Naomi Beckwith is Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago who focuses on conceptual practices in contemporary art. Her master's thesis on Adrian Piper and Carrie Mae Weems earned Distinction from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Prior to joining the MCA, Beckwith was a project coordinator for BAMart at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a Helena Rubenstein Critical Studies Fellow at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, the Whitney Lauder Curatorial Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania and, most immediately, Associate Curator at The Studio Museum in Harlem. Beckwith has curated and co-curated several exhibitions at the ICA in Philadelphia and in New York at Cuchifritos, Artists Space and at the Studio Museum where she also managed the Artists-in-Residence program. Her exhibitions and work have been featured in The New York Times, Artforum, T Magazine, Uptown, CODE Magazine, and Ebony Magazine where she was recently listed as a Top 100 Leader in Arts and Letters. Beckwith was a fall 2008 grantee of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and was named the 2011 Leader to Watch by ArtTable. In addition to her curatorial work and service to the Laundromat Project, Beckwith sits on the board of ResArtis (Amsterdam) and has served on several host committees such as RUSH Philanthropic Gold Rush Awards, the BAMart Annual Auction, Triple Canopy and the Art for Africa auction for the Africa Foundation.

Stephanie Dinkins is a visual artist whose public projects, installations, videos and still images seek balance amongst the mind, signifying body and social perception. She has exhibited her work in New York, Atlanta, Miami, Baltimore, Detroit, Washington DC, Dallas, Germany, Denmark, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Her work has been included in group and solo exhibitions in a wide variety of arts venues including Institute of Contemporary Art (Dunaujvaros, Hungary; Gallery 138 (New York, NY), Herning Kunst Museum (Herning, Denmark), Spellman College Museum of Fine Art (Atlanta, Georgia); Spedition (Bremen, Germany); Studio Museum (Harlem, NY), Bronx Museum of Art (Bronx, NY), Jamaica Center for the Arts, ( Queens, NY) and the corner of Malcolm X Boulevard and Putnam Avenue, (Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The Puffin Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Lef Foundation, Create Change, Approach Art Association and Residency Unlimited have all generously supported her art practice. She received an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and a BS in Marketing and Advertising from Syracuse University. She attended the, International Center of Photography, Bronx Museum Artist in the Marketplace Program and Whitney Independent Study Program. Ms. Dinkins is currently Associate Professor and MFA Program Director in the Department of Art at Stony Brook University.

Carlos Martinezis a Colombian-born mixed-media artist based in Jackson Heights, Queens. His work ranges from urban interventions to community projects exploring issues of identity, gentrification, environmental justice and social invisibility. He is a former Create Change artist-in-residence at The Laundromat Project where he created "The Photobooth Without Borders."

Carlos serves on the board of Green Map System and The Jackson Heights Beautification Group. Carlos holds a BS in Environmental Administration and is currently working as the Catalyst Program Coordinator at Partnerships for Parks. His role is to support community efforts to reclaim waterfront parks as community spaces.
Photo Credit: JohnGalayda

Chris Montgomery is an Audit Director at WPP, a publicly traded advertising holding company, where he manages operations, finance, and compliance reviews for a portfolio of advertising, media and communications entities. Prior to WPP, Mr. Montgomery was a management consultant specializing in business process improvement, outsourcing strategy, and enterprise transformation. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA, where he chairs the fundraising effort to support memberships and programming for youth and families in need. He is a committed supporter of all things artistic, progressive, and that make the world turn. Mr. Montgomery holds a degree in Society and Economy from Cornell University, and an MBA from Columbia University.

Kavita Rajanna lives in Jackson Heights with her partner and two children. She is a Program Officer for FQXi, a nonprofit science foundation. Since 1995, she has worked with many community organizations, such as Youth Communication: Metro Atlanta, Highlander Research and Education Center, and the Asian American Writers' Workshop, as an organizer, cultural worker, and program developer. Most recently, she was Program Director at the Leeway Foundation, where she developed and implemented new grant programs focused on social change through art. She is also a board member of the KRS Foundation, a community-development organization working in small villages near Bangalore (India). Kavita has a B.A. in sociology and women's studies from Emory University and a M.A. in culture and politics from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Studies.

Emma Taati is Assistant to the Director in the Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). She joined SSRC in 2002 after graduating from Vassar College with concentrations in political science and women's studies. Taati is a consultant to the Africana Studies Group at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and has worked in similar capacities with the Applied Research Center, the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University and Teacher's College. Her principal areas of focus include migration histories, gender and sexual identity among African Diaspora populations.

Jacquette M. Timmons is the founder and CEO of Sterling Investment Management, an investment education and financial coaching firm. She has worked in the investment industry for nearly 20 years, dedicating the last ten to teaching intelligent people how to be smarter with their money. Ms. Timmons holds an MBA in finance from Fordham and a BS in marketing from FIT. She is a member of the NY Chapter of the National Black MBA Association and is on the Board of Directors for Non-Profit Connection, an organization that provides management assistance to non-profit organizations. She is also a former Board member of the NY Chapter of the National Association of Securities Professionals, an organization she helped to form.

Risë Wilson
Founder
The Laundromat Project, Inc.

Risë holds a BA in African-American Studies from Columbia, and an MA in Africana Studies from NYU. After conceiving the idea for The Laundromat Project in 1999, Risë tailored her career path to bring the organization to fruition. She gained a practical education in Organizational Excellence and Arts Administration by working for institutions like ARAMARK, the Painted Bride, MoMA, and ICP. She also became a printmaker, working primarily in linoleum and silkscreen. Recognized as one of the "World's Best Emerging Social Entrepreneurs" Risë is a 2004 Echoing Green fellow and prior recipient of fellowships from both CAA and NYU. Risë periodically serves as a consultant to other non-profits, offering expertise in Visual Literacy, Curriculum Development, and Strategic Planning. She also teaches at the Parsons School of Design, helping product design students apply their talents to the public sphere.