Team
Lisa Willis, Executive Director
Lisa Willis is a passionate artistic administrator with 20 years of experience managing multi-disciplinary projects in the non-profit and commercial arts sectors. She has held various consulting and management roles in development, programming, and operations for New York Live Arts, home of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Contemporaneous, Thresh, Heidi Latsky Dance, Brian Sanders’ JUNK, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Mann, and JazzReach. In 2020 she co-founded The LynList, a curated listserv and grant writing support service for NYC area individual artists and small non-profit arts groups.
Prior to her shift into fundraising, she was the founding Operations Manager for CAMI Music, establishing and managing its daily administrative protocols in addition to overseeing the touring and managerial logistics for Lang Lang, Tan Dun, Savion Glover, American Ballet Theatre, Cirque Eloize, and the Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández. Lisa holds a B.A. in Music Composition and Theory from New York University and a background of training in ballet and modern dance
Photo credit: Nicholas Nichols
Dante Micheaux, Director of Programs
Dante Micheaux is the author of Amorous Shepherd and Circus, which won the Four Quartets Prize from the Poetry Society of America and the T. S. Eliot Foundation. His poems and translations have appeared in African American Review; The American Poetry Review; Callaloo; Literary Imagination; Poem-A–Day;
Photo credit: Nicholas Nichols
Adonis Brown, Programs Coordinator
Adonis (formerly Alex) Brown is a freelance Editor and workshop facilitator, with a background in teaching, communications, administration, & events planning. He holds a BA in American Literature from New York University and an MFA in Fiction from Brooklyn College. He has taught English Literature and Creative Writing, led workshops on recreational activities for young girls of color in New York City, and is a former Editor. Born and raised in East New York, Brooklyn, Adonis’ writing explores bodies and institutions.
Photo credit: Nicholas Nichols
NZ Hazelton (née Tyehemba), Operations Manager
NZ Hazelton (née Tyehemba) received her Bachelor’s in Black Studies from Amherst College and obtained her Master’s in Adolescent Special Education from the City University of New York – Hunter College. NZ is a daughter of the late midwife-activist, Nonkululeko Alouwa Tyehemba.
Photo credit: Nicholas Nichols
Morgan Maben, Communications & Engagement Coordinator
Morgan Maben is a photographer and video artist from Memphis, Tennessee. She has a B.A. in Studio Art and Sociology from Wesleyan University. Her professional background is in teaching and arts production. Prior to working at Cave Canem, she taught film classes to elementary schoolers, co-managed a fine arts printing studio, and supervised a darkroom. Her creative work is preoccupied with grief and the Black archive. She is a proud resident of Brooklyn, New York.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Nichols
Artspool
Jay Grant, Workforce Administrator
Diana Bilbao, Financial Maintenance
Max Dana, Technology Development & Operations
Khalilah Smith, Financial Operations
ElevenThirtySix
Ayofemi Kirby, Principal Strategist
Flower Effect
Ashlee Johnson, Co-Founder
Taylor Blackston, Co-Founder
HSH Consulting LLC
Hallie S. Hobson, Strategic Consultant
Vanguard Archives Consulting
Jessica C. Neal, Archivist
Ashlee Willaman, HR advisor
Javeria Hasnain, Programs Assistant
Bryanna Bradley, Executive Assistant