Laguna Pueblo / Cherokee (she/her)

Ronee Penoi is presently director of artistic programming at Arts Emerson. She is a two-time International Society of Performing Arts global fellow, and has been an Association of Performing Arts Professionals leadership fellow and Theatre Communications Group Rising Leader of Color. Penoi has also produced work with Octopus Theatricals, and is a founding member of The Industry Standard Group (TISG).

Yup’ik (she/her)

Emily Johnson is an artist who makes body-based work. She is of the Yup'ik Nation, is a land and water protector and an organizer for justice, sovereignty and well-being. She lives on the Lower East Side of Mannahatta in Lenapehoking.

Citizen of the Oneida Nations of Wisconsin / Red Cliff Band of Ojibwe / Polish (she/her)

Danielle Jagelski is a composer, conductor, and creative producer. She is the Artistic Director and Co-founder of Renegade Opera, Producer for First Nations Performing Arts, and faculty at Manhattan School of Music-Precollege Division.

Her music has been performed nationally and internationally including at National Sawdust (upcoming), Roulette Intermedium, Performance Space New York, The Green Room 42, and Shaking the Tree Theatre. As a conductor she is sought out for her execution of contemporary works.

Yaqui descendant (she/her)

Kalyn Kendig (she/her) is a visual artist (mixed media, oil, fabrication), jeweler, music industry manager, festival organizer and sustainability advocate. Rooted in the rich intersections of BIPOC and Queer communities, her creations are a vivid exploration of bodily autonomy, the reclamation of space, and the tension between violence and liberation. She is an avid student, plant enthusiast, and Yaqui decedent.

Yaqui + Hopi descendant (she/they/ella(os))

is an indigiqueer chicana, spanglish speaking, multidisciplinary theater artist + educator, currently storytelling as a playwright + actor, on lenapehoking (bklyn). with Yaqui + Hopi flowing in her blood vanessa’s fire burns for decolonization, justice, joy + storytelling. a leader with various NYC theatrical institutions vanessa’s efforts range from arts/environmental justice educations justice + libratory implementation research to artistic administrative strategic planning. when not creating, writing, wandering mountain ranges attending PowWows, or bird watching. vanessa dreams of cooking her way through a million TikTok recipes + adores a good anime binge weekend

Cherokee (non-enrolled)/Mattamuskeet (She/They/na)

Maura García is a dancer, dance-maker, erotic artist, and facilitator. She inspires people to liberate themselves through vibrant performances that channel the sensual rhythms of the natural world. From theater stages, to nightclubs, to museums, to conferences, to universities, to private events, to site-specific outdoor performances, Maura’s powerful work transforms time and space. At the root of all of her endeavors is the desire to heal and create more space for joy in the world.

As a performer, Maura specializes in rhythm-based dance styles, martial arts fusion and sensual expression. As a creator, Maura collaborates with Indigenous and POC artists to realize multi-media performances, interactive dance experiences and community arts projects. Through her outreach, she offers transformational residencies, dance master classes and one-on-one sessions, to help people connect more deeply with themselves, other humans and the earth around them.

Laguna Pueblo / Cherokee (she/her)
Co-Lead, Working Consortium

Ronee Penoi is presently director of artistic programming at Arts Emerson. She is a two-time International Society of Performing Arts global fellow, and has been an Association of Performing Arts Professionals leadership fellow and Theatre Communications Group Rising Leader of Color. Penoi has also produced work with Octopus Theatricals, and is a founding member of The Industry Standard Group (TISG).

Yup’ik (she/her)
Co-Lead, Working Consortium

Emily Johnson is an artist who makes body-based work. She is of the Yup'ik Nation, is a land and water protector and an organizer for justice, sovereignty and well-being. She lives on the Lower East Side of Mannahatta in Lenapehoking.

Oglala Lakota (she/her)
Advisory Consortium

Lori Lea Pourier, President of First Peoples Fund since 1999, has been a leader in the arts, social justice, and community development fields for 30 years. She serves on the Library of Congress American Folklife Center Board of Trustees and the Jerome Foundation Board of Directors. Lori is a Core Partner with Arts in a Changing America, the Cultural New Deal and the Intercultural Leadership Institute. A Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, Lori received the Women’s World Summit Foundation Prize for Creativity in Rural Life and the Center for Social Innovation Fellowship at Stanford School of Business.

Yaqui / Mayo / Chicanx (he/him)
Advisory Consortium

Reuben is a nationally respected arts administrator with over 20 years in progressive program development, management, artist-centric support systems and grantmaking experience. He is currently Director of Transformative Change Programs at Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

Mohawk (he/him)
Working Consortium

Ed Bourgeois is a performer and playwright of French-Mohawk descent, whose paternal ancestors came to Acadia in 1642. He has 25 years of experience as an arts administrator, with Anchorage Opera, Alaska Native Heritage Center, PA’I Foundation, and Western Arts Alliance (WAA), where currently he serves as program manager of Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP).

Ally (he/him), Working Consortium

For 20 years, working across live performance in all disciplines, cinema, design and hospitality, Gantner has sought innovative artists, work, and ideas building new experiences and forms of communication for audiences.

He has served as Artistic Executive Director of the Onassis Foundation USA, 2019 - 2021; Artistic Director of Performance Space 122, 2005 - 2017; and is also a consulting curator for BAM (Brooklyn) and Theater de Welt (Dusseldorf). He is the chair of Hoovie, and MKRS; is a board member of Myer Family Investments, and Jianguo. He also serves on the boards of the Chocolate Factory (NYC), VII Photos, In Between Time in Bristol and various philanthropic institutions in Australia

Ally (she/her), Working Consortium

Erin Boberg Doughton, (she/her) Artistic Director & Curator of Performance at PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art,) curates and produces performance programs including dance, music, theatre and multi-disciplinary projects as part of PICA’s TBA (Time-Based Art) Festival as well as year-round presentations, commissions and residencies including the Creative Exchange Lab.