Community Capacity Building Nonprofit Professional

I am a Community Capacity Building nonprofit professional with experience in program design and strategy, ecosystem building, and art programming. I’m passionate about advocating for communities of color, women, queer, and poor working-class folks that have historically been on the margins. I’ve devoted much of my research and expertise to teams that enhance on-the-ground storytelling, arts, and community engagement to strengthen equity amongst large metropolitan areas from the East Coast to Mississippi. With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Studies & Production and African American studies from Temple University, I have consistently made it my goal to tie in art creation and curation with collaborative problem-solving. I enjoy working with teams of people, mentoring high school students in film and directly servicing underserved communities. I also live for live soul music, roller skating, cycling and film.

With a decade of experience in the design field, Ámbar holds a BFA in Design & Digital Arts from the School of Fine Arts & Design of Puerto Rico (Escuela de Artes Plásticas & Diseño de Puerto Rico), graduating as Summa Cum Laude. Ámbar has been recognized with grants from organizations such as the Luis A. Ferré Foundation (Fundación Luis A Ferré) and Seguros Múltiples of Puerto Rico. She has also earned several awards, including the People’s Choice Award from the Collective Exhibition “El Bizarro” during the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest. One of her artworks is featured in the Contemporary Puerto Rican Art Collection (Colección de Arte Puertorriqueño Contemporáneo). Her work has been displayed in respected galleries like Exhibixiones del Plata, Lorenzo Homar Gallery (Galería Lorenzo Homar) at the School of Fine Arts & Design of Puerto Rico, and the Museum of the Americas at the Ballajá Barracks (Museo Las Américas, Cuartel de Ballajá). She received the Audience Choice award at the 2021 Circus International Film Festival for her work in Sound Mixing and Film Editing on the short film “Isla Bonita Circus Tour” for the National Circus School of Puerto Rico. For a duration of two years, Ámbar served on the Faculty of the International School of Design & Architecture (Escuela Internacional de Diseño y Arquitectura) within the SUAGM (Sistema Universitario Ana. G. Méndez). Ámbar is also part of The Currier Collective board from the Currier Museum of Art, where she advocates for the recognition of diversity and culture in Manchester, New Hampshire. She currently works at BOLD as a Product Designer focusing on UI/UX and visual branding.

Discipline: Multidisciplinary

Citizen of Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians 

Amber Kay Ball, born in Portland, Oregon, is a theatre maker, visual artist, and community-based advocate. As a contemporary Native multi-practice artist, Ball uses theatre, multimedia, and beadwork to share stories, truths, laughter, and joy. These mediums allow them to critically explore, honor, and weave Native pasts, presents, and futures through a just and liberated methodology.

Ball is a co-founder of Native Playwrights PDX and has showcased work with Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Untitled Native Project, Alternative Theatre Company’s Bridging Turtle Island Theatre Festival, and as co-director of The Nut, The Hermit, The Crow and The Monk at New Native Theatre. Their play, Finding BigFoot, was selected for Fertile Ground PDX’s New Play Festival and premiered as a staged reading at Barbies Village.

Ball is a Miller Foundation Spark Awardee, a PICA PDX Precipice Fund Awardee, a recipient of the Indigenous Place Keeping Artist Fellowship through the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Community Mentor Award from Southern Oregon University’s Native American Studies Department.

American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Discipline: Humanities

View Website

AMP Concerts

Amy June is the artist, activist and seed keeper behind Bluejacket Handcraft and Good Way Farm in Lawrence, KS. She also serves as Land Relations Specialist at the Land Institute, engaging in the cultural piece of agriculture. She was born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area and relocated to Kansas in 2023, making her new home on Kaw, Osage and Kickapoo territories. While rooted heavily in photography, she enjoys a multidisciplinary approach to applied research and craft. Her work is largely informed by her mixed heritage as an enrolled member of the Eastern Shawnee Nation of Oklahoma and queer identity. Her work addresses themes of racial and social justice, Indigenous self-determination and food sovereignty.

Amy Le Ann Richardson is a writer, educator and advocate from Carter County, Kentucky, where she lives and works on her multi-generational family farm. Rooted in Appalachia, her writing explores place, resilience, motherhood and people’s connection to the land. She is the author of three poetry collections—“Make Believe Worlds We Built Together,” “Who You Grow Into” and “Out of Places”—and editor of the forthcoming “Rooted, Resilient, Rising: Women Growing Food across the Mountains.”

Her work has appeared in Still: The Journal, Appalachian Journal, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel and Kentucky Monthly. She holds a bachelor’s in English from Morehead State University and an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University, and has received grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.

Through teaching and community workshops, Richardson works to expand literary access and amplify women’s voices in Appalachian communities. She leads the Bloodroot Writers Collective, a youth-centered literary initiative fostering creative voice and place-based belonging across eastern Kentucky.

Discipline: Multidisciplinary

I was born and raised on the island of Guam. I’ve been an Elementary ESL teacher for 28 years. My hobby is dot painting Guam landscapes and symbols representing the indigenous Chamorro culture. I desire to promote the Chamorro culture through art and share my love of dot painting and art in general with my students.

Anchorage Concert Association

Hakeem Furious (Andre Carbonell) is a wordsmith from Jacksonville, Florida, with roots in the Rocky Mountains. He graduated from a Southern performing arts high school as a theater major and developed a passion for words through the spoken word community at Florida A&M University, a historically Black college and university that deepened his understanding, appreciation, and preservation of Black culture and resilience.

Currently, he travels the country performing poetry and comedy, curating shows, and writing curriculum and grants as CEO of the #UltraTerrestrialTour.

Program Manager- Artists of Color Accelerate Fellowship, The 224 EcoSpace

Andre Rochester is a Fine Artist from the Greater Hartford region of Connecticut. He studied illustration at the University of Connecticut: School of Fine Arts and completed his BA in Studio Art at Charter Oak State College. He also earned a MS in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University. His preferred medium is acrylic painting. Andre uses his art to make statements for which words are not enough, highlighting the underlying emotions connected to the subject. It is a combination of portraiture and conceptual works connected by narratives of his personal experiences. At a young age, art became a tool for healing and catalyst for connection. It developed into a way for Andre to let people know they are not alone in this journey through life.

In addition to working as a Fine Art Painter, Muralist, and Teaching Artist, Andre is the Program Manager for the Artists of Color Accelerate Fellowship. He is a board member at Windsor Art Center in Windsor, CT where he is the Curatorial Chair, board member at the Connecticut Arts Alliance, and Board Elector at Wadsworth Atheneum. He has also served on the City of Hartford Commission on Cultural Affairs (2014-2015). Andre also assists emerging artists with portfolio development, curation, and consultation for exhibits. He encourages young artists to develop their craft without losing focus on learning professionalism and business acumen. He believes that with every step forward, we must clear a path for others to join us.

Deputy Director of Operations & Strategic Partnerships, Indiana Arts Commission

André Zhang Sonera joined the Indiana Arts Commission in July 2022 as Deputy Director of Operations and Strategic Partnerships. Originally from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, André received his Master in Public Affairs in Policy Analysis from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University in 2021. His previous work experiences at the White House, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations, the Office of the Indiana Lt. Governor, and the City of Indianapolis Mayor’s Office have nurtured his passion for public service and government.

In his spare time, he proudly serves as a Big Brother for BBBS of Central Indiana and sits on the IndyHub Foundation Boards of Directors.