Amber Hawkins
As a sought-after nonprofit consultant, with over 15 years of invaluable experience, combined with a creative design background, Amber’s invaluable guidance has empowered numerous organizations to optimize their fundraising strategies, enhance marketing and branding initiatives, and forge strong community connections. Her data driven decision-making and meticulous program analysis have become invaluable assets in driving tangible results for her clients. With her visionary leadership, creative brilliance, and profound understanding of both the nonprofit and design landscapes, she continues to drive transformative impact within the nonprofit sector.
Contact/Website Info: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ambernhawkins?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Presenting: “Hidden Gems Unlocked: Empowering Nonprofits for Success”
Unlock the secrets to nonprofit success in this highly engaging session that reveals the hidden power of free or low-cost tools and resources. From marketing to budgeting, fundraising, and programming, every aspect of your nonprofit organization will be elevated to new heights. Discover a treasure trove of essential tools that every nonprofit professional should have at their fingertips. From cutting-edge technology to creative solutions, you’ll gain a diverse toolkit designed to streamline workflow and maximize productivity. Embrace the three essential elements of speed, affordability, and excellence that form the core of this session. Unleash the hidden gems that will propel your organization forward and make a lasting difference in the communities you serve.
Artist Bio: Born and raised in Los Angeles, Rachel is a passionate advocate for arts education, leveraging her strong background in the social responsibility of art and culture to promote its widespread accessibility. Rachel has garnered valuable experience in various arts institutions, from being a Los Angeles County Department of the Arts and Culture (LACDAC) Program intern at Get Lit – Words Ignite and a School Program Coordinator at Cayton Children’s Museum. Currently serving as Education Manager at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Rachel continues to make a meaningful impact in the field. Rachel has proven herself as a versatile marketing professional, excelling in graphic design, brand development, and social media management, resulting in increased reach and engagement for diverse clients, including nonprofits, indie entertainment distribution, mariachi bands, medical and mental health services, corporate sales, and more. Rachel’s passion for art stems from her grandfather, a professional animator and freelance artist who taught her to see objects as they truly are, sparking her love for art and inspiring her to pursue a career in arts education. Through her work, she aims to provide others with the same transformative experience that art has brought into her life.
Michael Millar is a professional bass trombonist and is Faculty Emeritus in Music Industry Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. He is an Arts Commissioner for the City of Santa Clarita. In university and nonprofit management roles, he has written numerous successful grants to foundations and to city, county, state, and federal government funders. He has served on multiple arts grant review panels. Dr. Millar is a voting member of the Recording Academy and is an ICF-certified coach serving diverse professional constituencies
Phoebe Millerwhite is an artist, writer, and educator based in Southern California. She holds a BA in Literature and Creative Writing from Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School, New York, and an MA in Folklore with an emphasis in Material Culture from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. For over a decade Phoebe has specialized in arts education and also, without irony, championing work created by self-taught artists (also known as folk or “outsider” artists). She currently teaches in the museum and gallery certificate program at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in Walnut, California, in the Fine Arts Department. Her varied professional experience includes stepping in as the director and curator for the Diana Berger Art Gallery at Mt. SAC (2022-2023) where her exhibition In the Garden: Piñatas, a solo exhibition of work by Los Angeles based artists Roberto Benavidez, was included in the 2023 Craft in America episode “Play” airing on PBS and craftinamerica.org; consultant for museums, arts nonprofits, and a bespoke architecture and design firm in the greater Los Angeles region; manager of The Good Luck Gallery in Los Angeles which focused on work by self-taught and “outsider” artists; creating fine arts programing for Pomona Unified School District elementary students; and teaching ceramic sculpture at a progressive art studio for neurodiverse adults with disabilities, some of whose work is now in the permanent collections of MoMA New York, the American Folk Art Museum, New York, and several other prominent public and private collections. With years of experience writing press releases, museum and commercial gallery content, artist biographies, artist statements, grant proposals, and the like, Phoebe is often asked to consult for artists and businesses ready to streamline and reimagine their written voice. She currently teaches a course specifically on art writing at Mt. SAC, and periodically teaches workshops on various aspects of arts writing. Phoebe stays connected to her roots in Folklore by presenting regularly at the annual American Folklore Society conference, which draws scholars from throughout the United States and internationally. In 2022 Phoebe was awarded the Public Program/Independent Folklorist Sections Travel Award to present her paper “The Collecting Conundrum: Power and Ethics in the Acquisition of Self-Taught Art.” As much a fan of hearing a good tale as telling one, Phoebe’s ceramic sculpture practice is the physical embodiment of her love of storytelling. Unlike writing, which is cerebral and benefits from endless edits, Phoebe’s sculpture is intuitive and uncanny. Her sense is that her sculptures are up to something but what exactly that something is, remains part of the titillating mystery. Drawing from myth, legend, and – always – a deep love of narrative, Phoebe’s sculptures are one element in a continuous ambling conversation between herself and her creations, full of sidelong glances, inside jokes, and half remembered dreams.
Judith Modrak is a Washington, D.C. born, New York City based sculptor and installation artist. The forms and concepts in her work often bridge art and science by exploring areas that increase our understanding of psychological and physiological landscapes. She is fascinated by what goes on inside and outside of us — from brain cells, to the Earth’s bubbling magma, to the ways in which memories are processed and stored. Her free-standing sculptures and participatory installations manifest different aspects of our internal makeup, highlighting the reciprocity between inner impressions and the external world. These two sides, taken together, unmask how our personal and collective experiences develop and evolve in the context of the larger environment. Her work has been exhibited at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the Trenton Art Museum, Point Park University, the Palm Beach Art Armory, the Woodstock Museum, Art New York, Monmouth Museum, Strathmore Mansion, the Hartnett Gallery, Pen + Brush Gallery, and the New Arts Program, among others. Her public participatory artwork “Our Memories” was installed on Governors Island, and in Central Park and Thomas Paine Park as part of the NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks Program. The documentary about “Our Memories” won Best Science and Education Documentary at the Madrid International Film Festival and Best Short Documentary at the Amsterdam International Film Festival in 2018. Modrak’s is very excited that her most recent eco-inspired public artwork, “Endangered Fossils”, is on view in Santa Clarita, CA. “Nurturing Tree”, a permanent public sculptural work, will be unveiled in WI in 2024. In 2019, “Caminos Fluidos / Fluid Pathways”, a site-specific installation, came to life in Murcia, Spain. She is the recipient of numerous awards, notably Creative Engagement Grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, two Gold Medals in Sculpture from the National Association of Women Artists, and the Nicholas Buhalis Award. Her work has been featured in various publications in print, online and TV, including SantaClaritaTV, The Science Channel, Curbed NY, Untapped Cities, Scientific American, The Tribeca Trib, The Seaside Times, The Queens Gazette, Sino Vision, BCTV, The Reading Eagle, SciArt, Sculpture Magazine, and The Pittsburgh Tribune. Modrak holds degrees from the University of Rochester and the San Francisco Art Institute.
Jeffrey Thompson, MA, MBA, EA, is a tax professional as well as a writer, actor, and magician. In addition to filing taxes for almost 400 clients each year, he serves as a co-artistic director for Impro Theatre, teaches at the Westside Comedy Theater, and serves on the board of The Ruby LA and The Improv Network.
Saga Elmohtaseb has been working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. With a passion for film, Saga was the production coordinator at Fox Studios in the VFX division on box office hits such as The Devil Wears Prada, A Good Year, and Fantastic 4. She worked on Marvel’s Iron Man 2, Sony Pictures Just Go With It. She successfully produced the Emmy Nominated PBS/KCET environmentally-conscious TV series LA Foodways and recently produced another TV series titled 10 Days in Watts which has been selected for her second Emmy consideration. She is the president of Hollywood-Consulting.com where she works closely with clients on various productions from development to completion.
Tiffany Trenda is a performance artist born in 1979 in Los Angeles. Trenda earned a BFA from Art Center College of Design and an MFA from UCLA Design and Media Arts program. She was named Artist of the Year at the London International Creative Competition Awards. In 2009, she performed “Entropy” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Trenda has performed at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, the Broad Art Museum, Architecture + Design Museum, Los Angeles Contemporary Art Exhibitions, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art & Human Perception. She was included in the performance program at the Metamorphoses of the Virtual – 100 Years of Art and Freedom during the 55th annual Venice Biennale. Her work has been exhibited at the Faena Art Center in Buenos Aires, where she participated in the highly publicized show “Auto Body”, as well as at the special projects section for Context Art Miami. In 2017, Trenda exhibited at the Laboratorio Arte Alameda in Mexico City and was on a panel for SXSW. More recently, her work was included in exhibitions “Neotopia” at Art Center Nabi in South Korea, Brand Library and Art Center, and Art in Flux at the Barbican in London, UK. Furthermore, her work is part of the permanent collection of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Beinecke Library at Yale University.
Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author based in Downtown LA. As the Arts Editor for the L.A. Weekly 2018-24, and still as a long-time contributor to arts publications like Flaunt, Artillery, and The Village Voice, she covers the national and international art world through the multifaceted lens of Los Angeles. She studied Art History at Vassar College, before leaving her native New York for the sunny climes of L.A. where she planned to stay “a couple of years,” and where she has instead lived and worked since 1995. Her work has appeared in HuffPo, Artweek, Juxtapoz, ArtReview, Vice, Whitehot Magazine, Flavorpill (where she was West Coast editor for about a decade), Modern Painters, tema celeste, and on PBS/KCET Artbound. She has written monographic book and exhibition catalog essays for eclectic artists like Gabriella Sanchez (Museum of Latin American Art), Enrique Martinez Celaya (Monterey Museum of Art), David LaChapelle (Paul Kasmin Gallery), Amir H. Fallah (MOCA Tucson/Shulamit Nazarian Gallery), Melanie Pullen (Lancaster Museum of Art and History), Kimberly Brooks (Griffith Moon), Mark Dean Veca (Zero Plus), and scores more. She curates and juries for galleries, fairs, and nonprofits (The Brand Library, Ebell Club, DUMBO Arts Center, Intersect Palm Springs, Lucie Foundation), is a dedicated Instagram “photographer,” and in 2020 her debut novel was published. Zen Psychosis is an oneiric memoir based in dream journals — a surrealist exploration of the formative symbolism of the collective subconscious in the mode of Carl Jung, Clarice Lispector and Henry Miller, accompanied by a suite of original pinhole photographs by Osceola Refetoff. It was named one of the best books of 2020 by LA Taco. She is the recipient of the 2022 Rabkin Foundation Art Writers Prize, 2022 & 2024 Mozaik Future Art Writers Award, and the LA Press Club’s Critic of the Year Award for 2022.