Episode 35: Rooted in Arts, Activism, and Social Justice

Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Ph.D., is the CEO of IBA-Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, a community development corporation dedicated to empowering individuals through education, workforce development, and arts programs. She shares IBA’s holistic approach to youth development and how the arts unleash the collective power and voice of the young people they serve.

Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Ph.D.Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Ph.D., is the CEO of IBA-Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, a community development corporation dedicated to empowering individuals through education, workforce development and arts programs, and to creating vibrant affordable housing communities. Through her leadership, IBA has become the largest Latino-led nonprofit organization in Greater Boston.

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Episode 32: When Community Service is Hardwired Into a Museum

Fitchburg Art Museum is experiencing a renaissance. Director Nick Capasso describes how their commitment to community service – through organizational culture, programming, and partnerships – strengthens and grows the creative ecology of the city.

Nick CapassoNicholas Capasso, Ph.D. is Director of the Fitchburg Art Museum, a community-oriented museum in Fitchburg, Massachusetts with art historical collections, changing exhibitions of regional contemporary art, and educational and community outreach programs. Prior to his appointment at Fitchburg, Capasso was Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, a museum of contemporary art in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
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Episode 30: Museum EBT Card Program Opens the Door a Bit Wider

Carole Charnow, President and CEO of the Boston Children’s Museum, shares how since 2012 the museum has provided reduced admission to visitors with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, the first program of its kind in New England.

Carole Charnow. Photo by Bethany Acheson.For over 30 years, Carole Charnow has led cultural non-profits in the US and the UK, overseeing over 100 professional theatrical and opera productions, and hundreds of community-based music and arts education programs and events.

Charnow was appointed the President and CEO of Boston Children’s Museum in 2010 and has leveraged her relationships to transform the Museum’s cultural programming. Under Charnow’s leadership the Museum won the 2013 IMLS National Medal, the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for extraordinary service to the community, presented by First Lady, Michelle Obama at the White House.
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Episode 27: Projecting & Reflecting on Cultural Heritage

Susan Chinsen, Establishing Director of the Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF), says film festivals can be powerful tools to engage the public and spark important – sometimes tricky – conversations. She discusses a key goal of BAAFF – to build community amongst Asian Americans by providing a forum to gather, connect, and take pride in  their shared heritage and experiences as their stories are told on the big screen.

Susan ChinsenSusan Chinsen received a BA from Tufts University in American Studies with a focus on Media and Asian Americans. In 2013, she joined the Chinese Historical Society of New England as the Managing Director, focusing on documenting, promoting, and preserving the experiences of Chinese in the region – with a primary focus on Boston’s Chinatown. She is the establishing director of the Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF), a project of Asian American Resource Workshop, seeking to use
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