Createquity kicked off 2016 by adding capacity in our research, operations and graphic design function areas, thanks to three new team members. Over the past few months, Salem Tsegaye has authored a research Spotlight article and helped bring our reader poll to life, Benzamin Yi has contributed infographics and helped shape our visual identity as our first in-house designer, and Katy Coy has tightened up our business operations and spearheaded a new production calendar for our growing team of twelve. Please give these folks a warm welcome!
Katy Coy is the executive director of the Association of Arts Administration Educators. As the organization’s first full-time leader, she has grown membership, created a variety of new strategic partnerships, and increased the scope and impact of the organization’s annual conference. Previously, Katy was the Chief Communications Officer of eTech Ohio, a stage agency dedicated to funding and implementing educational technology initiatives statewide. Katy has held leadership positions with the Columbus Symphony, The University of Chicago’s Music Performance Program, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and more. She previously served as Treasurer of the board at Wild Goose Creative (Columbus, OH). Katy holds a BA in arts administration from Western Michigan University and an MFA in Arts Leadership from DePaul University.
Salem Tsegaye works at The New York Community Trust, a community foundation, managing two collaborative funds: the New York City Cultural Agenda Fund, which supports cultural advocacy, policy, and equity in the city, and the Fund for New Citizens, which supports immigrant rights advocacy, immigration legal services, and capacity building for immigrant-led nonprofits. She previously worked as a grant writer for the Queens Museum and as an arts philanthropy fellow for The Trust. Formerly, Salem coordinated training and technical assistance and capacity-building programs for small and mid-size nonprofits in Washington D.C. She holds an MA in Design Studies from Parsons The New School for Design and a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Duke University.
Benzamin Yi is a freelance graphic designer and communications consultant based in NYC. Previously, he was the Communications Associate at the Democracy Collaborative (formerly part of the University of Maryland), a Washington-based political economics think tank focused on democratizing ownership of wealth. During his time there, he designed many infographics simplifying complex economic models and striking data points on the inequality of wealth in America that have been published in various media outlets such as the Huffington Post, Alternet, Cooperative Business Journal, AFL-CIO, MIT CoLab, Shareable, and Upworthy. He is also the co-author of a report on the state of student activism and university relations in helping to build community wealth in its surrounding neighborhoods, titled Raising Student Voices (2013). He holds a BA in Philosophy with minors in Political Science and Environmental Analysis & Design from the University of California, Irvine.
Cover image credit: “Applause” by Thomas Quine, via Flickr Creative Commons