbow light with and iridescent black background.

David Onabanjo

A person with short curly brown hair and brown tee shirt sits in front of a bright blue sky, tropical plants and palm trees.

Matthew Bussa

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Morgan Sendek

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Nancy McArthur

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Rita Liu

A person smiling at the camera with short wavy brown hair and a heather grey sweater sitting in front of a bridge with bright lights at night.

Reuben Sack

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Veronica Rowan

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Dominique Doonquah

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Daemond Arrindell

Headshot of Arianna smiling standing in front of a fall tree.

Arianna Ballabio

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Natie Barret

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Lulu West

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Katya Muromseva

A photo of Jordany in an art studio leaning on a table

Jordany Genao

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Natalie Raskin

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Jashua Sa-Ra

Associate Board

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Zachary Kuipers

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Sophia Miller

  • Associate Board Co-Chair
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Molly Ferrer

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Doug Kovel

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Tariq Jawahir

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Emily Mann Derdeyn

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Lily Starling Louis

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Lola Fadojutimi

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Aleks Itskovich

Woman smiling at camera

Vanshika Desai

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Alexi Braun

Woman smiling at camera

Stacey Persaud

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Laura Knodel

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Camila Cascavita

Board of Directors

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Andrew Ho

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Joan Sapinsley

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Michele Kotler

  • Founder + Executive Director
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Monica Chen

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Rossana P. Ionescu

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Tracey Bey Johnson

  • Board Co-Chair
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Deepak Shrivastava

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Caitlin Potratz Metcalf

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Justin Macke

  • Board Co-Chair
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Josh Kleinbaum

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Michael Cruz

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Marjorie McCarthy

  • Secretary
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Olivia Hoben

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Becca Bauer

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Jason Lynch

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Chad Whipple

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Alex Sullivan

Associate Board

Blonde man smiling into camera on tan background. He is wearing a dark blue suit jacket over a light shirt with a light blue tie.

Zachary Kuipers

woman smiling into camera

Sophia Miller

  • Associate Board Co-Chair
Woman smiling into camera

Molly Ferrer

Man looking into camera

Doug Kovel

Man smiling into camera

Tariq Jawahir

Woman (seated) smiling at camera

Emily Mann Derdeyn

Woman in overalls in front of trees looking at camera

Lily Starling Louis

woman in front of white background looking down

Lola Fadojutimi

Man in red shirt with crossed arms looking at camera

Aleks Itskovich

Woman smiling at camera

Vanshika Desai

woman smiling into camera

Alexi Braun

Woman smiling at camera

Stacey Persaud

Woman Smiling into camera

Laura Knodel

Woman smiling into camera on white background

Camila Cascavita

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