Creative West Announces Expanded Alliances, Advocacy, and Public Policy Team to Strengthen Regional Impact

Creative West is excited to announce a strategic expansion and portfolio evolution within its Alliances, Advocacy, and Public Policy (AAP) department. Designed to better serve state arts agencies, regional advocacy networks, and cultural leaders across Creative West’s 16 states and jurisdictions, the restructured department introduces two new team members joining October 2026.

As public sector dynamics and community needs evolve, Creative West’s Alliances, Advocacy, and Public Policy team is advancing a departmental structure focused on four core portfolios:

• Regional Networks & State Agency Support: Deepening engagement across State Arts Agency (SAA) staff networks and professional development initiatives.
• State Policy & Research: Delivering technical assistance, policy research, state legislative tracking, and data-driven trend analysis.
• Advocacy Capacity Building: Elevating regional arts advocacy through state advocacy network coordination and shared resource development.
• Improving Strategic Sector Alignment: Ensuring regional policy strategies align across state arts agencies, advocacy organizations, federal coalitions, and national arts policy initiatives.

Welcoming New AAP Team Members

Joining Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs Cynthia Chen and Manager of State Agency Networks and Impact Cameron Green, Creative West is thrilled to welcome Carissa Gutierrez and Phoebe Aguiar to the team starting October 2026:

Carissa Gutierrez | Public Policy and Administration Specialist

Carissa serves as the technical policy lead across Creative West’s 16 states and jurisdictions, overseeing legislative tracking, optimizing public affairs systems architecture, and advising the State Arts Agency Executive Director Network. A dynamic cultural professional bilingual in English and Spanish, Carissa brings extensive public affairs experience, having previously served as Director of Public Affairs at the California Arts Council, Cultural Funding Coordinator for the City of Oakland, Executive Director of the Latino Center of Art and Culture, and a Sacramento Arts and Creative Economy Commissioner. She holds a B.A. in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from UC Berkeley, is a National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Leadership Institute Fellow, and serves on the boards of La Familia Counseling Center and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis.

Phoebe Aguiar | Manager of Advocacy Capacity Building

Phoebe serves as an operational anchor for advocacy across Creative West’s region, managing the Western Arts Advocacy Network (WAAN), developing regional resources, and tracking federal cultural agency appropriations. Based in Clark, Colorado, Aguiar brings extensive experience in legislative analysis, program design, and grassroots organizing aimed at connecting communities directly to public resources. Her background spans policy roles at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, co-authoring state climate resilience reports, consulting for the U.S. Department of Justice, and six years of management and organizing in the outdoor industry. Phoebe holds an M.P.A. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and a B.A. from Macalester College, where she was a national champion track and field athlete. Deeply rooted in her creative and civic community, she is active in her local arts community in Northwest Colorado and volunteers as an EMT and firefighter.

Connecting with the AAP Team

Whether you are a regional State Arts Agency leader seeking policy research, an arts advocate looking for resources, or an arts sector partner exploring a policy initiative, our Alliances, Advocacy, and Public Policy team aims to support you:

• Department Strategy & Strategic Partnerships: Cynthia Chen, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs
• State Agency Networks & Resources: Cameron Green, Manager of State Agency Networks and Impact
• State Policy Research & Technical Assistance: Carissa Gutierrez, Public Policy and Administration Specialist
• Regional Advocacy Networks & Resources: Phoebe Aguiar, Manager of Advocacy Capacity Building
• Creative West Executive & Institutional Leadership: Christian Gaines, President & CEO

“I am so excited to embark on this next chapter of the Alliances, Advocacy, and Public Policy team” said Cynthia Chen, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs. “With Carissa and Phoebe joining Cameron and myself, Creative West is better positioned to deepen our technical policy assistance, elevate state and federal advocacy, and build public support for the arts. By bridging effective public administration with grassroots advocacy, we will work to ensure the arts are recognized, resourced, and sustained as an essential part of public life and public good.”

Both new team members will undergo onboarding starting October 2026, during which existing AAP leadership will support seamless program delivery across regional networks.