Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Madeleine and Jeff reflect on the place of the arts in creating systemic and policy-based change. Jeff interviews Thanh Bui, live from the World Alliance for Arts Education’s Virtual World Summit, to discuss his work breaking down the barriers of access to arts learning and building an arts education ecosystem in Vietnam. Together, Madeleine and Jeff discuss the scalability and replicability of this work.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Please download the transcript here.

ABOUT THANH BUI : An award-winning Australian-Vietnamese singer-songwriter, with numerous gold records and Number 1 hit songs around the world to his name. Upon returning to Vietnam in 2011, he established himself as one of the leading artists in the country but more notably, Thanh has won the hearts of the people through his passion for raising the awareness of the importance of music and the arts, education in particular, and education in general, to develop a new generation of Vietnamese children. Thanh has been on the forefront of leading social change through his Ambassadorships with the United Nations, Wilderness Foundation, Wild-Aid, and more. He believes that the arts is a very powerful medium to push change. Thanh's passion has seen him build an eco-system, from grassroots to industry, to support the arts in Vietnam - from education, to arts/culture, to media, he hopes to shape Vietnam's future through the arts.

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit [blog link] and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Rachael and Jeff share how they connected two years ago. Jeff interviews Dan Baron Cohen, live from the World Alliance for Arts Education’s Virtual World Summit, to discuss his work in theatre-based eco-pedagogy. Rachael and Jeff break down the interview through the lens of “creative justice.”

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ABOUT DAN BARON COHEN: A community performance educator and eco-cultural activist of Welsh-Quebecois origin, living in the Brazilian Amazonian city of Marabá. After doctoral research in Oxford University, Dan collaborated with young people in post-industrial and conflicted communities at risk in northern England, South Wales and the North of Ireland. In 1998, a visiting professorship launched collaborations with landless, indigenous, trade-union and university communities across Brazil. His past 24 years have been dedicated to developing 'transformance pedagogies' in African, Asian, American and European communities. Since 2008, Dan has developed cultural action, citizen security, solar power, literacy circles and medicinal plant gardens in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco, recycling awards into scholarships for nurturing young performance education activists and collectives. Dan contributed to the Latin America Arts for Transformation Network and World Social Forum (2001-12) and was president of the International Drama-Education Association and World Alliance for Arts Education (2006-10).

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Ashraf and Jeff share their most recent adventures. Ashraf interviews David Holland and Randy Engstrom about a recent “Creative Vitality Summit” and interrogates the role of young creatives in the future of the creative economy. Jeff and Ashraf discuss the implications of this work, reclaiming the terminology, and the power in ceding power.

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Transcript located here.

ABOUT DAVID HOLLAND:  The deputy director at WESTAF. Since joining WESTAF, he has co-directed the inaugural Creative Vitality™ Summit; authored “Creative Economies and Economic Recovery;” co-led the redesign of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Performing Arts Discovery program in collaboration with regional and national partners; established the Western Arts Advocacy Network; collaborated on developing new equity-focused relief grantmaking programs in the West and the Northern Mariana Islands; spearheaded WESTAF’s Arts and the Rural West and Arts Leadership and Advocacy Seminars; and secured private and public investment for WESTAF’s programs. Holland’s prior roles include leadership and senior management positions with the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation, VCU School of the Arts, ART 180, the Latin Ballet of Virginia, Arts & Business, and the UK innovation foundation Nesta. Holland began his career with BOP Consulting, a global consultancy on culture and the creative industries, leading projects for public agencies, universities, and international organizations as a senior consultant. For more than 12 years, he has also offered his services as an independent management consultant, working primarily in the arts and culture field internationally. 

RANDY ENGSTROM: A passionate advocate and organizer of cultural and community development for over 15 years.  He is currently the owner and principal of Third Way Creative, a consulting practice focused on cultural policy, racial equity, and creative economy. He is also Adjunct Faculty at the Seattle University Arts Leadership Program where he teaches cultural policy, advocacy, and resource development. Most recently he served as Director of the Office of Arts and Culture for the City of Seattle where he expanded their investments in granting programs and Public Art, while establishing new programs and policies in arts education, cultural space affordability, and racial equity. He served on the Seattle Arts Commission from 2005-2011, serving one year as Chair. Previously he served as the Founding Director of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, a multimedia/multidisciplinary community space that offers youth and community member’s access to arts, technology, and cultural resources. Prior to Youngstown, Randy spent 3 years as the Founding CEO of Static Factory Media, an artist development organization that owned and operated a record label, bar/performance venue, graphic design house, recording studio, and web development business. In 2009 Randy received the Emerging Leader Award from Americans for the Arts and was one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. 

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? co-host Jeff M. Poulin introduces a new type of format for the podcast featuring interviews with two practitioners working towards a common goal: Amanda Masterpaul and Mytoan Nguyen-Akbar. Both Amanda and Mytoan focus pieces of their work on arts education projects with young people experiencing unstable housing. They share two perspectives, one as a teaching artist and one as a project evaluator, and encourage future dialogues about this type of work.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Please download the transcript here. 

ABOUT AMANDA MASTERPAUL: 

Amanda Masterpaul is a participatory theatre artist, activist, and educator dedicated to weaving social justice, cultural organizing, anti-racism, and critical consciousness into the everyday lived experience. Amanda is a Teaching Associate at Coastal Carolina University, specializing in Applied Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed practices in addition to teaching Women's and Gender Studies. Throughout her career, she has organized alongside various civic engagement and community-centered efforts in areas such as houselessness, gender equity, sexual violence, and systemic racism. As a collaborative artist, she creates ensembles of artists and activists to deploy art, education, Theatre of the Oppressed, and collective action through interactive and intercultural experiences centered on dismantling systemic (in)justice while building communities of care. Amanda believes in the power of multi-identifying people collaborating in partnership and shared purpose to co-create visions of communal wellbeing and to co-solidify solutions for addressing the material conditions of peoples’ lives.

ABOUT MYTOAN NGUYEN-AKBAR:

Mytoan Nguyen-Akbar, PhD (she/her) is a community organizer, mother of two, and strategic researcher with an equity lens.  Currently, she is Impact and Assessment Manager for the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. She began her journey into municipal arts as a Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Public Fellow, awarded to post-doctoral fellows nationally to demonstrate the impact of the humanities outside of the academy. Dr. Nguyen-Akbar completed her PhD in Sociology at University of Madison, and has been a past US Fulbright Fellows (to Australia), American Sociological Association Minority Pre-Doctoral Fellow, and recipient of the Jane Addams Outstanding Award for Public Service in Sociology. Her work ranges from designing COVID-19 impact studies, monitoring, assessment and evaluation of racial justice and equity cultural investments, and data and storytelling capacity building for public sector and nonprofit organizations. Mytoan came to this country as a boatperson from Vietnam.

WHERE TO FIND AMANDA AND MYTOAN:

Facebook: @liberationcityimpact and @amanda.reyelt

Instagram: @solidarityinisolation,  @passionforthepossible, @amasterpaul

Linkedin: @hguyenakbar

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit here and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Karla and Jeff discuss the return to school and how policy can impact arts education in public schools. Karla interviews Jonathan VanderBrug about their work enacting an “arts indicator” in the State of Illinois to measure student access to the arts in schools. Karla and Jeff debrief the conversation thinking about the role of artists in activism, the potential of U.S. federal education policies, and the unusual champions who enable them.

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ABOUT JONATHAN VANDERBRUG: Jonathan serves as Deputy Director-Civic Engagement for Arts Alliance Illinois, the statewide multidisciplinary organization advocating for arts, culture, and arts education. He coordinated the 18-month process of updating the state’s arts learning standards. He also co-led the three-year campaign that won the arts as a school quality indicator in Illinois’ ESSA school accountability system. Illinois is the only state to incorporate the arts so centrally.

He has also served as Calumet Community Educator for The Field Museum. In this role, he partnered with community groups to build grassroots support for conservation education on Chicago’s south side, in neighborhoods impacted by environmental injustice. Jonathan was also Founding Executive Director of Urban Produce, Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI), an urban gardening and job training initiative for youth.

Jonathan has also served as Health Care Justice Director, Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care; Executive Director, St. Louis Lead Poisoning Prevention Coalition; and Policy Advisor, Michigan House of Representatives.

He earned his Master of Nonprofit Administration degree from North Park University (Chicago, IL). In 2017, the Illinois Art Education Association awarded Jonathan its President’s Award for his arts education advocacy.

WHERE TO FIND JONATHAN:

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Madeleine and Jeff discuss transitions in their seasons and their work. Madeleine interviews Sudebi Thakurata, a creative facilitator and transdisciplinary designer, working in India and across Southeast Asia. Madeleine and Jeff discuss how we can leverage our different areas of knowledge to use the arts as a way of understanding people, not achieving outcomes.

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ABOUT SUDEBI THAKURATA: A narrative designer, creative facilitator, educator, writer and futurist. She designs experiences, engagement and environment that allow people to think, have dialogue, make their thinking and interaction visible and thus enable them to design their own solutions and narratives using different modes and media. Sudebi emphasises on socially, environmentally and culturally relevant issues, inter-weaving design thinking, imagination, systems thinking, pedagogy, visual and performing arts, oral history, ethnography and research to design possibilities. A facilitator at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Sudebi has co-founded the transdisciplinary design collective, D.epicentre. She is also a Creative Facilitator of SEAΔ, a trans-national cross-cultural leadership programme curated by Mekong Cultural Hub and British Council. A global UNLEASH talent, Sudebi started a unique pedagogy, art and design led trans-local initiative “The Archival City- a Site of Learning’. She is one of the six international experts co-creating a ‘Fair Collaboration Toolkit’ for EUNIC where she is also currently leading the design team. She has been invited as guest faculty/curator/collaborator/designer at Stamps School or Art and Design, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar, Ahmedabad University, IDC-IIT Bombay, Nirma University and NCBS.

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? Co-hosts Ashraf and Jeff discuss the rollercoaster of return to school and introduce Ashraf’s interview with Quanice Floyd. Quanice is a former music teacher, arts manager, arts education advocate, and organizational leader who focuses her energy on achieving accountability, equity, and racial justice in the American cultural ecosystem. Ashraf and Jeff debrief the conversation thinking deeply about movement building and centering arts educators, cultural practitioners, and youth.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Please download the transcript here.

ABOUT QUANICE FLOYD: A renaissance woman who wears many capes. Born and raised in NYC, she has spent over a decade in Washington, DC where she has received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Educationfrom Howard University and Kent State University respectively. Her passion for arts administration led her to pursue her second Master’s degree in Arts Management at American University and is currently a doctoral student at Drexel University. Quanice is also the Founder & Director of the Arts Administrators of Color Network, an organization committed to empowering artists and arts administrators by advocating for access, diversity, inclusion, and equity in the arts in the DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas. For the past decade, she has been a public-school music educator where she taught elementary school general music, chorus, band, and orchestra. Quanice also serves as a board member for two DC arts organizations, and is an alumna of ArtEquity’s Racial Facilitator Cohort, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Music Educators and Arts Administrators Academy, 4.0 Schools’ Essentials Program, and the Arts Education Collaborative’s Leadership Academy. In 2018, Quanice was honored with the American Express Emerging Leader Award by Americans for the Arts.

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Rachael and Jeff connect about Jeff’s interview with Damian Bazadona, founder of The Situation Project in New York City. This nonprofit works to create artistic, educational, and career-aligned cultural experiences using unsold Broadway tickets and extended educational engagements with young people in the city. Rachael and Jeff discuss new views on metrics of success and how to best tell the stories of transformative arts education programs.

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ABOUT DAMIAN:  Over the years, Damian has worked with brands worldwide, across a range of industries, to develop and deploy award-winning marketing campaigns. Under his leadership, Situation has been honored with numerous workplace awards from Crain’s, Best Companies Group, Digiday, and Fortune. Cynopsis honored Damian with the Social Good Leader of the Year and HR Visionary of the Year award. Recently, Variety named him to their annual list of industry visionaries in their Digital Marketing Impact Report.

Damian is an active speaker at industry conferences and on university campuses across the country including Columbia, Yale, NYU, and his alma mater, University at Albany. He is also a co-founder of TEDxBroadway, one of the longest-running independently organized TED events.

Damian passionately invests in arts education and community engagement. In 2011, he founded Situation Project, a nonprofit that brings educational programming and immersive artistic and cultural experiences to middle schoolers across under-resourced NYC public schools. Situation Project was honored with an invitation to participate in the White House’s inaugural SouthxSouthLawn in 2016 under the Obama Administration. Damian believes that the power of the human spirit is remarkable, and he brings that conviction to his company and his clients.

WHERE TO FIND DAMIAN:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SituationInteractive/

Twitter: ​​https://twitter.com/situation

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/situation-interactive

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/situationinteractive/

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Rachael and Jeff discuss their return to teaching and the need to think outside the box. Rachel interviews Emily Akuno, a music educator and university leader who is the current President of the International Society for Music Education, to discuss working together and Africanizing the arts curriculum. Rachael and Jeff conclude the episode with reflections on the power of convening, decolonizing, and being radical.

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ABOUT EMILY: Professor of music of the Technical University of Kenya with teaching and university administration experience at Kenyatta University in Kenya, University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Maseno University and The Technical University of Kenya. Currently she serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs at The Co-operative University of Kenya.

Emily trained as a performer-educator in Kenya, USA and the UK, Her research interests veer towards cultural relevance in music education. She is the editor and a contributing author of the (2019) Routledge published Music Education in Africa: Concept, Process and Practice. Other publications include Kenyan Music: An education perspective; Issues in Music Education in Kenya: a handbook for teachers as well as book chapters and journal articles. She is a former president of the International Music Council (IMC) and current President of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), Chair of the World Alliance of Arts Education as well as chair of the Music Education Research Group – Kenya (MERG-Kenya).

WHERE TO FIND EMILY:

Twitter: @AkunoEmily

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/emily.akuno

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-akuno-812ab2b4/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1z388gQXhECjB6_74MjOA

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC

In this episode of Why Change? Co-hosts Ashraf and Jeff discuss Ashraf’s interview with three organizational leaders who orchestrated the publishing of a book featuring young photographers. In the interview with Lucia Torres, Alicia Hansen, and Michelle Marsh, the group discusses their collaboration, the power of young people, and the impacts of storytelling. Ashraf and Jeff debrief about the long-term impacts of creative collaborations like these on the nonprofit arts sector.

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ABOUT MICHELLE MARSH DUNN: Originally from Puyallup, WA, Michelle now considers both Seattle and New York City home. She believes that living with books is transformative, and everyone should try it. Ditto for driving a convertible, smelling a sterling rose, and wearing great cowboy boots. She has experienced every aspect of the publishing process through staff positions with Aperture Foundation and Chronicle Books, and on a project basis with University of Washington Press, Museum of Glass, Heyday Books, Abbeville Press, and others. Leadership positions include Co-Publisher of Aperture magazine and Deputy Director of Aperture Foundation; Senior Editor of Art+Design, Chronicle Books; and executive director   and Chief Strategist at Photographic Center Northwest. Editor or designer of over 100 publications. Previously a tenured professor in graphic design at Seattle Central Community College, she has lectured at Parsons/The New School, Yale University, YoungArts in Miami, The Palm Springs Photo Festival, The Seagull School for Publishing in Calcutta, and PhotoIreland, among others. She holds an MS in Publishing from Pace University in New York City, and a bachelor’s degree in literature/art history from Bard College.

ALICIA HANSEN: A professional photographer for over 20 years. Starting her career at one of the largest metropolitan papers in the country, she has worked for The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Seattle Times, The Springfield State Journal‐Register, The Roanoke Times and World News, The Athens Banner Herald, The Guardian, and Fortune Magazine. Alicia has a BA in Journalism from the University of Georgia and a Masters Degree in Visual Communication from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. She taught photography at the undergraduate and graduate levels while at Syracuse, and has worked for world‐renowned National Geographic contract photographer, Joe McNally, as his first assistant and producer. The result of their joint efforts was the first all‐digital story for National Geographic, helping pioneer the way for digital photography to become a new standard for the magazine.For the past eight and half years she has grown NYC SALT from a small photo class to a nonprofit organization with a 100% college acceptance rate.

LUCIA TORRES:  She is working to create equity for the future of women of color in Los Angeles through inclusionary story-telling and advocacy. I have dedicated myself to building community throughout Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley for over 20 years. She has a background in education, non-profit program development & management, communications and journalism.

This episode of Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation was powered by Creative Generation. Produced and Edited by Daniel Stanley. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC