Staff
Julie Baker, CEO
As CEO of California’s statewide arts advocacy organizations since 2018, Julie has worked to increase the legislative clout and visibility of the arts and culture communities by building coalition across the for and non-profit sectors of California’s creative industries, producing a month long arts awareness and advocacy campaign every April, and fighting for resources and legislation to serve and protect artists and cultural workers. She serves as the California State Captain to Americans for the Arts' National Arts Action Summit and on the State Arts Action Network Council and as the co-chair of the Western Arts Advocacy network for WESTAF. She is on the board of California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project, a founding member of the Nevada County Relief Fund advisory council and was elected to the Nevada County school board in November of 2020.
Over the years, Julie has owned a fine arts gallery for emerging artists, co-founded Flow art fair — a satellite to Art Basel Miami Beach — opened a consulting firm Julie Baker Projects and curated an annual music series at the Crocker Art Museum. Earlier in her career she was President of her family’s arts marketing firm in New York City and worked at Christie’s Auction house before moving to California in 1998. Julie also served for eight years as the Executive Director of The Center for the Arts, a non-profit performing arts venue and California WorldFest, an annual music and camping festival located in Grass Valley, CA. She is the recipient of the inaugural Peggy Levine Arts & Community Service Award from the Nevada County Arts Council. And the 2021 Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award from Americans for the Arts, which honors an individual at the state level whose arts advocacy efforts have dramatically affected the political landscape.
Tracy Hudak, Director of Field Engagement
Tracy is an artist, advocate and consultant who has worked at the intersections of art and economic and community development for over twenty years. As a consultant, she has contributed to the success of creative businesses and cultural nonprofits through the design and management of programming, marketing, fundraising and organizational development systems. As a creative economy advocate, she has organized campaigns and forums, developed policy language for local land use and economic development plans, produced cross-sector collaborations, published reports and articles and has served as a keynote speaker in various venues. She is a painter and theatre artist who specializes in devised works. Her artistic practices have informed the numerous creative placemaking and civic imagining platforms she has produced. Some of her favorite projects include developing the Creative Community Thomas Fire Recovery Programs, producing and facilitating the Westside Community Innovation Exchange, serving as Arts Impact Director for Downtown Oxnard and directing WeSource, a youth-led devised theatre project.
Tracy has a Masters in Public and Policy and Administration from California Lutheran University and a BFA in Performance Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was called from Chicago to Los Angeles to work as an intern at Highways Performance Space and never left. After 13 years in LA, she moved with her husband John to Ventura County in 2006 to raise their daughter Ruby in the wild. They currently call Santa Paula home.
Eduardo Robles, Senior Manager of Communications
Eduardo Robles works to advance programs and policies that bring greater equity and inclusion to the field of arts, culture, and creativity. He formerly served as an Arts Associate for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, administering the NEA Our Town grant Promise Zone Arts and assisting the agency’s global cities and cultural policy initiatives. Prior to this position, Eduardo was a graduate student intern at the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, specializing in public art policy, community planning, and creative placemaking. He currently serves as a Committee Co-Chair for Partnerships and Resourcing with the Creative States Coalition and liaises CFTA’s Racial and Cultural Equity Committee. Eduardo earned a B.A. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.A. in Public Humanities from Brown University.
Teri Ball, RAIN Project Manager
Teri Ball has spent more than 30 years working with nonprofit performing arts organizations in Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles as an Executive Director, Development Director, Marketing Director, nonprofit management consultant, producer, production manager and stage manager. During her career Teri has worked with performing arts and service organizations from a variety of performing arts genres including Santa Barbara Dance Alliance, Speaking of Stories, Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara, California Shakespeare Festival, Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival and Teenage Drama Workshop at Cal State Northridge. In addition to her work with Californians for the Arts she is the Executive Director of Center Stage Theater a nonprofit rental venue in downtown Santa Barbara, where for 15 years she has had the opportunity to indulge her passion for mentoring young artists and helping develop the theatermakers of tomorrow. As a Producer she primarily works on new plays and particularly the work of women and LGBTQIA theatermakers. In 2022 she produced The Shot starring Sharon Lawrence at the United Solo Festival in New York City. The production earned honors for Best Production and Audience Choice. In 2023, Teri was part of the leadership team for the SB1116 Coalition that received the Gordon Davidson Award For Distinguished Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatrical Community from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Teri is the Secretary of the California Chapter of NIVA, and a member of the Legislative Committee of the Theatre Producers League of Southern California. She holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Board Members
Leticia Rhi Buckley, CFTA Board President
CEO, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes
Los Angeles
Leticia Rhi Buckley is a mom, a wife, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in East Los Angeles. She has built a career developing programs and guiding public policy that connects the dots between historically under-resourced communities and the arts. Leticia is Chief Executive Officer of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a museum and cultural center dedicated to uplifting, sharing, and preserving the stories of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and all Latinx people in the Los Angeles region. She is an LA County Arts Commissioner, Board Chair of the Arts for Healing and Justice Network, and Board Vice President for Californians for the Arts. An adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University’s Center for Business and Management of the Arts, Leticia holds a degree in political science from Loyola Marymount University and received the 2019 Alumni Role Model Award from the LMU Latino Alumni Association. She is an urban dweller raising two children and two cats in downtown Los Angeles with her composer husband.
Edmund Velasco, CFTA Board Vice President
Vice-President, Local 7 Musicians’ Union
Orange County
Edmund Velasco has served on the Executive Board for the Orange County Musicians' Union (Local 7, American Federation of Musicians) since 2003 and was elected Vice President in 2016, where he is actively involved in advocacy activities. A native Southern Californian, he began playing saxophone at age 8 and has become recognized as one of the top saxophonists in the region. Edmund can be seen as a featured soloist with The Estrada Brothers Latin Jazz Ensemble and has recorded with the group. He is a member of the Chris Williams Quintet and has made many guest appearances with Dan Fanley, Joe LaBarbera, Tony Dumas and Ron Escheté, among others. He has also played professionally with such top names as Mel Tormé, Eddie Daniels and Ernie Andrews, to name a few. Edmund leads, directs and writes for his own quintet. He has produced multiple CDs for the group. He is on the advisory board for SanArts, an arts conservatory at Santa Ana High School in Santa Ana, CA, and he has developed several concert series for the Orange County community as both an arts outreach and educational program for aspiring musicians.
Patrick Brien, CFTA Treasurer
Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Arts Orange County
Patrick Brien has been the Executive Director of the Riverside Arts Council for the past 14 years. In addition to teaching workshops and providing private consultations throughout Riverside County, he has developed programs that include art as therapy for dementia patients and arts in corrections within the state penitentiary system. Sporting a long list of acting, directing and producing credits that span from Hawaii to Germany, Patrick ran theatre companies in various parts of the world before entering the local arts agency field. On the side, he is Founder and Artistic Director of The Gestalt Theatre Project. Besides serving on numerous local and regional boards, he also serves on the executive committee of the United States Urban Arts Federation.
Jennifer Kane, CFTA Secretary
Executive Director, Arts Connection – The Arts Council of San Bernadino County
Joshua Tree
Jennifer Kane is an artist, arts advocate, and guide from Los Angeles, CA and currently resides in Joshua Tree. Through a multidisciplinary, adaptive art practice Ms. Kane creates opportunities for communities, both embedded and momentary, to gather in unexpected environments, inspiring a deeper understanding and reconnection to self, other, and place. She proudly served in Peace Corps Thailand from 2006-2008 where she helped create a teacher training program for Thai Teachers of English in Southern Thailand, putting her CA teaching credential work to the test. Since then, she has explored the possibilities of art and education in alternative environments, working as a naturalist and guide across California from 2008-2014.
In 2016, Kane received an MFA in Public Practice from Otis College of Art and Design. Currently she serves as the Executive Director of Arts Connection – the Arts Council of San Bernardino County. She is also a contributing writer to the Mojave Project and KCET Artbound. Her paintings are held in private collection across the United States, and she still spends part of every summer guiding mountain expeditions in the Sierra.
Josiah Bruny
CEO, Music Changing Lives
Moreno Valley
Music Changing Lives (MCL) began in 1998 when CEO and Founder Josiah Bruny created a music studio in his own home in Moreno Valley CA, where he could teach young musicians how to record, and own the copyright, for their own music. After working for some of the greatest stars in the industry and learning the ins and outs of the business, Bruny was determined to open the way for the independent artist within our communities. He taught youth who are at-risk of dropping out of school, gang violence, drugs, and crime how to record and copyright their own music and offer those students pathways to entrepreneurial success, in addition to providing opportunities for emotional maturity through the creative arts. What started as a one-room studio inside Josiah’s home garage has grown into an 18,000 square foot art and creativity hub for young people ages 5 and older to help them become emotionally developed and culturally mature men and women through musical and artistic outlets.
Heather Angelina Dunn
Partner, DLA Piper LLP US, California Lawyers for the Arts
Oakland
Heather Angelina Dunn is a Partner at the law firm of DLA Piper in San Francisco. She concentrates her practice on domestic and international trademark prosecution and counseling, and enforcement programs, advertising and promotions, intellectual property and art law counseling. Trained as an artist at Rhode Island School of Design, she received her J.D. at University of San Francisco, and is a resident of Oakland. She has been associated with California Lawyers for the Arts.
Sean Fenton
Executive Director, Theatre Bay Area
San Francisco
Sean Fenton is an arts professional with over two decades of experience in the San Francisco Bay Area theatre community. As executive director of Theatre Bay Area, a service organization that supports nearly 200 theatre companies and thousands of individual theatre practitioners, he works to unite, strengthen, promote, and advance the arts across 11 counties in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. Sean has been a guest speaker and panelist for TYA/USA; a production supervisor and communications manager for Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre; a director, music supervisor, and performer for Bay Area Children’s Theatre; and a board member for Crowded Fire Theater. As the director and manager of the Intrinsic Impact program at WolfBrown, Sean co-authored a study on the audience impact of choral music concerts and provided audience research services to over 100 arts organizations around the globe, including Center Theatre Group, Cornerstone Theatre Company, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, Arts Club Theatre Company, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. He has presented at nine national arts conferences, including the Tessitura Learning & Community Conference, the Theatre Communications Group National Conference, the National Arts Marketing Project Conference, and the One Theatre World Conference. An award-winning actor, Sean has performed at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, San Francisco Playhouse, 42nd Street Moon, Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company, Community Asian Theatre of the Sierra, and more. He combines his experience as a theatre artist with expertise in research, program development, and community outreach. He is a passionate advocate for building a more equitable and inclusive theatre community that is both artistically vibrant and financially empowered. Sean holds a BA in Cultural and Social Anthropology from Stanford University and is a member of Actors' Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.
Jonathon Glus
Executive Director, City of San Diego Commission on Arts and Culture
San Diego
Prior to working in San Diego, he was the Director of Culture and Creative Economy for the City of Sacramento, CA where he led the city’s first cultural planning process in more than 20 years. Jonathon set in place an assessment of Sacramento’s film sector and an equity audit of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. Prior to Sacramento, he served as the first CEO of Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) for more than nine years. While at HAA, he worked closely with a board of more than 30, multiple committees, staff and partner agencies including VisitHouston, the Greater Houston Partnership, cultural districts and universities. Jonathon co-chaired the tourism committee of VisitHouston, partnered on multiple cultural tourism initiatives, and lead two studies on the creative economy in Houston region. He was also the chairman of the board of Texans for the Arts (TFA), a statewide arts advocacy organization. He was Executive Director of Arts & Culture for the City of Pasadena, CA where he led multiple cultural tourism initiatives and partnerships, represented that city with the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition & Festival, and led the city’s cultural planning process, in partnership with the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission. Jonathon began his career with city arts agencies in Evanston, IL, and his arts career with the International Sculpture Center, in Washington, DC where he wrote for SCULPTURE magazine and traveling exhibitions internationally. He studied urban economics and public policy at Indiana University, and art and architectural history at University of Illinois. He also studied at University of Kent, in Canterbury, England, where he focused on British urban policy.
Cara Goger
Executive Director, Mariposa County Arts Council
Mariposa
Cara Goger joined the Mariposa County Arts Council in 2012 as the Executive Director. She has over ten years of experience working in the fields of Arts Education and Arts Administration. Prior to her work at the Arts Council, Cara was the Lifespan Learning Coordinator at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego where she served as the primary artist-in-residence for the Museum’s older adult programming and as the lead instructor and curriculum developer for the organization’s School in the Park’s 5th grade program. Additionally, she has worked with the AjA Project, a non profit arts-based organization providing photography-based educational programming to refugee and displaced youth in California. Cara earned a B.A. in Political Science/Foreign Policy from Sonoma State University and a M.A. in Political Science/International Relations from San Diego State University.
Rafael González
CEO & President, Grand Performances
Los Angeles
Rafael is a proven and inclusive leader, manager and advocate driven by his core values of justice, collaboration, accountability, balance, respect, trust and innovation. Over the years, he has worked and organized in the nonprofit, government, service and philanthropic fields. This multisector experience has gifted him the skill to develop and maintain relationships with individuals from diverse disciplines and backgrounds for purposes of realizing common objectives, social impact, equity and community/systems change. Rafael is President & CEO of Grand Performances whose mission is to inspire community, celebrate diversity, and unite Los Angeles through free access to global performing arts. He previously served as Director of Community Outreach and Engagement with the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission; Director of Community Relations for First 5 LA; Director of Community Relations for the Los Angeles Dodgers; Chief Service Officer and Director of Neighborhood & Community Services for City of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Executive Director of Collective SPACE; Founder and Executive Director of Public Allies – Los Angeles; Director of Civic Education & U.S. Citizenship Project Director at the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund; Affirmative Action Campaign Coordinator at the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF); Campaign Field Director at Coalition LA & Senior Field Deputy for LA Councilmember Mike Hernandez. Rafael integrates the people’s social, political, cultural and economic context into Grand Performances’ presentations and audience experience. This framework serves as the narrative that weaves together expression, struggle and aspirations in the form of music, theatre, poetry and dance. Rafael serves on the boards of the Community Coalition, Center for Nonprofit Management and ActiveSGV. He also serves on the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Advisory Council and the City of El Monte’s Planning Commission. Rafael was born and raised in the downtown area of Los Angeles and resides in the City of El Monte. He graduated from Cal State University at Northridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chicano Studies and received his Master’s Degree from the USC Price School of Public Policy. He is married and has three sons.
Victoria L. Hamilton, CAA Board President
Board Director, Prebys Foundation
San Diego
Victoria L. Hamilton serves as the President of the California Arts Advocate and Past President Californians for the Arts. She was the Founding Director of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture where she led this nationally recognized multi-million dollar local arts agency for 24 years. At the Commission, she achieved unanimous approval of a plan for 2% for public art in capital improvement and 1% in private development as well as for the Penny for the Arts Blueprint for increased arts and culture funding. With over 30 years in the field of arts administration, she is recognized for her pioneering leadership and work on public policy, cultural tourism, grantmaking, arts advocacy and cultural diversity initiatives. Victoria has served as President of the United States Urban Arts Federation and California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies; been a grant panel member for the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, San Diego Foundation and the Sacramento Arts and Culture office and on public policy committees at state and national levels. She also serves on the board of directors of Forever Balboa Park and NTC Foundation, and is a member of the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition Steering Committee, San Diego Arts + Culture Challenge Fund and the San Diego State University Campanile Foundation Arts Committee. She has received numerous local, state and national awards for her work including the Ray Hanley Innovation Award given by the United States Urban Arts Federation for “outstanding individual contributions to arts and culture in American cities,” the Americans for the Arts Selena Roberts Ottum Award “for outstanding contributions in the local arts agency field” and the 2020 78th Assembly District Woman of Distinction as a role model in the community for professional accomplishments and leadership.
Maria Jenson,
Creative and Executive Director, SOMArts Cultural Center
San Francisco
Maria Jenson is Creative and Executive Director of SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco, California, and a pioneer within Bay Area arts and culture. Under her pivotal leadership throughout the last seven years, Jenson has expanded arts programming at San Francisco’s historic cultural center, championed diverse artists and voices, broken down hierarchical structures, and created clear pathways for Bay Area artists to cultivate new ideas and grow their careers. As an arts leader with skills of diplomacy, empathy and neutrality, Jenson has demonstrated a keen ability to create a more democratic arts and culture organization by keeping focus on the people in the center. Prior to joining SOMArts, Jenson was a key member of SFMOMA’s External Relations team during the museum’s expansion and was the Founding Director of ArtPadSF, an independent art fair in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. She is a graduate of the 2018 Getty Foundation Executive Leadership Institute, and a sought-after thought leader and speaker around art, social activism, and the role of the cultural institutions today.
Jennifer Laine
Executive Director, San Benito Arts Council
Hollister
Jennifer Laine is a passionate arts advocate and has spent the majority of her career increasing arts and cultural equity at the local, regional and state level. Jennifer holds a BA in Art History from UC Santa Cruz and a MA in Global Studies from the University of Leipzig, Germany. Since 2010, Jennifer has served as the Executive Director of the San Benito County Arts Council, a local arts agency, where she has raised millions of dollars of arts funding for her rural community, opened 3 multi-disciplinary art spaces, built the county’s largest Arts in Education Program, co-create the City of Hollister’s first Public Art Policy and developed dedicated arts programs and services for some of the county’s most under-resourced constituents, including students with disabilities, youth in corrections and economically-disadvantaged families. She works closely with the statewide Coalition of County Arts Agencies, serving on its leadership team, to increase funding and capacity for arts councils and commissions throughout the state of California. In 2022, Jennifer was part of a regional effort to bring in over $5 million in state arts funding for individual artist grants and the new California Creative Corps Program and is also working closely with the California Department of Transportation on two Clean California Highway Beautification Projects. Recently, Jennifer completed the Executive Program in Nonprofit Leadership at Stanford University, where she studied alongside Nobel Laureate, Malala Yousafzai, and in 2023, she was awarded “Woman on the Year” by incoming Speaker of the Assembly, Robert Rivas, representing District 29. Jennifer is on the Board of Directors of Californians for the Arts/California Arts Advocates, serving as Chair of the Policy Committee. She resides in Hollister, CA with her three wonderful children, Henry, Anabelle and Sam.
Lyz Luke
Executive Director, Living Jazz
Oakland
Lyz Luke a futuristic leader with over 15 years of dedicated work amplifying the intersection between arts, culture, and community empowerment. A resident of Oakland, Luke has presented concerts and events throughout the Bay Area and has worked with over 150 diverse local bands and over 2,000 local musicians. Her passion is building a stronger community through music and the arts. Lyz joined Living Jazz as Associate Director in early 2020 and was honored to step into the Executive Director role in February 2023. Luke’s performance management, production, and development background is bolstered by extensive experience nonprofit fundraising, event planning, and public relations. Lyz is known for founding the award winning series UnderCover Presents in 2010 and has since released 15 studio recorded albums and showcases as part of the series. She has also worked with Oakland Symphony, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), Embodiment Project, Red Poppy Art House, ArtSpan (SF Open Studios), AIDS Walk, The San Francisco Marathon, and others. Lyz Luke achievements include being a certified mediator, former three-term Governor on the SF Board of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs); 2017’s YBCA 100 List; East Bay Express "Best of", SF Weekly's “Best of” (2x), and SF Guardian "Best of", Grants Panelist for Oakland Cultural Funding Program and City of Denver Music Advancement Fund, 3 Mayoral Proclamations presented at UnderCover shows to Sly & The Family Stone, Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest, and Green Day, B.S. in Economics from St. John’s University, NCAA Championship ring in fencing.
Tamaira “Miss Tee” Sandifer
CEO and Founder, Studio T Arts & Entertainment / Studio T Urban Arts Academy
Sacramento
As President of Studio T Urban Dance Academy & Founder of The California's Day of Dance, Tamaira “Miss Tee” Sandifer’s heartbeat is to champion the development of every child she can to build confidence, character & a conquering spirit that believes anything in possible. She serves over 5,000 youth in school districts throughout Northern California every year through educational partnerships & enrichment programs related to physical as well as mental & emotional health. Sandifer’s mission is to instill real life skills, hope & a sense of belonging to her students. Dance is the vehicle; her choreography includes a bold coaching style that triumphantly declares to each family and school she serves: DREAM BIG. Her passionate advocacy for the arts has taken her to the State Capitol where she partners with local and national civic leaders to bring arts-inspired, socially and culturally relevant incentives to the academic day. She works closely with Assembly members to ensure the arts are available, even in communities that are starved for programs. She created the idea of The California National Day of Dance to highlight the diversity and the power of unity through creativity. Studio T produces Hollywood’s most sought after young dancers including THE 2016 winner of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, 2018 World of Dance stars, members of the Jabbawakeez Her graduates currently travel the world with artists and celebrities that include: Justin Beiber, Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Usher, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Ellen & More. You’ll see her graduates on the stages of MTV Music Awards, Nick Choice Awards, BET Awards & more.
Felicia Shaw
Executive Director, Women’s Museum of San Diego
San Diego
As Executive Director of the Women's Museum of California, Felicia oversees the day-to-day operations and long-term strategic direction of the museum located in Arts District Liberty Station. The mission of the WMC, which was founded in 1983, is to educate and inspire current generations about the experiences and contributions of women by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the evidence of those experiences. Previously, she was Executive Director, Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (Missouri) from May 2015-November 2019 where she was responsible for all phases of operations of the Regional Arts Commission, a quasi-government agency serving St Louis City and County. Duties included oversight of a $6.4 million organizational budget, a staff of 16 professional arts administrators and a board of 15 politically appointed Commissioners. Programs included four competitive grantmaking programs, special initiatives, and community partnerships. The Regional Arts Commission serves as a convener, advocate and resource to the nonprofit arts and culture community. Its headquarters features an art gallery, performing arts studio and meeting rooms for nonprofit use. From 2007 to 2014, she was the Director of Arts and Creative Economy at The San Diego Foundation, and from 1995 to 2007, she served as Program Manager for the City of San Diego Commission on Arts and Culture.
Dalouge Smith, CAA Treasurer
CEO, The Lewis Prize for Music
San Diego
Dalouge Smith joined The Lewis Prize for Music as its first CEO in August 2018. Previously, he led San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory (SDYS) as President and CEO for over 13 years. At SDYS, he transformed the organization into a community instigator for restoring and strengthening music education in schools and expanded the range of work to include music and cognition research and school district partnerships. This resulted in Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD), California’s largest K-6 district returning music and arts education to all 45 of its campuses and all 29,000 of its students. CVESD now has over 90 visual and performing arts teachers after fifteen years with zero.
Dalouge's has been profiled by the The Atlantic, BBC, Huffington Post, National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Education Partnership/Education Commission of the States, NAMM Foundation, Grantmakers for the Arts, Americans for the Arts, League of American Orchestras, Board Source, California School Board Association, and California Alliance for Arts Education. San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory received the 2011 Kaleidoscope Award for Exceptional Governance from University of San Diego, the 2012 national Grand Prize Prudential Leadership Award for Exceptional Nonprofit Boards from Board Source. and the 2015 Yale Music School Award for Excellence in Music Education.
Dalouge serves as Vice President of El Sistema USA and is past Vice President of California Arts Advocates and was founding President of Californians for the Arts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA, studied Gandhi’s non-violent political movement for a year in India, and grew up singing Irish folk songs at family gatherings around his grandfather’s piano.
Nurit Siegel Smith
Executive Director, Music Forward Foundation
Los Angeles
Nurit Siegel Smith is a social sector executive and creative strategist dedicated to developing and advancing sustainable organizations that positively impact the world around us. She has spent the past two decades in roles in arts and entertainment non-profits at the intersection of education, performance, and philanthropy. With extensive knowledge of the social and entertainment industry sectors, she has held positions within varied organizations including Blue Man Group, Highways Performance Space, SAG-AFTRA Foundation, and Grand Performances. She is Executive Director of Music Forward Foundation, a national 501c3 organization part of the Live Nation Entertainment family with a mission to transform young lives, inspire careers and champion a more inclusive music industry. Music Forward recognizes that a diverse, inclusive music and live entertainment industry is critical to ensuring its vitality and evolution and it is driven to create equity by removing barriers to entry and increasing access and opportunity for under-resourced communities, with a focus on young women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color), LGBTQIA+, and marginalized youth. Her work at Music Forward also entails managing the global relief fund Crew Nation which has granted $17M to music crew members around the world since 2020. Raised in Los Angeles, CA, she is a UC Berkeley dance and theater graduate; her work as a performer and creator has been seen on TV, film and on stages across the country.
Usha Srinivasan
Co-Founder, Mosaic America
San Jose
Usha Srinivasan is a cultural innovator and strategist who co-founded Mosaic America. Under her leadership, Mosaic has expanded its programming footprint to six Bay Area cities, activating public spaces with authentically inclusive cultural experiences such as the award-winning Mosaic Festival Silicon Valley held in East San José. Usha is the visionary behind the Mosaic Atlas project, the first of its kind asset mapping of culturally distinct communities in the Greater Bay Area. Usha is a Senior Fellow at American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley. She is a founding steering committee member of San José Arts Advocates and a member of Cultural New Deal SV. An alumna of Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute, Usha has served on the Cultural Commission of the City of Santa Clara and was selected by Knight Foundation as a Creative Community Fellow in 2016. Prior to founding Mosaic America, Usha worked in the hi-tech industry for nearly fifteen years. She holds an MS in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Eliza Tudor, CAA Secretary
Executive Director, Nevada County Arts Council
Grass Valley
Eliza Tudor's experience as an arts leader spans the visual, literary and performing arts across three continents. From producing film and theatre in Australia, to opera, Ancient Greek theatre and ballet in the Sierra, Eliza then moved to the UK to complete her MA in Cultural Policy. Working as Senior Commissioner for the UK's National Health Service in one of London's most deprived areas, she then worked as Senior Development Executive – Arts & Humanities at the University of Oxford, while also serving on the Board of Trustees of Magdalen Road Studios and Rosetta Life – working nationally through the arts with people suffering life limiting illnesses. Eliza returned in February 2015 to direct Yuba Sutter Arts, then in 2016 accepted the role of Executive Director with Nevada County Arts Council. This implied simultaneous overview of three counties under California Arts Council's State-Local Partnership Program. Since late 2016 Eliza has focused solely on Nevada County Arts Council, in 2017 gaining state recognition for Nevada County through consulting two successful applications for California Cultural District designation. She currently sits on the board of directors for both California Arts Advocates and Californians for the Arts, and in late 2018 was recognized for her outstanding leadership by the California Senate, Congress and Assembly.
Megan Van Voorhis
Director of Convention & Cultural Services, City of Sacramento
Sacramento
Megan Van Voorhis grew up in Flint, Michigan. She received a BFA in dance, Magna Cum Laude with Distinction, from The Ohio State University in 1998. Van Voorhis began her professional career at the Royal George Theatre Center in Chicago, Illinois. She returned to Ohio in 2001 to pursue an MBA at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. In 2003, Van Voorhis joined the staff of Arts Cleveland (then Community Partnership for Arts and Culture). She ended her 17-year tenure with the organization in September 2020 as President and CEO. Throughout that tenure, Van Voorhis established a strong record in public policy and advocacy – securing wins such as a dedicated revenue stream for arts and culture and revisions to an oppressive admissions tax that was negatively impacting independent live music venues. Other achievements include a decade of work to elevate the role of arts and culture in neighborhood development and health and human services. After being hired as the City’s Creative Economy Manager in 2020, Van Voorhis was recently promoted to the Director of Convention & Cultural Services where she is responsible for preserving and promoting the cultural life of the city and a vibrant, just creative and tourism economy.
Bridget Cantu Wear
Associate Director of Development, Strategic Partnerships
The Old Globe Theatre
San Diego
Bridget Cantu Wear is the Associate Director of Development, Strategic Partnerships at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. She began her career at the theatre in 1983, after graduating from Yale University with a BA in History of Art. Bridget is well known in the Point Loma community for founding the free summer Point Loma Concert Series in 2000 which is now raising over $150,000 annually for local public school music programs. Her volunteer work included serving as Point Loma’s Pack 546 Committee Chair, (Cub Scouts), Elder at PL Community Presbyterian Church, Co-Chair of High Tech High Parent Association, Volunteer at Correia Junior High, co-chairing the Peninsula Ryan YMCA Capital Campaign, with her husband Byron Wear, former Councilmember of the City of San Diego, District 2. Bridget is the granddaughter of Colonel Esteban Cantu, first governor of Baja California, Mexico and her affection for Mexico has helped shaped her interest and support of multi-cultural inclusion in every part of California’s social fabric. Her professional and volunteer work has brought much joy and happiness to her life over many decades.