Our first Staff Spotlight of 2021 is a member of our research department, Véronëque Ignace. Véronëque is a cultural activist, public health researcher, community-based organizer, and performing artist. Véronëque is dedicated to achieving her long term goal to seamlessly combine her passion for Haiti, people, and dance in such a way that allows for large-scale healing.

Carolyn is a dancer, gardener, scholar, ethnographer, and Brooklynite! She is ABC’s Director of Research and Strategy. Carolyn’s work is purpose-driven, thoughtful, and community-oriented. She also holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Dance Studies from Temple University and a Master of Arts from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a focus in Caribbean anthropology and performance studies. Carolyn continues to be a frequent guest lecturer and dance teaching artist at Webster University.

Amanda Figueroa is a web and graphic designer, doctoral candidate, artist, and co-founder of Brown Art Ink (BAI). Through her work as a Resource Manager for BAI, Amanda believes that art is a tool to fight economic injustice, a belief that is central to her work in leading fundraising and other initiatives to unlock institutional resources for artists. She lives in Roxbury with her pup Ari, and is completing her Ph.D. at Harvard University. Here at ABC, we've been working with Amanda to completely redesign our website, which we're so excited to launch!

As August draws to a close, we wanted to save our last Black Philanthropy Month spotlight for Kat Bloomfield, the founder and CEO of Arts Business Collaborative. As an artist, entrepreneur, and leader, Kat's work is heavily inspired by her personal and professional experience in the philanthropic world.

Ravon Ruffin is the Co-Founder and Community Manager of Brown Art Ink, a nomadic community incubator that supports the arts ecosystem for artists, cultural practitioners, and communities of color. As Community Manager, Ravon leads BAI's efforts in creating deep relationships with artists and local communities locally (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and online.