ZEAD RAMADAN A product of Washington Heights, Zead Ramadan has always advocated for the arts in his Northern Manhattan communities. Through his leadership and advocacy during his tenure as chair of WaHI Community Board 12 (2002-2004), the Uptown Arts Stroll was born. As the CB12 representative on the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone board of directors, he helped secure over $1.2M in funding leading to the creation of the umbrella arts organization to serve artists and arts groups, later known as the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (“NoMAA”) now in its 17th year. As NoMAA’s founding chairperson, Zead helped bring together a formerly disconnected arts scene; created grants opportunities for individual artists and arts organizations; helped open galleries; was awarded prestigious prizes from the National Endowment of the Arts and Union Square Arts; and assumed the management of the Uptown Arts Stroll, now in its 22nd year. Zead often says that he is most proud of the first resolution he passed as community board chair, which demanded that all tax-funded NYC maps include Washington Heights and Inwood, ensuring that our beautiful arts institutions were forever represented.

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VERONICA SANTIAGO LIU is a writer, editor, bookseller, and arts organizer. She is a founder and the general coordinator of the 40-person collective that operates Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria, which started as a pop-up at the Uptown Arts Stroll 13 years ago, and Recirculation, which started 3.5 years ago as a community book and music space to honor a former Word Up collective member who passed away from COVID. Veronica has cofounded an online radio station and a micropress, and has received individual grants for writing, the development of an arts and music fair, a video series, and various publishing projects. She is currently an editor-at-large at Seven Stories Press, where she worked as managing then senior editor for more than a decade. Her writing, comics, and photography have been published in Broken Pencil, Mom Egg, Quick Fiction, In/Context, and other journals and zines.

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RAFAELA GOMEZ LUNA  (AKA Rafaela Luna) is a Dominican-born multidisciplinary artist and educator. She moved to NYC in July 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Advertising, Creativity and Management from The Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She earned her master’s degree in Art Education from City College and holds a Certification in Cultural Management and Development, AEICID-CCE , and an Associate’s in Visual Arts from The National School of Fine Arts of Santo Domingo with a specialization in painting. In 2021, she earned an associate degree in Publicity Art from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo where she was also a fellow recipient of the DEAR-CCCADI prize. In 2023, Luna served as a Mentor for the Immigrant Artist Program of New York Foundation for the Arts, NY sharing her experiences as an artist with the immigrant artist community.

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SARINA PRABASI is a native of Nepal, spening her formative years in India, China, the United States and Ethiopia. In 2011 Sarina and husband Elias moved from Addis Ababa to Washington Heights, and founded Buunni Coffee. Prior to Buunni, Sarina had a career in international development, including serving as the CEO of WaterAid America, and Deputy Chief of Programs for Orbis International. Sarina’s memoir, The Coffeehouse Resistance, delves into the history of coffee houses as sites of community building and activism, and charts her family’s move from Ethiopia to New York. Sarina has served on the boards of the Specialty Coffee Association, the People’s Theatre Project, and Helvetas.

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CAMILLE JOSEPH-GOLDMAN is the Group Vice President for Charter Communications, where she oversees government affairs in the northeastern United States from Harlem to Bangor, Maine. Previously, she worked in government for more than a decade, serving as U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Special Advisor & Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. She was appointed New York City’s youngest Deputy Comptroller for Public Affairs. Camille got her start in politics serving as a field organizer for then-Senator Barack Obama and later went on to become a Deputy Director on President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Camille is deeply committed to the communities she works in and has the pleasure of proudly serving on the board of the National Action Network, Buffalo Niagara Partnership, The Lower Eastside Girls Club, Eleanor’s Legacy and as a trustee for the Citizen’s Budget Commission of New York City.

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JAZZ POWER INITIATIVE is a community-based non-profit with the mission to transform lives through jazz music, arts education and performance. Located in Inwood since its founding in 2003, Jazz Power now serves thousands of New Yorkers and visitors annually – students, teachers, artists, seniors and general audiences, ages 6-80+.  Led by its Managing and Artistic Director, co-founder Dr. Eli Yamin, Jazz Power’s multidisciplinary training and performance opportunities are provided to hundreds of New York City youth each year from every economic and social milieu at low or no cost to families, and in schools across Northern Manhattan. By centering African American, Caribbean and Latin American jazz music and artists throughout all its programming, Jazz Power Initiative connects with, and contributes to, a more vibrant and inclusive community for all.

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HARLEM STAGE is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas. We stand proudly and fearlessly at the intersection of art and social justice. For 40 years our singular mission has been to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for visionary artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts.  We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve. Our education programs serve over 2,300 New York City schoolchildren each year.