THE STAFF & BOARD

Jana La Sorte, Executive Director. With a background that includes directing marketing and public relations campaigns, working as an arts TV host and producer, and heading her own media and arts consultancy agency, Jana began her love affair with the arts at age 10 when her mother enrolled her in ballet class. As Urban Bush Women’s executive director, she oversees the Company’s touring and community activities; finances; marketing; personnel; and organizational development. The volunteer manager of women’s media outreach for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, she has long combined arts, community and politics in her career. Jana received her M.P.A. in nonprofit management from Seton Hall University and her bachelors degree from Northwestern University.
 

Maria Bauman, Director of Education & Community Engagement. Beginning as an apprentice with Urban Bush Women in 2002, then quickly moving into the role of company member, then Associate Artistic Director for Community Engagement, transitioning into a UBW guest performer, lead facilitator, and consultant, Maria now “creates dance & creates community” as Director of Education & Community Engagement. She weaves her identities as a choreographer, dancer, facilitator, and educator together to strengthen UBW’s community partnerships, deepen our education practices, support company members, and help people move and sweat together as an expression of connection and liberation. Maria has facilitated learning for students in venues such as Peridance (NY), Long Island University, and American College Dance Festival, and on behalf of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. She is also the founder of MBDance, creating duets and small group dances from a sense of physical and emotional power, a desire for equity, and a fascination with intimacy and relationships. Maria earned a B.F.A. in Dance and English from the Florida State University.

Denae Hannah, Associate Director of Programs & Development. Denae was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and received her B.A. in dance from Stanford University. She received her master of fine arts from Florida State University and also received training from the Ailey School and studied folkloric dance in the Republic of Panama. She has performed works by various choreographers including Robert Moses, Matthew Rushing and Stephanie Powell and worked with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar as a student dancer in the creation of "Naked City." Denae coordinates UBW's Summer Leadership Institute; coordinates studio and rehearsal needs; and manages the company's video production needs.

Pia M. Murray, Special Projects Assistant. Pia comes to dance with an approach that fuses her work as an artist, performer, scholar and activist. An emerging choreographer, she founded Pia Monique Murray Dance Collective (PMMDC), an artistic collective of performers and musicians creating collaborative works. Pia began her tenure with UBW as an intern and has since contributed to the organization as a research assistant, archivist and Summer Leadership Institute coordinator. As special projects assistant, she coordintaes the monthly Being Bushified! series and special events. She earned her B.A. from Oberlin College.

Henry Liles, Finance Manager. Henry has worked as the financial manager/bookkeeper for Urban Bush Women since 2004. He also fulfills that role for STREB, David Dorfman Dance and Pick Up Performance Co(S). Previously he worked for Paul Taylor Dance Company and Peter Pucci Plus Dancers.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Tammy Bormann, Chair. Tammy has worked for 25 years to dismantle racism through knowledge, dialogue and systemic change. She began her work with the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), becoming the first woman to serve as NCCJ’s Vice President for Programs, a position she subsequently left to begin her own consulting practice, Tammy Bormann Consultants. She has advised the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati; the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York City; the St. Augustine’s Church Slave Gallery Project, NY; the Knight Foundation, Charlotte, NC; the Leeway Foundation, Philadelphia; the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and the Ford Foundation’s Animating Democracy Initiative, among others.  Tammy has led facilitation skill-building work for UBW's Summer Leadership Institute and serves as its board chair, leading its visioning and strategic planning processes. She earned her bachelors degree in French and communications from Muhlenberg College and masters degree in education from Harvard University. Tammy currently serves as a member of the executive committee of the Muhlenberg College Board of Trustees, and chair of the administrative board of Trinity United Methodist Church. She is a chair emerita of the Myhelan Cultural Arts Center.

Regina Bain. Regina currently serves as Director of Training and Evaluation in the national offices of The Posse Foundation. Through Posse, she has designed and facilitated hundreds of workshops on such topics as race, class, gender, dynamism, social responsibility, education, and leadership. She is the recipient of the Fox Fellowship grant to study Flamenco and “duende” in Spain. Regina is a graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Drama.

Cristal Baron, Treasurer. Cristal is President of Rice Financial Products Company and supervises all administrative and operational activities of the firm. She is responsible for the overall financial management and integrity of the firm. She was previously with JP Morgan Private Bank and Merrill Lynch. Cristal received her MBA from McGill University in Montreal and her bachelors degree from Howard University.

Erik Hall.  Erik is a Director in Citi's Municipal Securities Division, where he co-leads the Division's effort to provide investment banking and advisory services to major U.S. cities.  He serves as co-chair of the Division's Diversity Committee and also serves on the Institutional Client Group's VOE Operating Committee, the Analyst Review Committee and is actively involved in the firm's recruiting efforts. Prior to joining Citi in 2000, he worked in public finance at First Chicago Capital Markets and began his career at the Chicago Office of Budget and Management. Erik is a graduate of Hampton University and earned a masters degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy  School.

Yvahn Martin. Yvahn is a Business Associate for DJPremium.com, the upscale urban fashion e-tailer. A graduate of NYU Stern School of Business, Yvahn is a passionate supporter of dance and theatre arts. She received her undergraduate degree in Dance and Women's Studies from Newcomb College at Tulane University and worked as a performer in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and New York. A native New Orleanian, Yvahn worked with the V-Day V10 organization in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to help provide grant funding to women serving as local community leaders.

Tonya Murray. Tonya is Director of Enterprise Marketing at TIAA-CREF, where she leads the company’s corporate sponsorship and strategic marketing efforts for the TIAA-CREF Institute, an expert research organization focused on advancing lifelong financial security and the business of higher education.  Tonya has held a variety of positions within the organization, including Director and Head of Community Affairs Division; Director and Head of Corporate Sponsorships; and Director, Segment Marketing.  She earned a B.A. in English from Tuskegee University and an M.A. in cross-cultural communications from New York University.

Jennifer Smith, Secretary.  A family law attorney with Sanctuary For Families, Jennifer represents battered women in the New York City court system. She is the co-chair of the Associates Committee, which provides opportunities for lawyers and non-lawyers to interact with and positively impact Sanctuary clients and their families outside of the courtroom, and she supervises pro bono attorneys in Family Court. Prior to her work with Sanctuary, Jennifer worked in private practice as a commercial litigator.  She received her juris doctorate from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, her masters degree from Columbia University and her bachelors degree from Lafayette College.

Sylvia R. Vogelman.

Lorrie A. Warner, Finance Committee Chair.  Lorrie is a health care professional with nearly 30 years of broad- based experience in strategy, finance, operations and clinical care. For the past 10 years, she has worked on Wall Street in investment banking with Citigroup, exclusively advising executive leadership of health care companies throughout the U.S. on raising billions in capital and major strategic transactions. Lorrie graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in science and a professional degree in physical therapy from Simmons College in Boston and received her MBA from Columbia University with concentrations in accounting and finance.

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.  Click here for Jawole’s full biography.

_{Photo credits: Crush Boone (all except photo of Maria Bauman: courtesy of Urban Bush Women)}