ABOUT US

Nadia is an intermodal artist and community arts facilitator who has been working with the Creative Empowerment Model since 2003. She specializes in conflict transformation, anti-oppression work, and creative risk-taking. She holds a Master’s degree in Imaginative Education focused on the use of metaphor in teaching. She is currently a PhD candidate at the European Graduate School studying the ethics and aesthetics of time in group dynamics. Nadia was born in Saskatoon, Canada, grew up in Ottawa, matured in Vancouver, and currently lives in Montreal; all of which she recognizes as the traditional territory of the indigenous peoples who are its rightful stewards. Nadia is moderately obsessed with art manicures, automatic drawing, and how dust dances in sunbeams.

Ella is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, creative facilitator, photographer, educator, and equity consultant based in Toronto. She holds a Masters of Arts in Education with extensive training in creative facilitation. She teaches at the University of Toronto and is the founder of Black Women Film! Canada. Ella’s work has been shown in galleries, public spaces, and film festivals across North America and Europe.

Claire was born in Canada and considers herself part of the social fabric of South Africa, since making it her home in 2012. She has a background in Anthropology and Gender Studies and is passionate about exploring our collective humanity. Claire works from the heart to hold safer spaces for individual and collective creativity and personal development. Since 2016, she has been actively training as a Wellness Practitioner in integrative trauma healing modalities. She brings this training to the Creative Empowerment Model through reflective, meditative, and process-oriented arts-based experiences at camp, and by creating a fun and supportive atmosphere in trainings. Claire is committed to creating more accessible spaces for transformation and growth across South Africa.

Abdullah is a singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and a lead singer and guitarist in his Luxor-based folklore band, Acadia. He has a degree in Tourism and Hotel Management. He began working with Creative Empowerment Facilitation in 2015 and became a trainer in 2016. Abdullah has led numerous trainings for educators, artists and young professionals and has led multiple creative youth workshops. He combines his passion for music and his band tours with his creative facilitation work at the Funtasia Centre in Luxor’s West Bank.

Andrew Nalani is passionate about the design and evaluation of transformative educational programs that promote positive development in youth and adults. He has been involved with Partners for Youth Empowerment since 2012 as an international facilitator and lead-facilitator for the Power of Hope youth camp. He co-founded the African Youth Leadership Experience camp for youth from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania based on the Creative Empowerment Model. Andrew has completed a Master of Education in Human Development and Psychology at Harvard, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Applied Psychology at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University.

Stephanie is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and Creative Empowerment facilitator. She has over 10 years experience facilitating in a variety of settings in London, across the UK and internationally. The focus of her work is on youth engagement particularly with minority groups. She is currently project coordinator for Amy’s Yard at the Amy Winehouse Foundation, where she supports 16 emerging artists through a robust program of artistic development. She recently designed and delivered “Skip to the Beat” a new 12-week program for the Young Urban Arts Foundation that targets young people suffering with an array of mental health challenges to support them to manage and improve their mental well being.

For over 15 years, Aaron has worked to educate, empower, and entertain to youth and families around the world. He teaches chorus and drumming in Oregon and Washington through his 1 World Chorus, Young Audiences, and the Right Brain Initiative. Aaron also works with Ben & Jerry’s, The Bob Marley Foundation and Partners for Youth Empowerment to organize the One Love Youth Camp in Kingston, Jamaica.

Devon works as a facilitator, trainer and mediator guided by the values of community, social justice and dignity. She has designed, facilitated, and managed experiential-learning programs for numerous organizations in the US and abroad. She works with groups and teams and also offers training and consultation for educators, team leaders, and other social service professionals. Devon currently teaches “Education as Empowerment” for the University of Washington’s Pipeline Project. Devon holds a BA in Sociology and a Graduate Certificate in Restorative Justice and is currently pursuing a Masters in Social Work. Her long-time studies in the arts inspire her to use artistic mediums to help participants cultivate personal awareness, effective communication, and leadership skills.

Herman is a Ugandan artistic consultant, creative facilitator, and performer with over 12 years experience working with classical and East African music, dance, and drama to support youth development initiatives. Herman currently works with the Centre for Creativity and Capacity Building, where he builds a capacity of facilitators, artists and professionals through creative group facilitation and interactive team building activities. Outside of work he enjoys watching football, listening to and making music, traveling, and regularly performing as a tenor with his church choir.

Melanie (Colombia, Guatemala, Canada) is a social artist known for her participatory mobile murals. She invites individuals, communities, and institutions to work together on specific social issues by creating public art through collaboratively participatory formats. With a BFA in visual arts and other trainings in arts therapeutics, she has engaged more than 1500 people in creating mobile murals, and facilitated more than 1000 workshops on creativity, belonging and self-discovery to diverse populations.

Voula was born in Greece and lived in Canada as an immigrant for many years. This experience shaped her compassion for immigrants and refugees. She has a BSc in research psychology from the University of Toronto and an MA in education psychology. Returning to Greece, she started working with children with learning differences and counselling their families. Subsequently, she trained in human rights education, peace education, and drama in education and realized the power of the arts in addressing social issues. Her aim is to assist students and teachers become aware of social and environmental issues, while developing their critical thinking and empathy. Two years ago, she co-designed and coordinated in Athens a non-formal education program for 200 refugee children aged 6 to 12.

Soasis has worked for over two decades as a healing and social artist. She is a trained Holistic Health Practitioner, a certified teacher of the 5Rhythms movement meditation practice, and a facilitator and trainer with Power of Hope and IndigenEYEZ. She currently lives in Toronto, Canada on the the traditional territory of the Huron Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. She specializes in Sacredplay, a way of experiencing life with curiosity and a willingness to learn and improvise.

Mona grew up in the West Bank of Luxor, Egypt. In 2001, she received a degree in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University and worked as a teacher in local schools and nurseries for over 10 years. Mona joined the Elisa Sednaoui Foundation’s Funtasia Team in 2015, having led several youth workshops alongside national and international artists and creatives and numerous classes in Funtasia’s educational after-school programs for young people. Mona became a Creative Facilitation trainer in 2017, and has been leading trainings in cities across Egypt.

Rup is an interdisciplinary artist and facilitator residing on unceded Coast Salish Territories, Vancouver, BC. Rup’s work meets at the intersection of social justice and the arts. He has created and led hundreds of programs and trainings with youth and adults around the globe. He leads programs with the Access to Media Education Society, Power of Hope, Reel Youth, the Sarah McLachlan School of Music, plus more. Rup co-founded Metaphor, a program dedicated to bringing hip hop workshops and performances into schools, detention centers, and rural communities across Turtle Island.

Maria is an intercultural trainer and consultant, specialized in intercultural communication and diversity management. She is passionate about enhancing intercultural understanding, inclusivity and social justice. For the last 15 years she has designed and deliver cross-cultural trainings to a wide range of organizations in the social and private sectors, as well as in academia.

She has an MA in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University, Massachusetts, U.S., a B.A. in Journalism and a post graduate degree in International Development from Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.

She grew up in a town not far from Barcelona where she currently lives. She spent a year in Tanzania studying the Swahili language and culture. She also lived in the U.S. for three years and in the U.K. for a couple of years.

She loves experiencing and learning about different cultures, as well as engaging with people from diverse backgrounds and identities. 

Thomas hails from Kirkland, Washington, and loves music, theater, dance, and all forms of liberation. He has worked extensively with the Creative Empowerment Model both at Power of Hope Camps and as a theater teaching artist in schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2015, he co-founded Left Bass, a global music dance party fundraiser, supporting organizing efforts for racial and economic justice in Oakland, California. His mission is to help groups and individuals move beyond barriers to connect deeply with their internal lives, each other, and the world around them.

David has over 12 years experience in youth work, community development, and social entrepreneurship. He is a founder of the Center for Creativity and Capacity Building where he builds a capacity of facilitators, artists, and professionals through creative group facilitation and interactive team building activities. He worked with Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung (DSW)-Uganda as the National Team Coordinator for Capacity Building and with the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development as the Youth Truck Coordinator. He also worked as the Country Director of In Movement: Art for Social Change.

Mari is committed to creative empowerment, specifically, with young people. Mari works with the creative empowerment model in their work as a lead facilitator with Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) and their work as the Youth Development Leader for Urban Artworks. In addition to creative empowerment work, Mari also works as a graphic facilitator and recorder with Culture Shift focusing on climate resilience. When not empowering young people through the arts or facilitating, Mari can be found painting walls around the city or in their studio.

Devin Majkut is an advocate, facilitator, youth worker, social worker, and activist who is consistently finding ways to bring her love for creativity into her work. She works for multiple non-profits in the Seattle area, and seeks to give herself wholly to the people, communities, and causes that she is a part of. Devin is a mental health and chemical dependency professional who received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington. Devin is the Social Worker in Residence at Young Women Empowered in Seattle, WA and provides risk management and social work consultation to Partners for Youth Empowerment programs.

Hanif is a nationally-recognized facilitator, trainer, speaker, and organizational development consultant with over 20 years of experience, expertise, and commitment to advancing equity and cultural competency. He is co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Equity and Inclusion (CEI), an organization focused on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion efforts both locally and nationally. Prior to forming CEI, Hanif co-founded the Heart of Facilitation training with Partners for Youth Empowerment and has served as lead facilitator of the program for 14 years.

Mutya Macatumpag is an interdisciplinary artist who interweaves music, movement, theatre and visual arts within her professional practice as a creator, performer, facilitator and event producer. She is enlivened by opportunities to explore authentic exchange, leadership, social justice, and people empowerment. Mutya has worked with a variety of intergenerational, intercultural and youth focused organizations across BC, Quebec and the US and hopes to continue on this path of collaborating, teaching, studying and performing on an International scale.

Xoli has been Teaching Environmental Education in primary schools for over a decade using the Creative Empowerment Model to encourage learners to care for, protect and take personal action toward themselves, the earth and others. She is now a teacher, mentor and facilitator. She founded Zithande Young Women’s Empowerment, which uses arts, ritual, dance and council circles to provide a conscious passage for girls as they move from childhood to adolescence. Her passion is to inspire health and a deep acceptance of self and others. Since 2014 she has been working with 5Rhythms Movement Meditation. She encourages those she works with to live from their hearts, listen to their intuition and trust their body’s wisdom.

Reid Kuennen believes our communities crave the normalization and celebration of non-dominant identities through the power of storytelling. An experienced filmmaker, Reid focuses her efforts on teaching the next generation of filmmakers and using video as a resistance tool. As a mentor/instructor, Reid works to cultivate safer, collaborative spaces where we build one another up to be our most creative, clever, and courageous selves.

Grace works with the Centre for Creativity and Capacity Development to facilitate team building, university student orientations, youth camps, and strategic planning sessions with organizations like Ashoka Africa, Peace Corps Uganda, Windle International Uganda, and Friends’ Consult among others. She is an arts educator, who works passionately with dance/movement and all the other performance arts as tools for transformation. She was stage manager and dance/movement choreographer for the famed Silent Voices Uganda, a female-founded theatre company that tackles controversial social issues. She is Assistant Director-Uganda of the NYU Dance Study Abroad exchange program, Assistant Artist Director of Okulamba Dance Theater Company, and Artist Consultant with House of Talent East Africa.

Sarah is dedicated to creating dynamic group spaces where self expression and creativity can blossom. With a lifelong background in visual art, music, drama, dance and creative writing, Sarah believes it’s entirely possible and enriching to integrate creative arts into practical everyday life and teaching. Her personal coaching business, The Magic Well, offers organizational strategies for creative types. Sarah holds an Honours BA in Indigenous Studies and Fine Arts and has a 20 year background in youth work and facilitation. Sarah is currently the Executive Director of Power of Hope Canada.

Silvia is the founder of MovingInto. She is a creative facilitator, yoga teacher, and movement practitioner specializing in helping people and organisations access more creativity and wellbeing through embodied practices which draw upon the full range of our body’s intelligence. She is a senior facilitator for PYE where she has led workshops, trainings, and conferences around the globe with a diverse range of organisations. She has also led PYE’s Creative Learning initiative in the UK and has trained hundreds of teachers in PYE’s Creative Empowerment Model.

Nilisha Mohapatra is a facilitator, learning designer, and human development expert, who creates imaginative, inclusive learning spaces. She specializes in using experiential practices to build 21^st century skills in young people and adults, around the globe. Be it working with non-profit teams, executives of Fortune 500 companies, youth from marginalized backgrounds, or teachers, Nilisha’s practice bridges the worlds of depth and play. An artist herself, she is passionate about helping people re-imagine their creativity. Nilisha believes that our resilience, imagination, and the ability to connect with each other, is what will help us thrive in this compelling world.

Khari was born and raised in Detroit and currently resides in Vancouver, BC. It was over a decade ago in the Pacific Northwest where he began his journey learning from and working with internationally renowned facilitators and artists. His passion for being of service to communities is clear, both in his musical life and in his facilitation work. Khari balances his time each year performing and working with communities as a facilitator. He has worked throughout Canada and internationally in Australia, The United States, The United Kingdom, Jamaica and Uganda.

Kathy is a PYE lead facilitator and youth worker based in the UK. She leads CF1, CF2, and Creative Classrooms trainings in Spanish and English and creative community model youth camps. She has worked with the Creative Empowerment Model since 2009, implementing this style of facilitation in many settings, including an international youth club in Brighton, UK creating a safe space for young refugees and asylum seekers and local young people aged 14 – 25. Kathy represented PYE on a 3-year European partnership about music therapy for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. She specialises in community singing, forum theatre and participatory approaches.

Hazel Bell-Koski is a self-directed, Metis woman of mixed Anishinaabe, Finnish, Irish, and English heritage. Hazel was born and raised on the unceded Coast Salish Territories. She is grateful to have been mentored by mountains, ferns, eagles, bears, cedars, and slugs. She has a BFA in Film Studies from Ryerson Polytechnic University and has maintained a multi-disciplinary arts practice for over twenty years, including filmmaking, painting, textiles, installations, public interventions, creative facilitation, and stencil making. She currently works with an organization called, IndigenEYEZ, where she uses land based learning and the creative arts to empower indigenous youth and adults throughout British Columbia.

Cecilia is an Ashoka fellow and has been working with social projects since 1998. She spent nine years leading a Brazilian nonprofit focused on community-based tourism and founded Arteria, a social business that uses the Creative Empowerment model to develop the full potential of youth and teachers in Brazil. Cecilia loves to incorporate songs and dances from Brazilian native communities in her work.

Julia Pond is a dance artist and facilitator living in London. She has worked with the Creative Empowerment Model since 2009. She has a particular interest in contemplative practice and the arts. She is a founding member of the Art Monastery Project, where she developed and delivered a number of workshops fusing movement and contemplative practice. Julia continues performance and choreography work, both freelance and with her ensemble Duncan Dance Project. To keep things spicy, she teaches a bit of yoga and leads editorial content for Skyscanner.

Eric Mulholland is an actor, educator, facilitator and all around creative person who has worked with groups of all ages for over 25 years. He studied theatre at the University of LaVerne where he specialized in Creative Dramatics and Acting. Professionally, Eric has acted in regional children’s theatre companies and has appeared in over 50 plays. He has taught drama in regional acting conservatories, schools and community programs around the world. Eric helped launch Partners for Youth Empowerment and has traveled extensively as a global trainer for the organization. He enjoys helping teachers and educators discover ways to incorporate drama into their curriculum. Whether through improvisation or focused theatre games, Eric is an advocate for creating fun and vibrant learning environments. He is currently a Master’s degree student at the European Graduate School, studying Expressive Arts Therapy.

Themis founded the educational organization Flow Athens to give form to the way he imagines inspiring learning. He experimented with teaching and developed a sense for education early on, by growing up and working at the private school founded by his grandmother. He studied Mechanical Engineering at NTUA, and later delved into human psychology through additional Pedagogical studies. He then obtained an MBA with distinction from INSEAD. After a long journey of career exploration, he is back to where it all began: developing initiatives for meaningful education to meet the changing needs of people.

Adam is the Founder and CEO of LATE NITE ART®, a creative experience lab that drives innovation and builds empathy inside of companies and institutions. As a facilitator, he trains leaders to become more adaptive, connected, and creative. As an experience designer, he creates learning spaces that help his clients shift their team’s culture, and break routine ways of thinking. His clients include universities and schools across the US, Instagram, Google, the Mexico Tourism Board, and the US Probation Office.

Madhu is a theatre-based facilitator and founder of Playspace, a Bangalore-based organization that offers theatre-based learning experiences for groups, communities, and organisations. She is passionate about the power of theatre and the creative arts to promote personal transformation, change, and authentic leadership in organisations. She is trained in applied theatre methodologies like Psychodrama, Theatre of the Oppressed, Playback Theatre and Improvisational Theatre. She runs a storytelling intiative for adults called By The River to connect with the power and healing in sharing of stories, and is a member of the Improv Comedy Bangalore ensemble.

Rebekka believes in the power of the collective voice and regularly bears witness to the transformative magic that happens when people sing together. Trained as a singer, group facilitator and professional coach, Rebekka has spent over 15 years guiding individuals and groups in explorations of voice, creativity, and justice. She has worked in public, nonprofit, and education sectors designing and facilitating experiential workshops that inspire people to learn, deepen their relationships with others, and take action on the issues they care about. Rebekka leads vocal improvisation workshops throughout the country and directs the Seattle community choir, Path with Art Singers.

Sara brings 20 years of facilitation work to the design and delivery of group learning experiences. Her facilitation style awakens courage, care, and creativity, ever focused on justice and the nourishing of individual and collective health while having a fantastic time. Her personal artistic background comes from circus arts, performance poetry, hip hop music, and the leadership of community choirs. Her work is infused with the brilliant skill sets of the artists she has been fortunate enough to collaborate with in youth empowerment work across nations and over the years. Sara is a professional paramedic now living in Havana, Cuba where she studies medicine.

Gani is a filmmaker, storyteller, musician, and facilitator who creates inspiring documentary films. He particularly enjoys working with people and capturing real life moments of connection. Gani was introduced to the Creative Empowerment Model in 2011. He now works internationally with Partners for Youth Empowerment and a variety of other youth leadership groups. Raised in Cornwall, California, and Hawaii, Gani now lives in the rolling hills of Sussex, UK.

Claudia Pineda, MSW, works with youth and families involved with the justice system. She surrounds social justice with a focus on racial, gender, economic, and sexual equity. Since 2014, when she first became involved in Partners for Youth Empowerment and the Creative Community Model, her life has been transformed. She now connects the Creative Community Model with people who are socially marginalized and seek empowerment. Claudia has been inspired by the healing and transformation she has witnessed her participants experience.

Hatem began using the Creative Empowerment model in 2015 in Egypt, and he participated in the 2017 Imagination Power of Hope camp in Canada. Hatem’s key skills include his awareness, his ability to listen, and his passion for finding new activities that create connection between participants and improve the group dynamic. Hatem uses song, story, and poetry to build communities where everyone’s talents and gifts are acknowledged.

Ed Wade-Martins is a creative facilitator, musician, sailor, carpenter, dreamer, adventurer and mentor from the UK. Ed has been leading creative workshops and facilitating groups of adults, children and teenagers for nearly 20 years in all sorts of settings. He leads international trainings with PYE Global across Europe and Africa. In addition, he is a founder and co-director of Movingsounds, an arts organization based on the belief that we really can bring about positive change through working with the creative arts.

Hailing from South Africa, Xola is the founder and director of Imithayelanga Youth Development, an organization that works with orphaned and vulnerable youth in rural areas. He’s practiced the Creative Community Model since 2010, and he’s been a leader of CF1, CF2 and camp, and co-facilitator of Art of Facilitation. Xola speaks English, Xhosa, Isizulu and Afrikaans. He currently lives in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where he uses theatre as his primary art form, and integrates other arts through his facilitation.

Hanan grew up in the West Bank of Luxor, Egypt. She dreams of making her community a better place, especially for young women. At 19, Hanan attended the Creative Facilitation Training and then joined the Elisa Sednaoui Foundation youth work team. Funtasia’s approach to youth, education, and teamwork inspired her with a new vision of the future. She hopes to plant the seed of artistic expression and empathy in children and younger generations, so that they have a better chance of achieving their dreams. Hanan has led several trainings and creative workshops with local and international artists in Luxor.

Mary lives in Uganda, where she has spent more than 20 years as a professional English language and literature teacher in secondary school. Due to her desire to see youth grow into their creative power, she works with a variety of youth camps around Uganda.

Alan Wong is a facilitator and poet who has dedicated his life to helping youth, educators, and communities grow. He is the former Program Director and lead facilitator at Power of Hope and founder of Alan Wong: Facilitation and Training. Over the last 15 years, Alan has led trainings for educators throughout the US, and internationally in India, Korea, Canada, Brazil, Myanmar, Ecuador, and Thailand. His ultimate goal is to help build healthy, connected communities where every individual is treated with dignity and respect, and has the opportunity to realize their full potential.

Thandile is the founder of Goof Edutainment, a Cape Town organization that brings creative facilitation to youth and adults. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Bright Sparks, which helps teachers use creativity to enliven their classrooms. He has a certificate in Child and Youth Care Work with the National Association for Child Care Workers and has done extensive formal training in community development and facilitation. These include Emotional Intelligence with EQ Proficiency, Partners for Youth Empowerment Creative Facilitation, and Art of Facilitation with Ilka Stein Consultancy. Thandile designs and facilitates youth camps and programs and teambuilding for staff. He trains and mentors facilitators using the Creative Empowerment Model.

Brigid Tierney is a fiery Montrealer turned West Coast dreamer turned Toronto transplant. She has been working in the creative facilitation community in many capacities and found a profound connection and hard-to-name feeling in the air that has grown louder and more beautiful ever since. She has a Master’s in cultural studies and communication, likes to fight the good fight, and works at the intersection of film, community, justice, and youth engagement.