Top, left to right: Daniel Alvarado, Loara Cadavona, Tasha Hunter
Middle, left to right: Cyrus Parker-Jeannette, Jessica Quintana, Darick Simpson
Bottom, left to right: Gordon Snead, Griselda Suarez, Sayon Syprasoeuth
The Arts Council for Long Beach is pleased to announce the appointment of nine new members to its board of directors. With a range of diverse backgrounds in film, development, social justice and arts education, to name a few, the new members bring a wealth of knowledge to the organization. Please join us in welcoming this talented group!
Daniel Alvarado
Daniel Alvarado is a CSULB student, majoring in Film and Electronic Arts with a minor in Creative Writing. He writes and directs movies and coordinated the 2013 and 2015 Avocado Film, Art and Music Festivals. He works for the Orange County District Attorney in Santa Ana as a videographer.
Loara Cadavona
Loara Cadavona is the business integration manager for MemorialCare Health System, where she provides project management for new programs and mergers and acquisitions. A UCLA graduate and nine-year resident of Long Beach, Loara is active in improving the quality of life and economic development of downtown and surrounding areas, where she has served on various boards and committees. Before transitioning to a career in healthcare, she worked in fundraising and events at major arts organizations such as the USC School of Theatre, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Music Center.
Tasha Hunter
Tasha Hunter is a California-born and based filmmaker, event planner, educator and writer. Over the past two decades, she has worked in a variety of professional capacities centered around the community, arts and education, in both the private and public sectors. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Producing from Chapman University, Bachelor of Arts from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and her Associates Degree in Journalism from Long Beach City College.
Cyrus Parker-Jeannette
Cyrus Parker-Jeannette is the Dean of the College of the Arts at CSULB and a City of Long Beach Economic Development Commissioner. She has many years of experience as a professional dancer and choreographer with works ranging from concert dance, movement for theatre, to gallery and site-specific performances. Her choreographic works have been staged in a variety of urban locations in Long Beach and Southern California, from Santa Ana to Downtown Los Angeles. She received her BA in Theatre/Dance from CSU Fullerton and her MFA in Dance from the UC Irvine.
Jessica Quintana
Jessica Quintana, the executive director of Centro CHA, is a long-time Long Beach resident who was raised in West Long Beach where she worked multiple minimum wage jobs to support her parents and family. As one of the original youth members of the former organization Centro de La Raza, Jessica’s passion for her hometown and community organizing started at an early age. As a youth organizer she marched with Cesar E. Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Jessica is an innovator and forerunner in the violence prevention movement and is recognized by local, county and statewide leaders as champion for youth justice in Long Beach.
Darick Simpson
Darick J. Simpson is executive director of the Long Beach Community Action Partnership (LBCAP). In his first seven years at LBCAP, he led the agency from 24 staff and a $1.3 million budget to a staff of 110 and budget of $9 million. During this time he also co-created the Long Beach Public Access Digital Network (PADNET.tv), which is operated by LBCAP. Darick is a creative writer with two published books and a CD that can be found on iTunes. He is a graduate of Leadership Long Beach as well as Leadership Mobile, Alabama.
Gordon Snead
Gordon Snead is the director of development at South Bay Center for Counseling (SBCC) Thrive LA—a non-profit organization that serves low-income families across Los Angeles County via a comprehensive range of asset and relationship-based programs. Gordon oversees and directs the agency’s government and public relations, funding development, marketing and media production, and program expansion. Prior to this role, Gordon was the manager of five of SBCC Thrive LA’s community based programs, varying from economic development for working families to youth-enrichment arts education for at-risk teenagers.
Griselda Suarez
Griselda Suarez received her MFA in Writing and Consciousness in 2004 from New College of California. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in Aunt Lute Press, Seal Press, NCOC Press, Acentos Literary Review, Sinister Wisdom Journal and the Finishing Line Press 10th Anniversary Chapbook Series. Her collection has been nominated for the California Book Prize and she was recently nominated for the Distinguished Alumni Award at Pitzer College. She is a Lambda Literary Foundation Fellow and has participated in the Emerging Voices program. She is currently the editor of the Culture and Arts section of xQsí Magazine, a new publication for the Latina community.
Sayon Syprasoeuth
Sayon Syprasoeuth is an interdisciplinary artist, focusing on his personal story as a Cambodian refugee. He grew up in Thai refugee camps and immigrated to the United States at age 10. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from CSULB and Masters of Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate University. He was a Long Beach resident for 20 years until 2003 and is actively involved in the arts and the community of Long Beach.