Dr. J. Nathan Corbitt is Professor of Cross-Cultural Studies at Eastern University (1992) and President and Co-Founder (1997) of BuildaBridge International. With extensive overseas living, work and travel in over 50 countries, he regularly consults and trains both locally and internationally. He brings experience in leadership, program development, non-profit technology and evaluation, as well as a background in music education, ethnomusicology, and communications.
Dr. Vivian Nix-Early is a licensed clinical psychologist, educator and musician by training, Dr. Nix-Early has over 30 years of experience working with youth in community settings. She is also a board certified music therapist, having completed her post-graduate Certificate in Creative Arts Therapy: Music Therapy at Drexel University. Dr. Nix-Early is a master trainer and brings experience in leadership, personnel management and budgeting.
BOARD
I was first introduced to BuildaBridge at a World Dinner. As a fellow artist (designer, painter and photographer) and lover of world travel, I was intrigued by the work that BuildaBridge does in art education and trauma healing through the arts, along with all the near and far-reaching places around the world that BuildaBridge serves. My work history spans both the corporate and nonprofit sectors. Upon graduating with a BFA/minor in Art Education and a Masters of Education, I started my work career as a package designer for well-known food and beverage companies. After many great years in the corporate sector working my way up the proverbial ladder, I decided that my heart and my skills would best be served in the nonprofit sector. Over the years I have taught art, run a community cultural center, planned a state-wide gathering of women philanthropists, supported a start-up Quaker elementary school in North Carolina, coordinated professional development workshops and peer networking groups for Quaker educators and administrators, and co-founded and directed a nonprofit in Uganda to assist HIV/AIDS orphans. I also had the pleasure of working for BuildaBridge as Programs Coordinator, and it was during this time that I became deeply moved by the work that BuildaBridge does as I began to understand the scope and value more fully. This led to my desire to continue to support BuildaBridge and become a board member.
Elaine Ballengee spent over thirty years in elementary education including work at Wilmington Friends School, The Children’s School in California, the Miquon School, the William Penn Charter School and Frankford Friends School. She has a strong interest in the Maya and has traveled extensively in Mexico and Central America. She also spends a considerable amount of time doing field archaeology and research with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colorado. Following up on a lifetime of riding horses, she is extensively involved with Special Equestrians in Horsham, PA. She lives in Chestnut Hill with her husband, Jim, and has three daughters who all live in New York City.
Ron Hevey's nonprofit experience includes the Business Council for the United Nations, UNICEF, Adopt-a-School, the Wisconsin Alumni Association, Appleford, the Main Line Art Center and Fox Subacute Care. He joined BuildaBridge's board in 2006 as an artist/volunteer and later as Treasurer and then Chairman. His educational background is BSEE, MBA and the Harvard Advanced Management Program. Since joining the BuildaBridge board Ron volunteered two years-in-a-row with Guatemalan prison gangs, 'a tough group of young men and women who make wonderful art to pull themselves up to a better life,' as he says. Ron retired from corporate life following twenty-three years with DEC, an HP Computer company, where he served as Vice President of the New York Area, U.S. Financial Services and the Japanese Initiative. His sales and marketing company developed low-cost channels for telecommunications, energy and the Internet.
Lisa is an associate at Berner Klaw and Watson LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in all aspects of family law, including adoptions, child custody, divorce, domestic violence, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and GLBT relationship agreements and dissolution agreements in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Lisa received her Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden and a bachelor's degree from Temple University in English and Secondary Education. She divides her time among several volunteer legal organizations, including Volunteers for the Indigent and Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians. Lisa received a Pro Bono Role of Honor Award for Exemplary Pro Bono Work in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In February 2011 she was elected to the board of directors of Women's Therapy Center, a Philadelphia-based organization providing therapeutic counseling services to women. A self-described "music nerd" with eclectic musical tastes, a passion for choral singing and a (very occasionally) stressful profession, Lisa has experienced the healing power of the arts in her own life. She views the opportunity to help BuildaBridge realize its mission to "bring hope and healing to children through the arts" as a uniting of her two passions, and she is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Board.
Ms. Malamud-Price, B.A., M.P.H, is the Executive Director of the Mt. Airy Business Improvement District, which is responsible for the cleaning and greening of Germantown Avenue. Prior to her current position, Ms. Malamud-Price spent twenty years in public health, including working in research, HIV/AIDS surveillance, quality improvement and management, policy, and administrative positions relating to women and HIV. She is a veteran program manager, a dynamic leader, and successful grant writer. She secured over four million dollars in public health funding for the State of Michigan. Ms. Malamud-Price received her education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI and until 2009, lived in suburban Detroit. For the last three years she has been a proud resident of Philadelphia and lives in Mt. Airy with her partner and three dogs. Her interests include travel, the arts, social justice, mindfulness meditation, and animal welfare. In her free time she enjoys being out on the trails of the Wissahickon.
Aleea Slappy is the Education Programs Manager with The Enterprise Center. In this role, Aleea manages an entrepreneurship training program for women and a leadership development program for high school students. Prior to this position, Aleea worked as an education reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times and a match support specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters. She served as an intern and teaching artist with BuildaBridge while completing her graduate degree in Urban Studies at Eastern University. She also traveled with BuildaBridge to Gautemala. Aleea is the founder and creative director of A Happy Slappy Greeting, a handmade greeting card company located in Philadelphia.
Tracie volunteered as a Leadership Intern for BuildaBridge’s international programs in Fall 2011. She is currently the Program Coordinator at the Philadelphia Parks Alliance, an organization that advocates for parks and open space for all in Philadelphia. She holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and International Development Planning from Virginia Tech University. Tracie served two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Step by Step Inc. in West Virginia and spent a year teaching English and volunteering with Yunnan Mountain Heritage Foundation in China. She also earned a bachelor of fine art Metals/Jewelry/Computer Aided Design from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. Tracie Blummer is Program Coordinator for the Philadelphia Parks Alliance. In her role as a Leadership Internship with BuildaBridge, she focused on building the capacity of international programs particularly our Artists on Call certification initiative. She has also served as the technical writer for the UNICEF Haiti Project.
Casey Buckley
Casey is a Trauma Therapist in North East Philadelphia. She holds an MSW from University of Pennsylvania 2005. Currently she is involved in Creative Art Therapy and Child Centered Play Therapy. Buckley is Certified in Filial Therapy for children ages 2-12. She is a black a white photographer with her own dark room, as well as a painter. Additionally she trains service dogs for psychiatric patients and speaks publicly for the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill on various mental health topics.
Leonara Mangine
Kara Guzetti
ADVISORY COUNCIL
John Sundquist
Jason Nicholas
Maeva Renaud
Amber Aasman
Nancy Perez
Saman Lesinski
Rosa Dunkley
Judy Mandeville
As a dancer for the past 60 years, Judy Mandeville has explored many movement arenas. She has 40 years of instructional expertise ranging from pre school to the senior years. As a movement specialist, Judy has designed and developed university courses and curriculum, collaborated on community educational projects, worked in traumatized and homeless situations, and taught and presented internationally. She is currently launching a movement therapeutic program at a major medical center in the region.
Judy has also worked in the Special Educational field for the past 35 years, often combining movement elements and exercises in the areas of learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, cognitive impairments and spectrum of autistic disorders. She is continually amazed at the resilience, creativity and hope that unfold as people of all ages, experiences and demographics begin to integrate movement into the educational and healing process. Judy holds a B.A. in Modern Dance and an M.A. in Special Education.
Habib Afsar Dr. Habib Afsar is an international public health physician and a fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (community medicine). He has masters’ degrees in Health Systems Management and Intermodal Expressive Art Coaching. He has worked for a range of organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and other national and international NGOs in Pakistan, Somalia, Kenya, Southern Sudan, Switzerland and the UK. Dr. Afsar writes, “My expertise and interests revolve around health and human development through individual and social change using the arts as a tool.”
As a dancer for the past 60 years, Judy Mandeville has explored many movement arenas. She has 40 years of instructional expertise ranging from pre school to the senior years. As a movement specialist, Judy has designed and developed university courses and curriculum, collaborated on community educational projects, worked in traumatized and homeless situations, and taught and presented internationally. She is currently launching a movement therapeutic program at a major medical center in the region.
Judy has also worked in the Special Educational field for the past 35 years, often combining movement elements and exercises in the areas of learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, cognitive impairments and spectrum of autistic disorders. She is continually amazed at the resilience, creativity and hope that unfold as people of all ages, experiences and demographics begin to integrate movement into the educational and healing process. Judy holds a B.A. in Modern Dance and an M.A. in Special Education.
program with BuildaBridge International and UNICEF in Haiti. She provided “Community Arts
for Children” training and certification to over 100 Haitian community leaders. Tuttle has worked
with BuildaBridge International for 3 years. She currently serves as regional training coordinator and is a member of the Online Training Working Group.
STAFF
Danielle manages the coordination of BuildaBridge's projects in the Philadelphia Refugee Mental Health Collaborative. Danielle received her bachelor’s degree with honors from West Chester University in Political Science, International Relations and her Master’s degree in International Development at Eastern University. She has twenty years of professional dance experience, and is trained in ballet, jazz and modern dance.
Jamaine Smith, Community Programs Director
Born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, Jamaine Smith is a recent graduate of Eastern University MA in Urban Studies, Community Arts Concentration. Jamaine obtained a BS in Social Work from Nyack College. Mr. Smith is a trained Artist on Call, a registered BuildaBridge Trainer and Director of Artology. In 2012, he served as team leader for the BuildaBridge-UNICEF-Haiti Child Protection Training Project.
Anna Bohl-Fabian graduated in 2011 from Arcadia University, earning her B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in International Politics. While originally from Harrisburg, Anna now resides in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Ms. Bohl-Fabian has danced for over 15 years and is trained in tap, jazz and ballet. Her love for helping others originally brought her to BuildaBridge where she trained to be an Artist on Call and volunteered to help with the Community Programs. Ms. Bohl-Fabian now serves as Programs Administrator and coordinates the BuildaBridge Institute and manages volunteers, in addition to coordinating program administration.
Joanna Ginsberg, Artology Administrative Coordinator
Joanna Ginsberg received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture, summa cum laude, from Purchase College, State University of New York in May 2012. She has been making art in a variety of mediums since she was a child, and found a focus pursuing woodworking at her alma mater as well as in craft schools around the country. Joanna has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Powermatic Student Scholarship from the Furniture Society, for which she is featured in the August 2012 issue of Woodworker Journal magazine. She has fostered her passion for teaching by assisting college classes, developing and instructing classes at Philadelphia Woodworks, and most recently with BuildaBridge. She plans to pursue a career in arts education.
Julia Crawford, Institute Diploma Coordinator
Julia Crawford is a dance educator and therapeutic movement practitioner based in Philadelphia, PA. She has a Master of Arts Degree from Eastern University in Urban Studies: Arts in Transformation where she received an Outstanding Thesis award. She graduated cum laude from Temple University with a BFA in dance where she received the BFA outstanding dance performance award. She is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Dance Department at Eastern University, teaching the practice and history of dance as a form of sacred expression, as well as holistic development teaching methods. She is also currently in her sixth year of directing the dance program at Westtown School, a Quaker boarding high school. She is a teaching artist and trainer for BuildaBridge International, working with Bhutanese refugee children in South Philadelphia, as well as children in under-served communities in Northeast Philadelphia. She also currently works with children of migrant workers in the outlying Philadelphia area using dance to develop a sense of belonging and purpose. She has also worked as a teaching artist in an arts-integrated early-childhood program using dance to support academic learning and has worked with older adults using dance to support and build community. Also with BuildaBridge, she has worked with survivors of sexual violence in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo and Bangkok, Thailand using the power of the arts and specifically movement for fostering hope and healing.
Amy Tuttle, Regional Training Coordinator
Amy Tuttle is a "placemaking" artist and arts-based community development specialist who resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a Master of Arts degree from Eastern University in Urban Studies: Arts in Transformation. Amy specializes in the field of "arts-based placemaking." Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Put simply, it involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work and play in a particular space, to discover their needs and aspirations and represent them through the arts. Amy has engaged her passion for placemaking in many settings including: Haiti, Philadelphia, India, and Cincinnati. Amy has worked with BuildaBridge fas an Artist on Call, Trainer with the BuildaBridge UNICEF-Haiti Project and Institute Faculty.
Amy Tuttle is a "placemaking" artist and arts-based community development specialist who resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a Master of Arts degree from Eastern University in Urban Studies: Arts in Transformation. Amy specializes in the field of "arts-based placemaking." Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Put simply, it involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work and play in a particular space, to discover their needs and aspirations and represent them through the arts. Amy has engaged her passion for placemaking in many settings including: Haiti, Philadelphia, India, and Cincinnati. Amy has worked with BuildaBridge fas an Artist on Call, Trainer with the BuildaBridge UNICEF-Haiti Project and Institute Faculty.
Teaching Artists
Julia Crawford, Movement
Rebecca Asch, Photography
Lia D'Agostino, Visual Arts
Patsy Babcock, Visual Arts
Joanna Ginsberg, Photography
Art Therapists
Natalie Hoffmann, Visual Art therapist
Celeste Wade, Visual Art therapist
Christine Byma, Visual Art therapist
Danielle Owen, Dance Movement Therapist
Julia Crawford, Therapeutic Movement Instructor
Julia Crawford, Therapeutic Movement Instructor
Artology 2013
Volunteers
Ebonye Holmes, Development Associate
Rebekah Leeper, Volunteer Graphic Design Artist
Kari Reed, Volunteer Graphic Design Artist
Alicia Jarvis
Interns
Rasha Younes was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. Coming to Philadelphia to attend college, she is completing her bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Psychology as a double major and Creative Writing as a minor at Bryn Mawr College. Her career goal is to attend law school and specialize in International Law in order to serve her country as well as other tough places in the world. Younes is a professional dancer and a vernacular writer. She is currently associated with BuildaBridge as a direct service assistant with Artology, an Arabic translator, and marketing planner.
