Amy Kitchener, Executive Director – Alliance for California Traditional Arts
Project Role: Co-Director, Promise Zone Arts
Amy Kitchener is a public folklorist who co-founded ACTA and spearheaded its development as a nonprofit intermediary grantmaking organization as its founding director. Amy has extensive experience in conducting ethnographic fieldwork and developing public programs in community partnerships leading to exhibits, festivals, concerts, and workshops. She has taught as a folklorist-in-residence at elementary schools in Arizona, and at UCLA, where she earned an MA in Folklore & Mythology.
Karen Mack, Executive Director – LA Commons
Project Role: Co-Director, Promise Zone Arts
Karen Mack founded LA Commons to promote LA’s diverse neighborhoods through locally based, interactive, artistic, and cultural programming. She researched the role of culture in community building as a Public Service Fellow at Harvard, following work as VP of Program Development and Planning at Community Partners. She holds an MPA from Harvard, an MBA from UCLA, and is currently president of the LA Neighborhood Initiative board and the City’s Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.
Betty Marín, Program Manager – Alliance for California Traditional Arts
Project Role: Lead Researcher, Promise Zone Arts
Betty is a cultural worker from Wilmington, CA. She achieved her Masters in Art and Social Practice from Portland State University where she edited a publication called Art and Education with Pablo Helguera and Luis Camnizter. She is based in ACTA’s LA office, where she co-manages the Traditional Arts Roundtable Series, Building Healthy Communities, and Sounds of California Boyle Heights. Betty brings her training in popular education, collaborative artmaking, and community outreach to assure meaningful fieldwork for Promise Zone Arts.
Beth Peterson, Community Art Programs Director – LA Commons
Project Role: Outreach & Engagement Specialist, Promise Zone Arts
Beth has over 20 years’ experience organizing and conducting community art projects, residencies, and workshops in Minnesota, and for the past 11 years throughout LA neighborhoods. She is a Master Puppet and Mask Teaching Artist for the Music Center of LA County and adjunct faculty at Antioch University, teaching Integrating Arts into school curriculum. She brings extensive experience in arts organizing and mentorship, and a commitment to the power of arts in the revitalization of community.
Jeny Amaya
Project Role: Field Coordinator, Promise Zone Arts
Jeny Amaya is a Los Angeles based filmmaker whose work explores autobiographical narratives, notions of family, and the Salvadoran diaspora in California. They hold a B.A. in Film and Digital Media Studies and Latin America and Latino Studies from UC Santa Cruz.
Annette Kim, Associate Professor – University of Southern California
Project Role: Academic Research Advisor, Promise Zone Arts
Annette M. Kim, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy. She is also the Director of SLAB, the Spatial Analysis Lab at USC Price that advances the visualization of the social sciences for public service through teaching, research, and public engagement.
Eduardo Robles, Program Manager – City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)
Project Role: Project Manager, Promise Zone Arts
Eduardo Robles administers Special Projects for DCA’s Marketing, Design & Digital Research Division. In 2016 Eduardo earned a Master’s degree in Public Humanities from Brown University where he gained specialized knowledge in community-based ethnography, digital humanities project management, and arts & cultural heritage program management. He is interested in collaborations that advance investigations of public culture and underrepresented stories to facilitate critically engaged cultural production and humanistic inquiry.
PZA Coalition of Advisors
Daniela Lieja-Quintanar
Kristine Jegalian
Elson Trinidad
Rosana Perez
PZA Community Fieldwork Team
Victoria Amador
Eddie Cortez
Jennifer Gill
Angelica Macuta
Marlyn Sanchez
Ana Saavedra
PZA Past Project Team Members
W.F. Umi Hsu, PhD
Heber Rodriguez
Michael Manalo
Amy Zhou