2015 WESTAF Cohort

Lauren Benetua is an experienced community organizer and cultural leader. She has had the pleasure of working with arts and social justice organizations from across the Bay Area spanning from San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Santa Cruz. She currently serves as a community catalyst for OF/BY/FOR ALL, equipping cultural and civic institutions around the globe to build more equitable and just futures with their communities. 

Follow: @laurenbenetua (FB, IG, Twitter). Linkedin

Affiliations: Emerging Arts Professionals, Kalingafornia Laga Weaving Circle,San Francisco Kulintang Project and People of Coloring 

Skills & Interests: 

Mariko Chang is the major gifts manager at Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit journalism organization in Hawai‘i. Prior to Civil Beat, Mariko worked in the arts and culture field and held positions at the Hawai‘i Theatre Center, Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. She is a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Chang graduated from the University of Redlands with a bachelor’s degree in fine art and Asian studies and received her graduate degree in museum studies and business from John F. Kennedy University. 

Follow: @marikolc, https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariko-chang-2851b122/ 

Affiliations: Association of Fundraising Professionals (board member)

Skills & Interests: Ocean sports – swimming, surfing, and diving.

Amir Jackson is a father, military veteran, community organizer, activist, and the founder and director of Nurture the Creative Mind, a not-for-profit that empowers and establishes self-value in youth through the vehicle of creativity. Through his work with Nurture the Creative Mind, Jackson has positively impacted more than 20,000 young people and has received more than 26 awards, including two Ogden Mayor’s Awards, the Newman Civic Fellows Award, the Red Cross Hero’s Recognition Award, and the Weber State University Salutes Award. Jackson is also a TEDx fellow, former TEDx project manager, co-founder and inaugural president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Washington State University (WSU) Chapter, current board member of the Utah Cultural Alliance, WSU alumni board, and WESTAF’s Equity and Inclusion Committee. He has also been recognized by the state of Utah as a Change Leader.

Follow: www.Facebook.com/NurturetheCreativeMind; https://www.facebook.com/amir.jackson

Affiliations: Nurture the Creative Mind Founder/Director Dia De Los Muertos Ogden; Director Ogden Arts Festival; President Weber State University Alumni Association; Board Member ACLU; Board member 

Skills & Interests: Community building, record collecting, photography/videography, creative writing, boxing, shooting, axe making, wood chopping, gardening, home projects, and cooking.

Candace Kita is a cultural worker committed to elevating the stories of people of color. She currently serves as cultural strategy director at the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), where she directs grassroots arts festivals, narrative shift campaigns, and original artistic commissions by Asian and Pacific Islander artists. In her spare time, she dabbles in dance and consults as a radical astrologer at www.astroradicals.com.

Follow: www.apano.org, www.astroradicals.com, @candissimo @astroradicals

Affiliations:

Skills & Interests: Astrology, dance, visual art, and public art.

Janae De La Virgen is the office and culture operations coordinator at regional nonprofit arts organization WESTAF, where she works across programs. A key area of focus includes her work with the Call for Entry and ZAPPlication programs through tasks and activities that aid in customer service and client retention, and coordinating special projects for the Public Art Archive program, such as the design of client communication and marketing materials and assistance with the creation and documentation of business workflows. De La Virgen also supports WESTAF’s human resources and finance teams, ensuring the office functions on a day-to-day level and focusing on improvements that can be made throughout the organization. De La Virgen previously served as a team member of Independent Music on Tour (IMTour™), a grant program that matched independent musicians with nonprofit presenters in the West; the administrator for Arts for Colorado, a nonpartisan, statewide advocacy organization; a member of the Music Task Force, a collective of music industry professionals dedicated to supporting the development of Denver’s independent music scene through the Denver Music Summit; and an Artist Committee member for PlatteForum, an organization that supports contemporary artists and underserved youth. She currently serves on the Denver Music Advisory Panel, a panel that supports the development and implementation of the Denver Music Strategy and the Denver Music Advancement Fund led by Denver Arts and Venues. De La Virgen holds a bachelor’s degree in music business from the University of Colorado Denver and acts as an artist manager to musical acts in Denver.

Follow: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janae-delavirgen

Affiliations: Denver Music Advisory Panel

Skills & Interests: Artist management for local musical acts.