presenter & facilitator bios
2015
WORKSHOP: Single-Tasking: An Introduction to Mindfulness practice. PRESENTER BIO: Sarah Mello
is a Gestalt Therapist who works with teens, young adults and adults in New Jersey. Prior to
becoming a therapist, Ms. Mello worked in the field of youth development for over 20 years
leading and developing programs, creating staff development models and writing and teaching for
national audiences.
WORKSHOP: What now? The world! Using the Tools in Your Pocket to Spark Youth Engagement.
PRESENTER BIO: Sannii Crespina-Flores has been a teaching artist, advocate and activist for youth
and women for eighteen years. Her artistry has been centered in life casting, poetry and
cinematography. Her work has been on exhibit in Budapest and has premiered at the 60th Cannes
Film Festival and the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. She has received grants to create works for
independent television and cultural organizations. She is the founder of PLUM, a collective of
artists collaborating and working with NGOs, schools and private organizations to actively
advocate for youth and women issues through her global programs, Do Remember Me and The
Yram Collective.
WORKSHOP: College & Career Coaching – Increasing Student Confidence through Theater of the
Oppressed Techniques PRESENTER BIO: Melissa A. Rowe, M.Ed. is a writing coach and consultant.
She blogs at: MelissaARowe.com sharing tools and advice to help students find power in their
stories and use them to standout in scholarship and college admission essays. Most notably,
Melissa has helped two students win the Gates Millennium Scholarship and is the former director
of the Temple Writing Academy.
WORKSHOP: 40 Apps in 75 Minutes! PRESENTER BIO: Sherri Hope Culver is an Associate Professor
at Temple University, Department of Media Studies and Production and serves as Director of the
Center for Media and Information Literacy. Sherri serves on the board of the National Association
for Media Literacy Education and was president from 2008-2014. Sherri consults with media
companies on strategic management, content development and media literacy with a focus on
children’s media. She is co-editor of the UNESCO Media & Information Literacy Yearbook and
author of the books, The Television and Video Survival Guide and The Media Career Guide.
WORKSHOP: Employer Engagement: Sending an Effective Message to Employers about Young
People as Job Candidates AND WORKSHOP: Program Retention: Strategies to Keep Young
People Engaged, Empowered and Involved. PRESENTER BIO: Amy Landesman Consulting provides
an array of services to community-based organizations and the public sector including program
presenter & facilitator bios
2015
design and implementation; staff training, curriculum design; management coaching, leadership
development and team building; and meeting facilitation, retreats and conferences. She previously
served as the Executive Director of Workforce Professionals Training Institute (WPTI), a non-profit
training and technical assistance organization devoted to strengthening the field of workforce
development. Under her leadership, WPTI tripled its training staff, created scores of training
workshops, and developed customized training and consulting packages for organizations within
and outside of the New York City metropolitan region. During this time, she was an Advisory Board
Member for JobsFirstNYC and the NYC Labor Market Information Service.
WORKSHOP: Let’s Chat! Curating Creative Conversations AND Engaging & Simple: Creating
Curriculum from Curiosity PRESENTER BIO: Justine Haemmerli is the founder of Pedalogical, a
company that helps individuals and organizations to connect with their values, and get unstuck.
She offers one-on-one and group coaching, educational consulting, women's groups, and
workshops around topics such as aligning your schedule with your values; serving others without
burning out; finding work that you enjoy and find meaningful; developing new tools and resources
for personal goal-setting and problem-solving; and discovering ways to do more of what you
love. Justine helps organizations to develop educational programs that are creative, thoughtful,
and impactful, working primarily with non-traditional educators in the for-profit and non-profit
sector who have a mission and passion they wish to share with others. She has also worked in
Secondary Education as a public school teacher, administrator, consultant, and teacher educator.
WORKSHOP: Are We Speaking the Same Language? Best Practices for Supporting LGBTQ Youth
PRESENTER BIO: Kelly Kroehle is the Director of The Bryson Institute of The Attic Youth Center,
Philadelphia’s LGBTQ youth center. An Ohio native, she studied Gender Studies and LGBTQ studies
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before earning her Masters of Social Work at the University
of Pennsylvania. A lifelong advocate of thoughtful dialogue as a means of understanding
difference, Kelly is a skilled facilitator with a practical understanding of social and organizational
change that is grounded in best practices. As Director of The Bryson Institute at The Attic Youth
Center, she has worked with and on behalf LGBTQ youth to facilitate over 500 workshops in the
region to develop cultures of respect and support, ultimately reaching over 12,000 teachers, social
workers, health care practitioners, juvenile justice and domestic violence workers, and community
members.
WORKSHOP: Adventures in Creativity & Collaboration . PRESENTER BIO: Poet and educator
Yolanda Wisher is the author of Monk Eats an Afro and the co-editor of Peace is a Haiku Song.
Wisher was born in Germantown and raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where she was
named the county's first poet laureate at the age of 23. She received an M.A. in Creative
Writing/English from Temple University and a B.A. in English and Black Studies from Lafayette
College. Her writing has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, GOOD Magazine, Fence,
Ploughshares, and Harriet. From 2010 to 2015, Wisher served as the Director of Art Education for
presenter & facilitator bios
2015
the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and spearheaded its teaching artist faculty, arts
integration, and youth entrepreneurship models. As a former high school English teacher, internet
radio show host, and neighborhood festival director, Wisher has utilized poetry as a conduit for
community-building and youth empowerment for over fifteen years. Wisher is currently a Founding
Cultural Agent for the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture.
WORKSHOP: Health and Wellness in the Workplace (and beyond!) PRESENTER BIO: Gina
Mancuso, Physical Therapist/Personal Trainer Co-Owner & Founder, CoreFitness LLC. Gina is a
licensed physical therapist , certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor, entrepreneur and
founder of CoreFitness LLC. Gina works one-on-one with clients of all physical abilities and fitness
levels in their homes or at their workplace to improve their fitness level and/or functional
independence. In addition to private work, Gina contracts with small/medium sized business
owners to empower employees to take charge of their health and fitness through simple changes
that can be incorporated into daily life. In doing so, employees become more productive and
engaged in the workplace. Recent clients include Four Seasons Philadelphia, Ballinger and 10,000
Small Businesses Alumni Executive Group.
WORKSHOP: Teens, Technology and Your Program: Some Social & Legal Implications PRESENTER
BIOS: Riya Saha Shah joined Juvenile Law Center in September 2005 as the fourth Sol and Helen
Zubrow Fellow in Children’s Law. While at Juvenile Law Center, Riya has represented youth in
dependency court, written amicus briefs, and conducted trainings for child-serving professionals
and youth. Riya also leads Juvenile Law Center’s efforts on juvenile record expungement and has
written extensively on this topic as well. Riya also works with others in the office employing
legislative and litigation strategies to combat the criminalization of consensual teen technology use
and works with Pennsylvania legislators to implement juvenile justice systems reform. During the
Fall term, Riya co-teaches a Juvenile Justice Seminar at University of Pennsylvania Law School with
her colleague, Jessica Feierman. AND Jennifer Lutz has been an attorney with the Defender
Association of Philadelphia since 2005. In addition to conducting all training for attorneys in the
Juvenile Unit, she engages the Court, the District Attorney, treatment providers, and other
stakeholders on policy issues to improve the quality of representation for indigent children in
Pennsylvania. She conducts trainings across the country on representing children charged with
sexual offenses and collateral consequences of juvenile adjudications of delinquency. She sits on
committees for the Philadelphia Courts & Communities, Youth Violent Injury Review Panel, Legal
Rights of Children, and the Philadelphia Prison Society. Prior to joining the Juvenile Unit of the
Defender, Jennifer also represented adults charged with felonies in bench and jury trials. Jennifer
received her B.A. in Art History from Duke University and her J.D. from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.
WORKSHOP: Dream It, Do It: A Mini Pro-Action Café to Refine Your Creative Project or Address a
Challenge PRESENTER BIO: Michele Martin is a certified Career Development Facilitator Instructor
presenter & facilitator bios
2015
with over 20 years of experience in career, youth and workforce development. Through her
company, The Bamboo Project, Inc., she supports organizations and individuals in developing
resilience and effectively engaging with their communities. Among other projects, she maintains
the Try It Tuesday website.
WORSHOP: My Dream, My Career: Using Technology to Strengthen Work Ready Skills PRESENTER
BIO: Nia Eubanks-Dixon is the Youth Program Coordinator for District 1199C Training and
Upgrading Fund where she teaches and develops curriculum for the college and career readiness
classes as well as life skills. She has over 15 years of youth programing experience and is certified in
Grief Therapy Counseling, Crisis Intervention, The Dialogic Process, and Interactive Mediation
Techniques. She is currently finishing her master’s degree program in Urban Studies at Eastern
University.
presenter & facilitator bios
2015
passionate conversations pre-conference coffee chats
facilitator bios
Brittany Campese (KAFKA’S CROSSING) For more than 10 years, Brittany Campese has actively
supported the work of change-makers in many communities across the U.S. through her roles as a
board member, facilitator, volunteer, employee, philanthropist, and now as a consultant. With a
Master of Nonprofit Management and a Bachelor of Women’s Studies Degree, Brittany combines
her dedication to social justice with a hands-on approach to community capacity-building. She
teaches workshops online and in-person, and provides comprehensive support to Philly-based
individuals, groups, and nonprofit organizations. Brittany is passionate about her work and
develops personal connections to each project and client. She starts conversations from points of
strengths and assets, valuing and engaging different styles of learning and processing. Her
methods are rooted in feminist and anti-oppression frameworks, and she seeks out the voices,
opinions, and ideas of people at all levels of power to create sustainable, healthy, inclusive
changes.
Rich Crespo (BUZZ CAFE) Rich Crespo is an Impact Manager for United Way of Greater
Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. He received his bachelor's degree in Business
Administration from York College and eventually chose to work in the nonprofit sector in 2009
after starting his professional career working at for-profit corporations. Rich manages over
$900,000 in education, income, health, and basic needs grants in Delaware County and is
responsible in part for developing new programming and civic engagement opportunities, such as
Swarthmore College's annual Trash 2 Treasure yard sale. He recently represented United Way in an
interview for the Delco Radio Show on iradiophilly.com and is working with community leaders to
enhance trauma informed care in the County. Rich is passionate about community and enjoys
building relationships with anyone who cares about serving people in need. In his spare time, Rich
enjoys mentoring at-risk students for the Friends Fitness program with Youth Mentoring
Partnerships (YMP) at Mastery Charter School in West Philadelphia. YMP teaches students how to
overcome adversity or as they affectionately call it, GRIT, through intense physical fitness and goalsetting exercises. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Val Bass-Adams (THE MONKEY & THE ELEPHANT) Valerie Adams-Bass is a developmental
psychologist who earned her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the
University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. She focuses on adolescent
development. Dr. Adams-Bass’ research on stereotype media images and Black adolescents
resulted in her being awarded a Ruth Landes Memorial Fellowship. Dr. Bass’ research examines the
relationships of racial socialization and racial identity with the developmental processes, social and
academic outcomes of Black children and youth. She is particularly interested in how Black
presenter & facilitator bios
2015
adolescents interpret negative media stereotypes and whether the messages presented are
internalized or buffered as a result of racial socialization experiences
passionate conversations pre-conference coffee chats
facilitator bios continued
Angela Jubinville (CAFÉ SQUARE ONE) is a nonprofit and youth development professional with
eight years’ experience increasing the capacity of youth serving organizations and programs to
develop and deliver high quality educational enrichment activities. Angela has extensive experience
collaborating with organizational leadership and direct service staff around designing and
evaluating mission-driven programming that incorporates youth voice. She has coached educators,
youth workers, college volunteers/interns, and graduate students to create and implement projectbased curriculums for young people. Angela holds a Master’s degree in Education and has
extensive experience in nonprofit administration and program management. Angela has provided
on-going and project specific grant writing for a number of nonprofits throughout the City of
Philadelphia. Core content knowledge includes education, youth development, arts and culture,
project-based learning, child development, mental health, and career exploration. She has written
or contributed to grants from corporations, foundations, State, and Federal sources.