Presenters
The Art of Mass Gatherings at BAMS CONX
Presenters are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Anthony M. Alamia
Project Director, Boston Office of Emergency Management
Anthony first joined the Boston Office of Emergency Management’s Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program team as a planner in February of 2021 and now serves as the Project Director. The focus of this grant is to better prepare the region around community resilience. Coming from the US Census Bureau where he oversaw enumeration of the Roxbury, Dorchester, JP, and parts of Back Bay and the Fenway neighborhoods. He has also worked on planning and community engagement efforts with the City of New Bedford, and the Boston neighborhoods of Hyde Park, and Allston-Brighton. He holds a Master in City Planning from Boston University; MA in Political Science from Northeastern University; and a BA in Political Science from SUNY Plattsburgh.
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Organizations
Hilina D. Ajakaiye
Meet Boston – Executive Vice President
Hilina D. Ajakaiye is the Executive Vice President at Meet Boston, bringing nearly 20 years of sales, marketing, and operations expertise to her role at the organization. She leads many important initiatives related to community engagement, workforce development, accessibility, and a wide range of mission-critical work in the equity, diversity, and inclusion space.
At Meet Boston, she spearheads a partnership with Tourism Diversity Matters (TDM) that aims to diversify the travel and hospitality workforce, particularly in the upper management and leadership tiers. She also currently serves as co-chair of the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee for Destinations International.
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Brooke Amendola
Director of Planning and Preparedness, Boston Office of Emergency Management
Brooke has worked for the City of Boston of Emergency Management for 3+ years. She is currently the Director of Planning and Preparedness, but previously worked as the Situational Awareness / GIS Analyst and on the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant team as a Planner and then Project Director. Prior to that, she worked as a GIS and Emergency Management Analyst for the Northeast States Emergency Consortium. Brooke holds a Master of City Planning degree from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans.
Organizations
Charles G. Baldwin
Program Officer, Cultural Equity and Access Initiatives, Mass Cultural Council
Charles G. Baldwin is the Program Officer for Cultural Equity and Access Initiatives at the Mass Cultural Council. Since 2016 he has led the agency’s Universal Participation (UP) Initiative which provides training and funding for organizations developing accessible policies, programs, and practices. Charles is a founding member of CANE (Cultural Access New England), serves on the Advisory Board of the Brickbottom Artist Association and the Wicked Queer Film Festival. Charles is an educator, illustrator, theater designer, and puppeteer.
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Daniel Burje Chonde, MD PhD
Doctor at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Director of the Peoples’ heART
Dan Chonde, MD PhD is a Neuroradiology fellow and Executive Director of the Peoples’ heART, an arts-based healthcare and community intervention aimed at creating welcoming spaces in healthcare facilities that promote health equity and teach cross cultural competency. From curating art installations that reflect the voices ands spirit of the diverse patients our healthcare systems serve, to bringing local musicians to play in healthcare spaces, as well as mobilizing healthcare resources for community events, The Peoples’ heART works with healthcare organizations and local artists to build a more inclusive, patient-centered culture.
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Tom Clareson
Program director, Performing Arts Readiness
Tom Clareson is Project Director of Performing Arts Readiness, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to help performing arts organizations protect their assets, sustain operations, and prepare for emergencies. He also serves as Senior Consultant for Digital & Preservation Services at LYRASIS, consulting internationally on preservation, disaster preparedness, digitization, funding, strategic planning, and advocacy for arts and cultural organizations. Clareson is Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, Board of Directors Secretary of Lancaster Chorale (Ohio), and Vice President, National Board of Advisors, Richard M. Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Organizations
Zoe Davis
Climate Resilience Project Manager, City of Boston Environment Department
Zoe serves as a Climate Resilience Project Manager on the Climate Ready Boston Team in the City of Boston’s Environment Department. As a project manager, she supports neighborhood climate resilience planning, the integration of climate change preparedness into municipal projects and planning, as well as the development of preparedness resources for residents and other stakeholders. Zoe served as the project manager for Boston’s Heat Plan, which presents a citywide framework to address near- and long-term heat risk in Boston. Following release of the Plan, Zoe supports the implementation of near-term heat resilience projects.
Before joining the City, Zoe served as a land stewardship coordinator and TerraCorps Service Member with the Mystic River Watershed Association. There, she organized habitat restoration projects in public parks and partnered with community groups and local government agencies to create climate education programs and forums for public discourse about coastal resilience.
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Bertrand Evans-Taylor
Manager of Communications and Administration, Performing Arts Alliance
Bertrand Evans-Taylor brings over 10 years of experience as an arts advocate, arts administrator, and event producer and a lifetime as a pianist. He most recently has served as a marketer and community engaged specialist at Majestic Collaborations where he guided its marketing and community outreach strategies through a community engaged lens. He is also the founder of Ujima Denver, an arts-based social enterprise committed to elevating Black and Brown artists, their work and their voices as valuable community contributors through strategic event production and professional development. Bertrand has also served on the production team for esteemed festivals such as The Five Points Jazz Festival and The Colour of Music Festival.
He recently completed a Master’s in Arts and Culture Management with an emphasis in Advocacy and Outreach from the University of Denver, where he was awarded a Community Engaged Fellowship.
Organizations
Colleen Flanagan
City of Boston Mayor’s Disabilities Commission, Outreach and Engagement Specialist
Colleen Flanagan is a disabled woman and longtime activist for disability rights and justice. She has led several grassroots initiatives to advance the disability rights movement on national and local levels. She is the City of Boston Mayor’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities Outreach and Engagement Specialist and works to ensure disability accessibility and inclusion in the city.
C0ntact
Organizations
Stephanie P. Fortunato
Arts and cultural strategy consultant (Constellation Cultural)
Stephanie Fortunato’s approach to consulting is informed by her experience within city government where served as Providence’s Director of Art, Culture + Tourism, working at the intersection of cultural planning and community development. Throughout her career, Stephanie has collaborated with local communities to co-create arts-based policies, programs, and partnerships that aim to strengthen neighborhoods, facilitate connections, and animate public spaces. She is the co-host of The Three Bells, the Global Cultural Districts Network’s podcast which explores challenges and opportunities at the intersection of culture and urbanism as well as the network’s director of special projects.
Stephanie skillfully brings teams together to co-develop creative processes and partnerships that empower communities to realize possibilities. She is a versatile arts leader with wide expertise including arts administration, public art, festivals, commemorative works, cultural planning, policymaking, community cultural development, creative economic development, public humanities, cross-sector partnerships, and creative placemaking. In 2022, she was the PVDFest grand marshal. In 2018, Stephanie received the Mary Brennan Tourism Award from the RI Hospitality Association. She has presented for the National Endowment for the Arts, ArtPlace America, and LISC, and is regularly invited as a guest lecturer at universities and colleges, as well as serving on the advisory committee for the New England Foundation for the Arts. She received her M.A. in public humanities from Brown University and a B.A. from Providence College. Stephanie is based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island with her ten-year-old daughter.
C0ntact
spfortunato@gmail.com
(401) 743-6004
Organizations
Darian B. Gambrell
DEAF, Inc.
Gambrell is currently the Executive Director for DEAF, Inc. in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts. She has been in this role since September 2021. She is a current member on the Board of Trustees at Gallaudet University and a former board member for Arts Access, Inc. She received her certificate from Institute for Nonprofit Practice in May 2023.
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Kathryn Hall
Deputy Commissioner, Boston Public Health Commission
Dr. Kathryn Hall is the Deputy Commissioner for Population Health and Health Equity at the Boston Public Health Commission. After receiving her PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University she spent 10 years in the biotech industry, then returned to Harvard Medical School, joining the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and receiving a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Hall is the author of Placebos, MIT Press and has a Masters in Documentary Film from Emerson College.
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Melissa L. Hector
Director of Equitable and Strategic Initiatives, Boston Public Health Commission Executive Office
Melissa L. Hector, MS, MBA is the Director of Equitable and Strategic Initiatives at the Boston Public Health Commission. Ms. Hector led community initiatives under three Mayors in the Office of Human Services for the City of Boston. Since her appointment in 2019, she has worked with internal and external partners to develop a COVID-19 health equity community engagement framework.
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Organizations
Matthew Ché Kowal
Father, Husband, Son, Musician, Educator, Co-Founder at Majestic Collaborations
- Emergency Preparedness Consultant – Performing Arts Readiness (PAR)
- Organized one hundred+ festivals for over 1 million total attendees since 2005, across US. Collectively raising over $5 million for bicycle, multi-modal transportation and accessibility projects.
- Coordinated partnerships between brands, artists, and non-profit organizations to present highly participatory gatherings to advanced the awareness while striving to address gender and equity in talent booking and leadership.
- Designed/commissioned solar, bio-power, water and waste programs for festivals that remain state-of-the art.
- Envisioned the experiential learning platform Art of Mass Gatherings Symposium (AoMG) as a way to catalyze emergency preparedness training across multiple stakeholders. In 2021 this innovative model was featured in the FEMA Resilient Nation Network’s Inspiration Book: Arts & Experiential Learning
- Grant funded by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation to provide webinars, venue and festivals planning in emergency and disaster preparedness
- Chief of party for FACTOR music trade mission to Colorado by Canadian Government
- Lead the creation of multidisciplinary teams to provide safety-sustainabilty-
accessibility audits and/or emergency plans for McNichols Civic Center Building, Five Points Jazz Festival, New Jersey Folk Festival, Surfalorus, (Nags Head NC), Indigenous People’s Day Festival (Newton MA) among others. - Nominated for an Emmy 2020 for modified and virtualized Five Points Jazz Festival. Alabama Women in Jazz, Miss Black Colorado “Black Reign”
- Co-Founder of The Headwaters Protectors mutual aid group, 2020. Provides compassionate waste and water services to encampments of unhoused Denver neighbors providing portable electric, water, heat and handwashing systems.
- Co-Founder of Event Professionals Alliance for Expanding Safe Outdoor Spaces 2020
- Co-Founder of Arts and Events Community Resilience Corps 2021
Contact
Organizations
Kenny Mascary
Chief of Staff – Mayors Office of Arts & Culture
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Jen Mergel
Executive Director, Esplanade Association
Jen Mergel is a cultural leader, curator and educator passionate about connections—between art and people, ideas and impact, vision and service. For over 20 years, she has promoted inclusive engagement with contemporary art in museums, on campuses and in the public realm. She has developed nationally newsworthy exhibitions, talks, and programs in her leadership roles at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, the Association of Art Museum Curators, Voices in Contemporary Art, and most recently Olmsted Now.
Boston-born and based, she is fiercely committed to championing culture makers, history keepers and change agents who deepen social and spatial justice, locally and globally. She is driven to initiate, innovate and collaborate on projects that foster community curiosity, connective capital and cultural equity through the intersection of the arts with a wide range of disciplines. From November 2021 – January 2023, she served as the inaugural Director of Experience & Cultural Partnerships for Boston’s Emerald Necklace Conservancy, before serving as Senior Advisor, Cultural Partnerships & Parks Equity. In May she became the First James and Audrey Foster Executive Director of the Esplanade Association, a non-profit dedicated to revitalizing and maintaining the iconic 64-acre park along the Charles River while providing engaging programming that benefits the broad community.
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Brianna Millor
Chief of Community Engagement
A Dorchester native and the daughter of a Haitian immigrant, Chief Millor brings years of local government experience to the Community Engagement Cabinet. To eliminate silos between Boston residents and City Hall, Chief Millor oversees various Community Engagement departments at City Hall including 311, ONS, Office of Civic Organizing, Spark Boston and more.
Chief Millor’s direction of the Community Engagement cabinet began in January of 2022, but her passion for community is long standing. After first joining the City Council President’s Office under Mayor Wu in 2016 as a Communications Intern, she returned in 2018 as Administrative Director and later as Civic Engagement Director. Millor has represented Mayor Wu’s Council Office on the Board of ABCD and previously served on ABCD’s Neighborhood Programs/Planning & Evaluation (NPPE) Committee.
She is a graduate of Quinnipiac University with a Bachelors in Political Science and a Masters Degree in Public Relations.
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Organizations
Ellice Patterson
Founder/Executive & Artistic Director of Abilities Dance Boston
Ellice Patterson is the founder/ executive and artistic director of Abilities Dance, a Boston-based dance company that welcomes artists with and without disabilities. She is currently an artist in residence with the City of Boston’s transportation department, using dance as a way to promote more accessibility on the streets and sidewalks of the city. Outside of self-produced Abilities Dance’s shows, her choreography has appeared in the MFA, Links Hall in Chicago, Gibney Dance in NYC, The Series: Vol IV at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre in NYC, and more. She has given lectures and workshops at schools, universities, and organizations across the country, including Harvard Graduate School of Education, Fidelity Investments, Boston University, and more. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from Wellesley College and her Masters of Science in Management Studies from Boston University Questrom School of Business.
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Nancy Smith
Program Manager, Boston Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management for CERT and Volunteers
Nancy Smith is responsible for developing community relationships in support of emergency preparedness and community resilience in close coordination with other Public Health Departments and Boston Emergency Management Services. She is the former Program Manager for Community Resilience and Engagement at the Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP) of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), having previously served in a variety of BPHC departments over the course of 21 years, including the Substance Abuse Bureau, Homeless Commission, and the Child Adolescence and Family Health Bureau.
Nancy co-developed the “Healthy Relationships” curriculum” under the 3-City Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (CHMI) site report. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Northeastern University and has a Certificate in Maternal Child Health from the Boston University School of Public Health, in addition to obtaining certifications as a Community Health Leader from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Community Mentor through MIT.
Nancy is currently working on several special programming exploring (rising tides and heat island) Climate Change Adaption for the City of Boston. She is a lifetime member of Black Emergency Managers Association International, and member of Team Rubicon, as well as a current general member of National Low-Income Housing Coalition, USO, Commuters Rail Community Coalition, T-Riders Union and Black Boston COVID 19 Coalition.
Organizations
Elizabeth Stephenson
Director, Marine Conservation Action Fund, New England Aquarium
As director of the Maine Conservation Action Fund, (MCAF), Elizabeth focuses her work on supporting the long-term success, impact, and influence of ocean conservation leaders in low and middle income countries across the globe. She played a leading role in the development and launch of the MCAF Fellows program in 2015 and in running the inaugural MCAF Fellows Summit in Boston in 2019.
Elizabeth is an active member of the fellowship consortium known as the Conservation Leadership Community of Practice, as well as the Network of Engaged International Donors (NEID Global). Prior to her role at NEAq, Elizabeth worked for the Maine Coastal Program and she started her career teaching high school science.
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Alector Tavares
Boston Fire Department, Firefighter
Firefighter Alector Tavares joined the Boston Fire Department in 2008 after serving five years in the US Army. Born and raised in Dorchester, he has been tremendous in his commitment to the community. In his first year as a Firefighter, he was presented with the Distinguished Service Award, recognized for responding to a neighbor in need while he was off duty, saving the life of a community member in distress. This commitment is extended through his involvement in community programs where has served as a mentor in the Boston Fire Teen Academy. He is a member of The Tower Ladder 10, an elite tactical unit housed in Jamaica Plain.
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Neel Vasavada
Co-founder, Overdrive Energy Solutions
Neel Vasavada started his career in hybrid-electric vehicle development, and went on to build several major concert equipment suppliers for the North American Market. In 2020, he formed Overdrive Energy Solutions to reduce fossil fuel use in Live Events via the use of solar/battery power stations. In 2023, Overdrive made history powering the first 100% renewable energy stage run of solar energy for Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion festival near Austin, Texas. They’ve since saved over 1000 gallons of diesel for Coachella, Stagecoach, Google, Dead & Company, University Music Group and more.
Organizations
Michelle Vigilance
313Won Productions
Michelle Vigilance works with individuals and organizations to amplify their communication, connection, and confidence so they can make an influential impact on the world. She mentors and collaborates with passion, guiding her clients to effectively strengthen and elevate their vision to new heights.
With over ten years of education training experience in Qatar, a knack for making meaningful connections with students, and an insatiable appetite for helping others maximize their potential, Michelle knows how to rock a platform, connect with a crowd, and provide training so that others can effectively do the same.
Michelle is passionate about people, leadership, and successful outcomes. She is especially inspired to help people take their careers– and themselves– to unprecedented levels.
C0ntact
(774) 581-1305
Organizations
Sue Wolf-Fordham
Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)
Sue is a Consultant, Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), a network of interdisciplinary university centers with at least one in each state and territory, and she is Adjunct Faculty-Public Health, at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She has over 30 years of experience in the disability field, including advocacy, research, policy and program development and implementation, and 15 years of experience related to whole community, inclusive emergency planning and response.
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Jessica Wallach
Director of Connectivity for Open Circle Theatre and Accessibility Coordinator for the Art of Mass Gatherings
Jessica’s goal is to reimagine space as a love letter to the body through her art and as an accessibility coordinator. Jessica has been a professional photographer since 1998, including running a mobile studio since 2006. As a photographer and photo educator with a disability, her work is deeply rooted in the body, accessibility, and disability, and she maintains deep roots in the disability community. With a background in urban planning and civic justice as well as the arts, Jessica increasingly works in accessibility planning and universal design at the intersections of art, culture, and community, as Accessibility Coordinator for Majestic Collaborations and in her own teaching and consulting. One of her most rewarding recent projects was organizing a festival at the Kennedy Center for and by artists with disabilities.
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Sergeant Detective Joe Sullivan
Boston Police Department
Lifelong resident of the City of Boston, A member of the Department for 29 years Has served in C-11 (Dorchester) B-2 (Roxbury) the Youth Violence Strike Force, The Drug Control Unit and the Boston Regional Intelligence Center as well as liaison to the Office of Emergency Management
Paul Willis
Managing Director of BAMS Fest
Returning home to Boston after a decade in Sacramento, CA, Paul Willis is the new Managing Director of BAMS Fest. Willis’ career highlights as a creative professional with ties to youth-focused, arts, education and social justice nonprofits include starting up City Year Sacramento, leading programming for MLK365, providing leadership and executive coaching for the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program, and serving as an executive board member at Sol Collective, a nonprofit focused on art, culture and activism. A talented Hip Hop teaching artist with experience as a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, Paul brings a brand of community and corporate leadership and is excited to be starting over with experience now that he is back in his hometown. Paul Willis’ 17-year professional career in the arts, education, leadership development and social justice driven organizations has provided him a unique lens to see the world and shape it.
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Presenters
The Art of Mass Gatherings at BAMS FEST
Tom Clareson
Program director, Performing Arts Readiness
Tom Clareson is Project Director of Performing Arts Readiness, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to help performing arts organizations protect their assets, sustain operations, and prepare for emergencies. He also serves as Senior Consultant for Digital & Preservation Services at LYRASIS, consulting internationally on preservation, disaster preparedness, digitization, funding, strategic planning, and advocacy for arts and cultural organizations. Clareson is Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, Board of Directors Secretary of Lancaster Chorale (Ohio), and Vice President, National Board of Advisors, Richard M. Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Organizations
Clara Decerbo, PhD, CEM
Director, Providence Emergency Management Agency
Clara Decerbo, PhD, CEM is the Director of Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), responsible for coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain and improve the all-hazards emergency management program in Rhode Island’s capital city. Clara joined the PEMA team in April 2018 as the Deputy Director after 5 years working in the emergency management and response field in Rhode Island as a consultant and EMT-Cardiac/firefighter. In April 2020 Clara became the Director of PEMA and was appointed as the lead for the capital city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining PEMA, Clara worked as a graduate student with the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island as a Rhode Island Sea Grant Fellow focusing on challenges related to climate change, hazard mitigation, and improving coastal resilience.
Clara received a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island in Marine Affairs focused on hazards and disaster response and mitigation. She also holds a B.A. from Middlebury College in International Studies with a focus in Middle Eastern History and Arabic. Clara received her Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) certification through the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) in 2020.
Colleen Flanagan
City of Boston Mayor’s Disabilities Commission, Outreach and Engagement Specialist
Colleen Flanagan is a disabled woman and longtime activist for disability rights and justice. She has led several grassroots initiatives to advance the disability rights movement on national and local levels. She is the City of Boston Mayor’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities Outreach and Engagement Specialist and works to ensure disability accessibility and inclusion in the city.
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Dr. Darlene Flores
Indigenous Peoples Day Newton Committee Indigenous Liaison
Dr. Darlene Flores, Adahi’abo (Medicine hand) and Chiropractic Physician, is a mother of three children, Munah (11), Zamir (9), and Aminah (7). Born of Borikua parents, she was raised in the Metro area of Massachusetts. Her great grandmother, Irene, was a traditional curandera, midwife, and santiaguera and Dr. Flores continues the legacy of her family as a holistic huesero (bone setter) and holistic energetic worker to treat patients of all ages; her treatments combine traditional alcolados and teas. Dr. Flores is a traditional Medicine Keeper for her Taino Higuayagua Caribbean Tribe. She is also a United States Veteran who is highly decorated for her participation in the War in Iraq. Dr. Flores also owns and operates a Wellness business in Brookline, Massachusetts called Karaya Wellness Clinic. Known for her activism and advocacy for more holistic medicine to be taught and practiced in the BIPOC community, Dr. Flores prides herself in preserving the ancestral ways to raise her children and serve Native/Indigenous communities.
Organizations
Stephanie P. Fortunato
Arts and cultural strategy consultant (Constellation Cultural)
Stephanie Fortunato’s approach to consulting is informed by her experience within city government where served as Providence’s Director of Art, Culture + Tourism, working at the intersection of cultural planning and community development. Throughout her career, Stephanie has collaborated with local communities to co-create arts-based policies, programs, and partnerships that aim to strengthen neighborhoods, facilitate connections, and animate public spaces. She is the co-host of The Three Bells, the Global Cultural Districts Network’s podcast which explores challenges and opportunities at the intersection of culture and urbanism as well as the network’s director of special projects.
Stephanie skillfully brings teams together to co-develop creative processes and partnerships that empower communities to realize possibilities. She is a versatile arts leader with wide expertise including arts administration, public art, festivals, commemorative works, cultural planning, policymaking, community cultural development, creative economic development, public humanities, cross-sector partnerships, and creative placemaking. In 2022, she was the PVDFest grand marshal. In 2018, Stephanie received the Mary Brennan Tourism Award from the RI Hospitality Association. She has presented for the National Endowment for the Arts, ArtPlace America, and LISC, and is regularly invited as a guest lecturer at universities and colleges, as well as serving on the advisory committee for the New England Foundation for the Arts. She received her M.A. in public humanities from Brown University and a B.A. from Providence College. Stephanie is based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island with her ten-year-old daughter.
C0ntact
spfortunato@gmail.com
(401) 743-6004
Organizations
Matthew Ché Kowal
Father, Husband, Son, Musician, Educator, Co-Founder at Majestic Collaborations
- Emergency Preparedness Consultant – Performing Arts Readiness (PAR)
- Organized one hundred+ festivals for over 1 million total attendees since 2005, across US. Collectively raising over $5 million for bicycle, multi-modal transportation and accessibility projects.
- Coordinated partnerships between brands, artists, and non-profit organizations to present highly participatory gatherings to advanced the awareness while striving to address gender and equity in talent booking and leadership.
- Designed/commissioned solar, bio-power, water and waste programs for festivals that remain state-of-the art.
- Envisioned the experiential learning platform Art of Mass Gatherings Symposium (AoMG) as a way to catalyze emergency preparedness training across multiple stakeholders. In 2021 this innovative model was featured in the FEMA Resilient Nation Network’s Inspiration Book: Arts & Experiential Learning
- Grant funded by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation to provide webinars, venue and festivals planning in emergency and disaster preparedness
- Chief of party for FACTOR music trade mission to Colorado by Canadian Government
- Lead the creation of multidisciplinary teams to provide safety-sustainabilty-
accessibility audits and/or emergency plans for McNichols Civic Center Building, Five Points Jazz Festival, New Jersey Folk Festival, Surfalorus, (Nags Head NC), Indigenous People’s Day Festival (Newton MA) among others. - Nominated for an Emmy 2020 for modified and virtualized Five Points Jazz Festival. Alabama Women in Jazz, Miss Black Colorado “Black Reign”
- Co-Founder of The Headwaters Protectors mutual aid group, 2020. Provides compassionate waste and water services to encampments of unhoused Denver neighbors providing portable electric, water, heat and handwashing systems.
- Co-Founder of Event Professionals Alliance for Expanding Safe Outdoor Spaces 2020
- Co-Founder of Arts and Events Community Resilience Corps 2021
Contact
Organizations
Ellice Patterson
Founder/Executive & Artistic Director of Abilities Dance Boston
Ellice Patterson is the founder/ executive and artistic director of Abilities Dance, a Boston-based dance company that welcomes artists with and without disabilities. She is currently an artist in residence with the City of Boston’s transportation department, using dance as a way to promote more accessibility on the streets and sidewalks of the city. Outside of self-produced Abilities Dance’s shows, her choreography has appeared in the MFA, Links Hall in Chicago, Gibney Dance in NYC, The Series: Vol IV at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre in NYC, and more. She has given lectures and workshops at schools, universities, and organizations across the country, including Harvard Graduate School of Education, Fidelity Investments, Boston University, and more. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from Wellesley College and her Masters of Science in Management Studies from Boston University Questrom School of Business.
Contact
Organizations
Neel Vasavada
Co-founder, Overdrive Energy Solutions
Neel Vasavada started his career in hybrid-electric vehicle development, and went on to build several major concert equipment suppliers for the North American Market. In 2020, he formed Overdrive Energy Solutions to reduce fossil fuel use in Live Events via the use of solar/battery power stations. In 2023, Overdrive made history powering the first 100% renewable energy stage run of solar energy for Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion festival near Austin, Texas. They’ve since saved over 1000 gallons of diesel for Coachella, Stagecoach, Google, Dead & Company, University Music Group and more.