Advisory Board

+ Alex Pergament — Lawyer

Alex's bio is on its way...

+ Bryan Beninghove — Riverview Jazz

Bryan Beninghove is a professional multi-instrumentalist in the NYC area, as well as the Executive Director and founder of RiverviewJazz.Org, a 501c3 nonprofit that produces over 100 shows a year, including the Jersey City Jazz Festival.

Areas of Expertise:

• Music
• Event Production
• Grant Writing
• Marketing
• Nonprofit management
• Light humor

+ Ernie Paniccioli — Photographer

Ernie Paniccioli, a.k.a. Brother Ernie, has produced intimate portraits of hip-hop legends such as Notorious BIG and Salt n Pepa, and recently published the compilation Hip-Hop at the End of the World. Ernie has been recognized by Source magazine, Big Apple Film Festival, the Zulu Nation, and was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.

+ Heather Warfel Sandler — Director/ Artist

Warfel Sandler founded and directs the Dance Program at County Prep High School in Jersey City. She serves as a liaison to the Hudson County Alliance of Teen Artists, and is an invited member of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion panel for the National Dance Education Organization. Warfel Sandler was as an Adjunct Professor at NJCU for over 10 years, and conceived and produces Dance for the Ages, a free public performance featuring dancers age 7-70, for Jersey City’s Summer in the City series. Warfel Sandler has had a decades-long career in the Jersey City arts community as a performer, visual artist, organizer and administrator.

Areas of expertise:

• Dance
• Collaboration/facilitation
• Small business operations
• Arts education

+ Hiyasmine Queen Gaskins — Youth Mural Arts Program

Artistic Afro (Hiyasmine Queen Gaskins) is a non-binary artist, muralist, and skateboarder based in Jersey City, NJ. They studied Fine Art at the School of Visual Arts, New Jersey City University, and Florence University of the Arts in Florence, Italy. Their artworks range from colorful natural illustrations to portraiture to influences from skateboarding culture. Follow their journey on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @artisticafro

+ Juels Pierrot — Moxie 1973

Juels Pierrot is a Haitian-American experiential producer and digital marketing strategist from and based in Jersey City. He is motivated by bringing communities together as a tribe at the intersection of the arts, entertainment, content, and commerce.

This was on full display during his time at The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival as the festival’s Director of Marketing & Programming where he thoughtfully centered Hip-Hop in the content and event strategy to increase attendance from 7,000 to 10,000. Most recently, he sharpened his experiential production tool set at the agency Annex Experience, working with Adidas NYC to produce retail-centered brand activations across the stores in the greater NYC area.

He is a graduate of Alabama A&M University, where he founded the Juice Hip-Hop Exhibition, which he continues to build today as an experiential and interactive exhibit based on the art forms of hip-hop.

+ Katelyn Halpern — SMUSH Gallery

Katelyn Halpern is a multidisciplinary artist living in Jersey City, NJ. She makes dance work with her company Katelyn Halpern & Dancers, public art in commissioned and guerrilla styles, and all manner of studied and impertinent artwork with collaborators across the country. Raised in Austin, Texas, she moved to the east coast in 2010. She holds a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Dance from the University of Houston as well as a New Jersey teaching certificate for high school English, and she is a 2012 Teach for America New Jersey corps member. In 2018, she opened SMUSH Gallery, an art space dedicated to creative and community work in Jersey City.

Areas of expertise:

• Dance
• Collaboration/facilitation
• Small business operations
• Arts education

+ Kevin Clark — Grantmaking Consultant

Kevin Clark is a composer, grantmaker, and software consultant. Currently serving as a public software leadership consultant within VMware Tanzu Labs, Kevin got his start in software by building grantmaking systems for New Music USA, the MAP Fund, and others. A long-time resident of Jersey City, currently living in Seattle, perhaps his fondest wish is to come home and re-join a thriving cultural sector in Jersey City.

Areas of expertise:

• Non-profit management
• Mission/Vision facilitation and alignment
• Institutional snd Individual fundraising
• Grantmaking software and tools
• Grantmaking strategy and program officer roles
• Arts philanthropy industry trends
• Staff management
• Board governance
• Music
• Creative Placemaking
• Theater
• Post-Secondary arts education
• Arts entrepreneurship

+ Nancy Méndez-Booth — Author, Performer

Nancy Méndez-Booth is an artist of Puerto Rican descent who moved to Jersey City temporarily in 1993. She has told stories her whole life. As a kid, she made up stories to imagine a world beyond the projects and aspired for a place in that world. As an adult, Nancy’s writing has appeared in print and online, including in Poets & Writers, Latina, Salon, OZY Media, VIDA.org, and the Latina Outsiders: Remaking Latina Identity anthology.

Nancy moved from the page to the stage and has performed her work at venues including Cornelia Street Café, The Moth, Midtown International Theatre Festival, Hear Her Call Caribbean-American Women’s Theater Festival, and In Full Color. Nancy has received awards to attend Vermont Studio Center, Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, and Blue Mountain Center. She was selected in 2017 for the NJ Women Playwrights Program, which provided development support for her solo show "I Don't Know How She Does It."

Nancy has a BA in English from Amherst College, and an MA in English Critical Theory and an MFA in Creative Writing, both from Rutgers-Newark. She continues to live in Jersey City and has told her husband she plans on staying for a long time.

+ Rimli Roy — Surati for Performing Arts

Rimli Roy is an artiste, choreographer, producer, and director breaking boundaries of traditional Indian performing art forms. Roy has trained in three distinct Indian classical forms by renowned masters in India – Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, and Odissi since age four, and also in piano and Hindustani classical vocals. Rimli's critically acclaimed original stage production, Ramaavan – A Musical, based on the Indian epic The Ramayana, addresses social issues, uses world genres, Indian dance and music, and an international cast.

Rimli is the Founder and Artistic Director of Surati for Performing Arts, a 501(c)(3) organization that educates and enriches communities through original works, dance, music, theatre, events, and festivals while also promoting Indian art and culture. Rimlo, along with the Surati team, has performed at prestigious venues like the United Nations, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress, Reichhold Center – University of the U.S Virgin Islands, Alaska Performing Arts Center, University of the West Indies in Barbados, and The World Financial Center Wintergarden.