Writers
Diaris Alexander, Oakland, CA
Youth Movement Records
www.youthmovementrecords.org
Diaris Alexander first got started in the all-ages movement while a junior at Skyline HS in Oakland, CA. She became actively involved in the youth-run record label & development organization Youth Movement Records (YMR) as a founding participant and one of two youth board members. While part of YMR, Diaris became increasingly interested in the intersection of the arts, education, technology, youth, the community, and social change at large. The passion Diaris found in her work with YMR inspired her to write her college & scholarship personal statements on her experience, earning her a full-ride to the university of her choice as a Jackie Robinson and Gates Millennium Scholar. While an undergraduate at UCLA, Diaris conducted research for AMP before joining the advisory committee. She was also a key figure in the campus's cultural programming as the director of its chapter of Hip Hop Congress for 2 years and a member of the executive team of the Jazz Reggae Fest for 3 years. Diaris earned her B.A. from UCLA in Psychology with a minor in Theater in June 2009. She now resides in Oakland, CA and is working with YMR in a Program Director capacity.
Britt Curtis, Reno, NV
The Holland Project
www.hollandreno.org
Britt Curtis is currently the director of The Holland Project, Reno's first all-ages arts and music nonprofit. She has worked with various arts and issue-based organizations, and music clubs including Seattle International Film Festival, Choice USA, Rock the Vote, and Pearl Jam among others.
Kevin Erickson, Anacortes, WA
Department of Safety
www.departmentofsafety.com
Kevin Erickson, 29, was studying religion and cultural politics at Whitman College in tiny Walla Walla, Washington, when he discovered the Pacific Northwest's vibrant underground music scene and fell stupidly in love with the radical potential of incubating DIY cultural resistance in small communities. Before AMP he spent 3 years as part of a team of artists, musicians, and friends running a unique arts infrastructure called the Department of Safety. The facility was housed in Anacortes, Washington's old fire & police station and contains an all-ages music venue, gallery, recording facilities, art studios, and zine library. He is active as a writer, recording engineer, and musician, with one recent collaboration touted as “intermittently tolerable" by Pitchfork.
Gavin Leonard, Cincinnati, OH
Elementz, The Hip Hop Youth Arts Center
www.natiyouthcenter.org
League of Young Voters
www.indyvoter.org
Gavin Leonard is the State Director for Ohio’s Center for Progressive Leadership, based in Cincinnati.
He is a co-founder, and former Executive Director of Elementz – a local non-profit organization that runs a hip hop-based youth center, leadership development programming, and civic engagement projects – and has recently transitioned onto the board.
Gavin worked for 5 years doing construction and project management for community development corporations focused on affordable housing, also in Cincinnati. Originally from Chicago, and raised in rural Northwest Ohio, Gavin attended New York University and served as the Vice President of Students for a Free Tibet before leaving school to pursue full-time social justice work. Gavin also canvassed for environmental organizations in Denver, Cleveland, and Columbus before settling in Cincinnati just prior to the riots that took place there in 2001. He has served on the boards of the League of Young Voters, Wiretap Magazine, and the All-Ages Movement Project.
Katy Otto, Washington DC
Katy Otto is a musician, writer, and social justice activist living in Philadelphia. For ten years she was part of the punk activist collective Positive Force in Washington, DC where she gained invaluable experience organizing all ages shows. She runs an independent record label Exotic Fever and plays drums in the duo Trophy Wife. She works at a human services agency in Philadelphia called Face to Face, and operates a small social justice development consultancy. Her regular columns are featured in Give Me Back and Sexreally.com.
Lori Roddy, Ann Arbor, MI
Neutral Zone
www.neutral-zone.org
After graduating with a BA from John Carroll University in Political Science, Lori spent two years volunteering in the Federated States of Micronesia teaching at a local high school. Returning to the United States, she continued teaching social studies as a middle school teacher in Cleveland, Ohio. After four years as a teacher, Lori began her Masters in Social Work focused on youth and community organizing at the University of Michigan. Her studies focused primarily on community organizing with a special interest in youth participation. After receiving her Masters in Social Work in May, 2004, she worked as a consultant for the Youth and Community Project at the University of Michigan focusing on providing participatory evaluation trainings for the 72 Youth Advisory Councils of the Community Foundations of Southeast Michigan. Lori is currently the Program Director of the Neutral Zone, a youth-driven teen center providing after-school drop-space, programming in areas of education, literary arts, visual arts, music performance and technology and leadership, and weekend concerts.
Shannon Stewart, Seattle WA
All-ages Movement Project Shannon has co-founded two youth and music nonprofits (the Vera Project and All-ages Movement Project), written much on the subject of youth music opportunities in the US and, taught and performed with several dance companies in Seattle and San Francisco. Whether working with words, music, movement, organizations, buildings, or policies, Shannon’s interest is piqued by the intersection of space, creativity, and social justice.
Chris Wiltsee, San Francisco, CA
Chris Wiltsee is Executive Director of The Recording Academy San Francisco Chapter. He has15 years experience in developing innovative organizations combining music, community, and education. In 2003, Wiltsee founded Youth Movement Records (YMR), a nonprofit youth-run media company based in Oakland, Calif. In 2006, Wiltsee went on to co-founded AMP, which has developed a national resource for all-ages music venues and communities, and recently released a book titled, "In Every Town". Additionally, Chris has been instrumental in developing publishing deals for emerging songwriters, which have resulted in co-writes with prominent artists internationally. Wiltsee earned a Masters degree from the University of Michigan and his undergraduate degree from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Karmeron Moore-Mitchell
Idlemindz Media and Entertainment
www.idlemindzmeg.com
A Bay Area native, Kameron Moore-Mitchell is an emcee, performing and recording artist, DJ, and hip hop educator. She has been contributing to the AMP Network since the first meeting in 2005. As a student at Xavier University in New Orleans, she has been featured on three compilation albums put together by Youth Movement Records in Oakland and works on solo projects under the name TheSeKondElement. In 2007, Kameron returned home to Oakland to work with YMR directors on a start-up summer hip hop program for New Orleans’s youth, and in 2008 launched Idlemindz Media and Entertainment Group. To hear more from Kameron, check out myspace.com/thesekondelement and idlemindzmeg.com.
Illustrators
Wade wadeliostro.deviantart.com
Kaela Graham www.kaelagraham.com
George Estrada www.citron68.com
Andy Ristaino www.skronked.com
Kyle Field www.kyledraws.com
Ryan Jacob Smith www.ryanjacobsmith.com
Geneviève Castrée www.opaon.ca
Sumi Ink Club www.sumiinkclub.com
Andie Abero
Loren Purcell