LEADERSHIP
MARIBEL (MARI) GONZALEZ | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Maribel (Mari) Valdez Gonzalez is Native/Xicana of Wixárika and of Spanish descent. Her grandma’s are from the Mother Mountains of Sierra de Morones in Zacatecas, Mexico. She is an educator, keynote speaker, published author, and 2022 Adding Voices Express: Speak Your Truth award winner. Mari has been honored to work with youth and adults to decolonize and humanize pedagogical practices, social structures, and belief systems in classrooms and beyond as an instructional coach and as an educational consultant. Mari has collaborated with and offered curricular guidance to organizations such as the Women's March, March for our Lives, Earth Guardians, Families Belong Together, IllumiNative, She Can STEM, Protect the Sacred, Free Migration Project, the Washington Bus, Newsela, City University of Seattle, and many more.
Mari is passionate about creating academically engaging learning experiences through a culturally sustaining environment that fosters empowerment, healing, and radical kindness. Committed to creating systems centered on equity and justice, she was a member of the Antiracist Arts Education Task Force for Visual & Performing Arts for Seattle Public Schools. She co-authored the Roots Framework, used to create antiracist and culturally responsive classrooms using the decolonial act of reflection. Additionally, Mari is the author of the book series for children, Social Justice and You (Capstone Publishers, 2023).
FRANCESCA BETANCOURT | DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
Francesca (Cessa) Betancourt is an administrator, actor, intimacy director, and educator. Her work is based in social/emotional learning, trauma informed facilitation, social justice, compassion, autonomy, and physical storytelling. She is the artistic director of a recurring storytelling event and podcast called "she is FIERCE: stories from the female and genderqueer perspective" and is a founding member of HERON, an interdisciplinary theatre ensemble. Cessa holds two BAs from Western Washington University in Theatre Arts and Sociology. and has trained in Applied Theatre at City University of New York.
SHALONIA WONCH | DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Shalonia (she/her) is a Chicago-Based arts organizer and teaching artist with a wide variety of artistic expressions. Having started teaching through developing and leading leadership workshops for the University of Idaho, Shalonia has found a passion for infusing her work as an artist, educator, and leader into her teaching philosophy. Shalonia is dedicated to working with youth to help them understand themselves and the world in which they are inheriting through arts education. She holds a M.Ed. in Curriculum and instruction, as well as, a BFA in Theatre from the University of Idaho. In addition to her work with Intiman, Shalonia can be found in a variety of classrooms, working as a teaching artist for Seattle Rep. and as a Resident Director & Stage Manager for Bellevue Youth Theatre.
GABRIEL DIAZ | ASSESSMENT MANAGER
Gabriel-Bello Diaz is a Puerto Rican artist, education activist and community organizer. Diaz has spent his career flexibly navigating through various mediums, projects and initiatives with this same focus on highlighting underrepresented voices through multidisciplinary collaboration. One of his techniques as an artist is combining 3D printing and laser cut technology with leather to create custom leather products for clients including: accessories, jewelry, bags and various garments. Bridging his skills in fashion, writing and community organizing he launched a publication, AntiSocial, late 2019 that highlights artists telling their own stories on navigating Seattle through various art industries. This collection of perspectives are accompanied with photoshoots and the writers / artists as models wearing local brands. From cover to cover this fashion editorial speaks loudly on the diversity Seattle has to offer and the beautiful behind the scenes collaborations with community members.
With his background in architecture and robotic engineering he has developed educational programs and curriculums that encourage students to pursue a variety of STEAM careers. Diaz has been published in several books for his research in robotics and architecture and has grown this part of his career into working with the city and other community partners to expand the resources and classroom philosophy in teaching.
Working with Seattle Public School and The Office of Art and Culture through Creative Advantage he has managed projects and professional development workshops through art integration with a variety of Seattle businesses. From small businesses to individual artists and community organizers. As Program Director of Shunpike he supports many initiatives for artists and creative entrepreneurs in the state of Washington while continuing to build community through his own practice.
STEFAN RICHMOND | COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA MANAGER + TEACHING ARTIST
Stefan (he/they) is a Colorado native, Seattle based actor/movement/performance artist & educator. After graduating from the University of Northern Colorado with a B.A. in Theatre Arts and Dance, He made his way to the PNW through the Intiman Emerging Artist Program in 2016 and has been a full-time artist in Seattle. As a creative collaborator and storyteller, he believes in the power of storytelling and its ability to heal. The projects they seek to create and collaborate on examine and explore the intersections of stories and emotions related to physical space, natural movement within the body, and language/text. Some Seattle credits include Salvage Rituals (Tim Smith Stewart/Jeffery Azevedo), multiple educational touring shows with Book-It Theatre, Romeo y Julieta (Sophie Franco/Seattle Shakespeare), Black Bois (Dani Tirrel+Congregation), Time to Tell (Shawn Johnson),Pylon III (Tectonic Marrow Society), The Earth Shakes (Heron Ensemble), Carry We Openly (Amador/Stokes) and The House of Dinah (Andrew Russell/Dani Tirrell/Jerome Parker.)
HANNAH VOTEL | DATA/ASSESSMENT ASSISTANT + TEACHING ARTIST
Hannah Votel (they/them) is a Seattle-based actor, writer, and director. They graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater from Cornish College of the Arts in the Fall of 2021, and have been working as a teaching artist both at SES and Seattle Rep throughout their first year post-grad. Hannah began working with South End Stories in the summer of 2021 at Lowell Elementary, and has continued on with their partnership taking on new roles and loving every minute of it. This company has provided them with a new appreciation and passion for foundational arts education, and they are forever grateful for the opportunity to be working alongside such amazing artists and humans. (Hannah is currently performing in Dacha Theater’s production of An Incomplete List of all the Things I’m Going to Miss When the World is No Longer.)