Staffs

Fernadina Chan, a 34 year veteran of the Boston Public Schools is a choreographer and founding artistic dean and chair of the dance department of the Boston Arts Academy.

Jose Mateo, prominent  choreographer and founder of Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, School, and programs such as Dance for World Community, has worked to broaden the reach of ballet and make dance an effective force for community-building and social equity.

Adrienne Hawkins,  Artistic Director of Impulse Dance Company and Co-Artistic Director of Bass-Line Motion, whose international career as a dancer and choreographer has included rock musicals, music videos and trade show productions and whose energetic teaching and mentoring has influenced countless Boston dancers and dance makers.

Amy Zell Ellsworth, dancer, choreographer, teacher, and philanthropist, shaped the future of Boston Dance Alliance during the six years she served as president of its Board of Directors.  

Marcus Schulkind, dancer, choreographer, contemporary dance educator, and practicing acupuncturist, was a founding director of Green Street Studios in Cambridge.

Jeannette Neill founded Boston’s premier studio for jazz dance in 1979, and is cofounder of the pre-professional Boston Youth Moves troupe.

Marianne Taylor co-founded the Folk Arts Center of New England, dedicated to promoting interest and participation in the traditional dance, music, and related folk arts of many cultures.

DeAma Battle founded The Art of Black Dance and Music in 1975 with the goal of presenting and preserving the rich history of African rooted dance, music and folklore. 

Iris Fanger, dance and theatre historian, critic, and lecturer, led the Harvard Summer Dance Center for 18 years. Iris has curated museum and library exhibitions on a wide variety of dance and theatrical topics.

Anita M. Lauricella has been committed throughout her professional career to applying strategic thinking, operational assessments, and financial analysis to serve community nonprofit and public-focused organizations. Since 2001 she has worked as an independent consultant, providing financial management, coalition-building, facility development, and strategic planning consulting to organizations involved in the arts, community service, and education. Recent projects have focused on place management, arts-based placemaking, cultural facilities, and cultural economic development.

Since 2013, Anita has had various positions at the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District. Initially hired as a senior planner/project manager, Anita has also been the interim CFO, the interim co-executive director, and most recently the Director of Planning and Research. Anita’s work included ensuring that the BID’s 34 blocks of public realm meet the needs of members, residents, and visitors and is welcoming to everyone. At the BID, Anita was responsible for cultural placemaking, urban planning/urban design, and design and management of the BID’s research program.

As president of the Fort Point Cultural Coalition from 2002-2010, Anita built a reputation for effectively bringing together disparate constituencies — artists, arts organizations, real estate interests, funders, and public sector officials — to preserve this vital arts community in Boston. She was instrumental in developing a one-quarter million square foot mixed-use space in the Fort Point neighborhood and establishing a cultural community development corporation to advance an arts district and preserve the artists’ neighborhood. Additionally, she has consulted commercial developers and government entities on cultural planning and community partnerships.

Previously, she was the director of business development and planning for the New England Foundation for the Arts. She is currently the treasurer of the Boston Dance Alliance and has served on the Boards of Friends of Fort Point Channel, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, and as the Women-Express/Teen Voices Board Chair. Anita has taught Financial Management for Performing Arts Organizations at Emerson College, been a guest lecturer at Simmons College, and developed financial literacy training for boards, senior staff, and grant review panels. Since its inception, she has been a site adviser to the MCC’s Cultural District program and a grant adviser to the Cultural Facilities Fund.

Anita is on the faculty of Boston University’s graduate arts administration program, where she teaches ​Advanced Management and Consulting for Arts Organizations and Leadership. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Clark University and an M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.