OUR BOARD
Pamela Dillman Haskell
Pamela Dillman Haskell is an actor, narrator and teacher who is passionate about arts in education and social justice. Her training in the performing arts began in her hometown of Santa Barbara, California — where EDN! was later founded — and continued at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She performed in over three hundred productions on three continents, as an actor and dancer in theatre, film and television before transitioning her focus to the not-for-profit world in 2007. Since then, Pamela has served on the boards and program committees of the Arts Mentorship Program, Community Kitchen, Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, Foodbank, Santa Barbara County Alliance for Arts Education, Speaking of Stories, VNA Health and the Santa Barbara County Youth Performing Arts Center, among others. Through her non-profit work, Pamela strives to make the performing arts accessible to all — as a means of vital creative expression while providing an invaluable foundation for virtually all walks of life — with a special focus on bringing opportunities to marginalized communities. Pamela teaches acting at Playhouse West in Los Angeles, and she continues to be a prolific narrator in the world of audiobooks.
Junious Brickhouse
Junious L. Brickhouse is an internationally recognized scholar practitioner dedicated to the sustainability of Hip Hop Cultures. As a researcher, folklorist, cultural ambassador, mentor, and logistician, Junious currently serves as Director of Next Level, driving the strategic direction of the program’s cultural diplomacy and global conflict transformation initiatives, activating 30+ years of community engagement in over 60 countries. Junious presents and teaches at colleges and universities, using an experiential approach to teaching Movement of the African American South, Hip Hop Culture as well as Street Dance movement and the cultural context from which it evolves. Advocating for greater inclusion of Urban Dance and Music Cultures as American Folklife Traditions on a national scale, Junious serves as Co-Chair of the Cultural Diversity Committee at the American Folklore Society, as well as an Executive Board Member at the National Council for the Traditional Arts. Junious also conducts independent research into those cultural traditions whose influence is reflected in urban dance culture. From Ring Shouts and Acoustic Country Blues to Hip Hop, understanding the nature and meaning of these art forms and their influences, is what motivates this artist.
Debbie Liu
Debbie Liu has 15 years of experience leading enterprise, infrastructure, and security teams in Silicon Valley. She builds functions primarily responsible for operational excellence, organizational management, and program management. She has her MS in Cybersecurity Risk & Strategy from New York University and her BA in Psychology from University of Southern California. She is a lifelong student of movement, having trained in jazz, ballet, classical Chinese dance, and kung fu growing up in southern California. Debbie now dances in Oakland, CA with hip hop choreography teams Groove Generation and Groove Theory and trains in Chicago Footwork.
Kenlo Key
Artist Kent Jones (Kenlo Key) is a Chicagoland based multi-medium artist with 20+ years of work in the creative field. He currently works as a brand strategist working with brands from start-ups to cooperate.
He is also recognized as a fine artist most notable for mixed medium artwork, drawing influence from social economic events and pop culture. Noted as a child prodigy, he rose to local fame in his hometown by winning the top prize in the City of Country Club Hills Flag Contest designing the current flag of the city in 1995. As a teen Kent would be immersed in the Chicago footwork culture, becoming a notable member of the legendary dance group Total Impact. In this group he became a leading performer and contributor. His dealings as a dancer influenced him to create the media brand Chicagofootworkdotcom, that highlights dancers of the specific dance style worldwide that he currently operates. Recently he has created and illustrated designs for various celebrity clients. Clients such as Kevin Hart, Shaquille O’Neal, Kylie Richards, Monica, Christina Milian, Yung Miami and a host of other celebrity clientele. Kent has also worked on designing promotional items for Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate’s production “Bronzeville” an audio series which was debuted in 2017. Talent, networking ablities and work ethic allowed Kent to establish himself as a sought after artist, attaining 300+ clients/art collectors nationally thru his design agency Jones Corner Store LLC.
Anthony Denaro “YNOT”
Anthony Denaro, M.F.A, aka YNOT, explores the design, sustainability, history, and community of Hip Hop. Through a futurist lens, YNOT’s work manifests in dance, typography, music, and architecture. YNOT’s reputation in the dance world precedes him. As a B-boy, he’s traveled the world extensively judging battles, teaching workshops, and building cultural awareness. In YNOT’s vision of the sustainability of Hip Hop, teaching and mentorship are paramount. Currently, his classes can be found on a workshop basis internationally, as well as online and in person through University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Arizona State University, and Texas Tech where he facilitates Breaking Technique, Stylized Letterform Design and Sound Design for Electronic Music Production. Alongside his dance and professorship, YNOT both physically and digitally creates two and three dimensional visual works that construct a possible future of the Hip Hop aesthetic. YNOT is presently based in Texas, is self-represented and takes clients on a limited basis.
Ernesto Durán
Ernesto Durán graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a double major in History and Spanish Literature, and he also holds a master’s degree in International Studies from the same institution. Mr. Durán currently serves as the Ventura County Office of Education Director and Regional Lead for Expanded Learning Programs in the state of California providing technical assistance for Expanded Learning programs across four counties, serving nearly 30,000 students. Mr. Durán has written two studies examining health disparities for farm workers and indigenous populations of Mexico living and working in the U.S., and a subsequent study examining the prevention of health disparities for children exposed to violence in underserved communities. Additionally, he has spoken at multiple events, including education and government conferences, such as the Spanish-language forum Muestra Esto, held by Univision. This forum brought together news media and mental health professionals from around the Los Angeles area to discuss the issues related to mental health for the local Latino community. Most recently Mr. Durán contributed his expertise to Dr. Amy Cranston’s book, Creating Social and Emotional Learning Environments, recently released by Shell Education Publishing.
Advisory Board
Lisa Phelps
Lisa Phelps is an attorney, mediator, and conflict management specialist who thrives on helping organizations and humans transform their costly, stressful, and time-consuming conflicts into opportunity, progress, and peace of mind. For over 20 years, she has helped large corporations, small businesses, non-profits, schools, families, community organizations, and individuals navigate conflict and resolve disputes. She has an extensive legal background in labor and employment law, and experience advising clients on corporate, intellectual property, securities compliance, and real estate matters. Through the years, she has provided pro bono dispute resolution services to artists, screenwriters, choreographers, authors, illustrators, and painters. She graduated from Vanderbilt Law School where she had the honor of serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review. She also holds a B.A. in History from UC Berkeley (where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa) and a Diplôme d'Études de la Langue Française Pratique from the Université de Montpellier III Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France. She is currently pursuing her LL.M. (Master in Laws) in Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University. Before law school, she taught American Business Methods, American Geopolitics, and Business English at Académie Mercure Ecole Supérieure de Commerce International in Montpellier, France. She also served as the Assistant Director of the Savannah OnStage music festival in Savannah, GA. Lisa also loves to dance and has studied and performed in a variety of genres, including tap, jazz, ballet, contemporary, Afro-Brazilian, cabaret, and aerial (silks and lyra).