Our Team
OF/BY/FOR ALL’s journey is ending, but our team continues to fight for justice, equity, and liberation.
As an OF/BY/FOR ALL team, we are currently available for consulting projects.
These include creating things like community engagement or program plans, individual and group coaching, and facilitated presentations or workshops. We have a variety of skill sets that can support your needs, so reach out.
You can also hire individual members of the team! As we are planning our next steps, many of the OF/BY/FOR ALL team are available for new positions post-sunset. Reach out with inquiries and we will connect you to the appropriate team member.
The OF/BY/FOR ALL team has over 80 years of combined experience in building healthy communities, art practices, and educational programs. We hold 12 degrees, including 5 Master’s Degrees with another one in progress. We have founded or held leadership roles at 14 different organizations and businesses. We offer insights that are informed not only by our lived experiences but also by intentional practice and education. We look forward to continue to serve communities dedicated to liberation and justice.
Reach out to connect with our team.
Courtney Harge (she)
Chief Executive Officer
Courtney Harge is a producer, director, and professional arts administrator originally from Saginaw, MI. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Colloquy Collective, a theater company based out of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She has worked for the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center, Theater for the New City, The Public Theater, Gibney Dance, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and, most recently, Fractured Atlas where she led the design and implementation of anti-racist practices, like race-based caucusing and an equity-informed customer service strategy. She holds a Masters of Professional Studies, with Distinction, in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute and a Bachelors of Fine Arts with Honors from the University of Michigan in Theater Performance. Her credo (#HustlingKeepsYouSexy) is not merely a hashtag; it’s a way of life.
Lauren Benetua (she/they)
Associate Director of Data & Memberships
Lauren Benetua is an arts advocate and cultural worker in love with art for social change. They’ve had the pleasure of working with mission-driven, justice-oriented nonprofits around the Bay Area, focusing on social responsibility and cultural equity, including Emerging Arts Professionals, Betti Ono, The American Arts Incubator, San Jose Peace & Justice Center, Western States Arts Federation, and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. They were the founding Community Catalyst at OF/BY/FOR ALL, coaching members of the Change Network and facilitating workshops and trainings around the globe before stepping into the new role as the Associate Director of Data & Memberships. Lauren is also a dedicated culture-bearer with a traditional arts practice as an apprentice weaver with Kalingafornia Laga Weaving Circle and with the San Francisco Kulintang Project. Lauren’s passion is her community and is convinced that creative change making rests at the intersection of courage and compassion. They hold a Masters in Museum Studies from the International Institute of Lorenzo de’ Medici and a Bachelors in History of Art and Visual Culture from UC Santa Cruz.
Vanessa Ramalho (she)
Director of Storytelling & Relationships
Vanessa Ramalho is an educator, artist, and birth worker with foundations in social justice education, sexual & reproductive health education & advocacy, and nonprofit fundraising and administration. With over a decade of experience in the nonprofit arts & cultural sector, Vanessa has led community education, fundraising, and grassroots advocacy projects across a range of organizations, including the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA), Project KISS of New York Presbyterian Hospital, The Princeton Ballet School, the Asian Arts Initiative, and the Center for Babaylan Studies. Vanessa is applying her skills with systems, management, and marketing to support OF/BY/FOR ALL’s growth and expansion. Vanessa holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Rutgers University Newark and a Master’s of Arts in Arts Politics from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Andrew Aaron Valdez (he)
Program Assistant
Andrew Aaron Valdez is a certified trauma professional, educator, multi-disciplinary artist, community organizer and arts administrator from Donna, Texas. He is currently a Steering Committee Member of the Latinx Theatre Commons, and an Educator/Grant Circle Writing member for the Indigenous Cultures Institute. Andrew has been a fellow or resident artist at: Americans for the Arts, Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland Leadership Institute, Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center, the League of Resident Theatres, National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and Twelve Literary Arts, with projects focusing on immigration reform, and immersive art experiences. Most recently, Andrew was the Creative Community Builder at Cleveland Play House piloting a new initiative of community centric programming. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in Theatre Studies and is an Alumni of the Terry Foundation.
Jana Lynne Umipig (she)
Associate Director of Curriculum
Daughter of Rosemarie Caldetera Umipig (Pagudpud, Ilokos Norte) and Godofredo Peralta Umipig (Santa Maria, Ilokos Sur) born and raised on the Kingdom of Hawaii, Jana Lynne currently resides on Lenape Territory (Bronx, NY). She is a cultural/knowledge bearer, centered on intergenerational liberation and decolonization work. JL is a Creator, with intentions of planting generative seeds through her multidisciplinary artistic expression/creation work, role as a liberation educator and as an intuitive bodywork and Ilokano healer. She has been doing direct service organizing and healing work with intersectional communities all over the US and Internationally in detention centers, rehabilitation centers, community centers, schools and the homes of those in need, for over 12 years.
Lu Aya (he/they/we)
Community Catalyst
Lu Aya is the co-founder of The Peace Poets, a Hip Hop and Spoken Word crew from The Bronx that has made an indelible mark on the social movements of our times by supporting the re-emergence of the art of collective singing in protest and direct action. He is a poet, educator, emcee, musician, facilitator, cultural worker and loving loyal comrade to many communities. He has woven together the fields of art, human rights and public health by designing and facilitating community building programs for peace and justice in 40 countries. Lu is also a founding trainer with The Wildfire Project and a member of Canticle Farm where he lives in Oakland.
Siena Beacham (she)
Storytelling & Content Catalyst
Siena leads with love in all her endeavors. She celebrates the positive power of strategic communication and storytelling as a tool for empathy and progress. has a deep appreciation of beauty and excellence in all things, particularly the human spirit. She is dedicated to the work of expanding hearts and planting compassion, and in all people. A poised and captivating public speaker, Siena has presented to international audiences, hosted events, and moderated professional panels. Her combined experience of 8 years in the marketing field is also coupled with her work in the creative, fashion & music industries, education, and community development. Siena graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor of Arts - Journalism and a Minor in Spanish. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Arts & Cultural Management. In addition, Siena is also a singer. Music is truly her first love!