
Mission &
Vision
Our Team
Photo: Gowri Savoor
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BOARD of DIRECTORS | NETAC STEERING GROUP | SUPPORT STAFF
STAFF
Click an image for bio and contact info.

Eric is widely referred to as one of the nation’s best teachers of creativity, and the father of the teaching artist profession. In 2015 he was awarded the nation's highest honor for an arts educator (the Arts Education Leadership Award by Americans For The Arts), and was named one of the 25 most important people in the U.S. arts. In arts learning, he has taught at Juilliard (13 years), Stanford University, NYU, Tanglewood and Lincoln Center Institute (35 years), and The Kennedy Center (12 years). He is the founder and co-designer of the International Teaching Artist Conferences, the recipient of the first honorary doctorate in teaching artistry (New England Conservatory), and was the keynote speaker at UNESCO's first world arts education conference.
eeebbb@aol.com

Paul brings 30 years experience as an arts administrator, musician and educator to his role as Executive Director of the Community Engagement Lab. His innovative community-engaged projects have been GRAMMY nominated, featured as models of best practice at national conventions, and received national awards for children's media, including the Parents’ Choice Foundation Gold Award. He has founded three non-profit arts organizations which have attracted regional and national funding and programming awards. Before relocating with his family to Vermont in 2009, he was founder and music director of the Nashville Chamber Orchestra for 20 years, and music director of the Nashville Ballet for six years.
paul@communityengagemnetlab.org
802-595-0087

Susan brings with her years of experience helping educators enact student-centered pedagogies in Vermont. In addition to her work with CEL, she serves as the program lead and teaches courses in UVM's Educational Technology Online sequence, and co-directs UVM's Learning Lab, a network for educators to engage in action research with their students. Through her work as a district-wide technology integration coach and ten year experience as a professional development coordinator at the Tarrant Institute of Innovative Education at UVM, Susan designs professional development experiences that model best practices in teaching and assessment. She worked at Harwood Union High School as the English department chair as well as the Library Media Specialist. In 2007, she won the Milken Educator Award for Vermont.
sthennes@gmail.com

Ashley is a teaching artist, dance educator and choreographer whose work investigates how movement creates a more aware, engaged, and connected community. She has received multiple grants for her work in public schools and community sites and is a Juried Teaching Artist through the Vermont Arts Council. Projects include teacher trainings, school residencies, dance in libraries, restorative justice and correctional facilities programs as well as community-inspired and inclusive original productions. She received her Ed.M from Harvard Graduate School of Education and teaches at the Dance Factory in Springfield, Vermont.
dancewithashley@gmail.com

Naomi has a decade of bookkeeping and financial management experience with Vermont businesses and nonprofits. Following professionally in her mother’s footsteps, Naomi began her bookkeeping career while still in high school. After graduating from Mills College in Oakland, California with a B.A. in Economics, she specialized in accounting work for nonprofits and fiduciary attorneys. As owner of Even Keel Bookkeeping, she leads a team of consultants that support a wide variety Vermont businesses and non-profit organizations.
naomi@evenkeelvt.com

Erin Maile O’Keefe is a grateful settler on the indigenous lands of the Sokoki Abenaki in Southern Vermont. Born and raised in Hawai’i, Erin Maile is supported and nourished by her Hawaiian ancestry, culture and continued mentorship from her elders. As an educator, trainer and community artist/activator, she has developed kinesthetic, multigenerational curriculums that facilitate group inclusion, connection, co-authorship and empathy. Erin’s background in dance, theater and architecture has made the crafting of temporal spaces and community arts engagement at the core of much of her work.
maile@humanconnectionproject.com

Gowri is a visual-teaching artist, whose practice includes sculpture, illustration, and writing. Born in England, she moved to the US in 2007. Savoor has been a practicing teaching artist for over 20 years, with experience in arts integration and community building. Savoor is the instigator of A River of Light, a movement committed to bringing art to the community through participatory art events, installations, and lantern parades. She is also the co-founder of Teaching Artists Connect, an organization providing creative and inspiring professional development workshops for teaching artists and educators in North Carolina and beyond.
gowrisavoor@gmail.com
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bob Hannum - President
Owner
Arts Management Services, LLC
Rob Hubbard - Secretary Treasurer
Chief Staff Attorney
Vermont Superior Court
Kelly Mancini Becker
Senior Lecturer, College of Education and Social Services
University of Vermont
Eric Booth - ex officio
Engagement Director & Co-Founder
Paul Gambill - ex officio
Executive Director & Co-Founder
Andrew Homan
Trial Court Staff Attorney
Vermont Judiciary
Jesse Jacobs
Portfolio Manager
Overlake Park, LLC
Natalie Searle
Director of Secondary School Initiatives
Community College of Vermont
Adam Sargent
History and Civics Teacher
Harwood Union High School
New England Teaching Artist Collaborative
STEERING GOUP
Click an image for bio and contact info.





Ashley is a teaching artist, dance educator and choreographer whose work investigates how movement creates a more aware, engaged, and connected community. She has received multiple grants for her work in public schools and community sites and is a Juried Teaching Artist through the Vermont Arts Council. Projects include teacher trainings, school residencies, dance in libraries, restorative justice and correctional facilities programs as well as community-inspired and inclusive original productions. She received her Ed.M from Harvard Graduate School of Education and teaches at the Dance Factory in Springfield, Vermont.
dancewithashley@gmail.com



Gowri is a visual-teaching artist, whose practice includes sculpture, illustration, and writing. Born in England, she moved to the US in 2007. She has been a practicing teaching artist for over 20 years and is the instigator of A River of Light, a movement committed to bringing art to the community through participatory art events, installations, and lantern parades. She is also the co-founder of Teaching Artists Connect, an organization providing creative and inspiring professional development workshops for teaching artists and educators in North Carolina and beyond.


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