Highly concerned with social matters, Ms. Scott-Wilkinson was actively involved in fundraising for the Royal National Institute for the Blind between projects in England. Later, after returning to the United States and settling in Los Angeles, Ms. Scott-Wilkinson’s professional interests returned to the community, particularly regarding Youth Arts Education. She served as a Program Manager for Artsreach from 1987-1998 where she taught, designed, developed, and implemented arts programming for Arts-in-Correction and for incarcerated youth at Nelles School for Boys. In response to severe civil unrest in Los Angeles in 1992, she established the Youth First Artist-In-Residence Program to prevent and intervene in youth-on-youth violence. In 1995, for her innovative city and countywide program design, Ms. Scott-Wilkinson received a Los Angeles State of California Resolution and was the recipient of Mayor Bradley’s Certificate of Commendation. In 1997 she was awarded a Fellowship by the Eureka Foundation. Ms. Scott-Wilkinson was a three-year recipient of a California Arts Council Artist-in-Residence individual grant to teach theater at the William Grant Still’s Arts Center for youth ages 9-16. Ms. Scott-Wilkinson currently participates on a Steering Committee Arts for All—Los Angeles County Regional Blueprint for Arts Education with the Los Angeles County Office of Education Community Arts Team. Most recently, Ms. Scott Wilkinson was invited to participate in the Los Angeles Arts Commission Arts Leadership Initiative the Executive Learning Group. She continues to pursue her passion for Theatre Of Hearts/Youth First, which has served over 65,000 youth to-date and is one of the most successful youth arts education organizations in Los Angeles.

Financial Manager

Laura Larson is a Visual Artist and currently serves as Bookkeeper/Financial Manager for TOHYF where she is responsible for overseeing project budgets, yearly financial reports, assisting with grant applications and other administrative matters. Ms. Larson previously served, for 12 years, as the Financial Manager for Artsreach, a non-profit arts organization.

She has a B.A. in Fine Arts and Speech Communication and Theatre Arts from Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin. A successful visual artist in her own right, for over 25 years, she has recently been commissioned to design the public art for Fire Station #65 in Watts, CA. Over the past 7 years she has created public art for a childcare center in South Central, LA, and one in Lincoln Heights; a Department of Transportation facility in West LA; designed a railing for a bike bridge in Pacoima and created art for another Fire Station on the campus of Caltech in Pasadena.

Program Coordinator

Angela Peñaredondo earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at San Francisco State University. She also lived and studied photography and mixed media at the Queensland College of Art in Australia. She was awarded a Getty internship at the Skirball Cultural Center, where she was an active participant in the development of Noah’s Arks.  Angela continued her career in the Arts as part of Black Maria Gallery, where she became highly involved in curatorial work and event organizing.  Later, she became a buyer and manager for the new gallery’s art space that embraced all products artist-made. In her life after college, Angela has accomplished a lot of work in the field of arts administration. Currently, Angela is utilizing her organizational skills through the role of Program Coordinator at Theatre Of Hearts/Youth First. While continuing her career in arts administration, she is revisiting her roots as a fine artist, and creating new mixed media collage pieces.

Julie Lipson is a writer and musician from Nevada City, CA. She graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College in Vermont, a school listed among the top five liberal arts colleges in the nation.  For her work in screenwriting and poetry she has been awarded fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference and the Squaw Valley writers Conference, and continues to actively pursue her writing in Los Angeles.  Additionally, her training in classical piano allowed her to study at the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Poland with professors from around the world. As a child, Julie acted professionally and believes that through art young people can best develop their individuality, a sense of compassion, and an openness to change.

Administrative Assistant

Mary Rose Go received her B.A. in Asian American Studies with a minor in Music from Scripps College. Ms. Go’s passion for racial and economic justice has previously brought her to New Orleans to survey and provide support for communities devastated by the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the Philippines to research, analyze and compile data about marginalized Filipino children, and Washington D.C. to assist Sierra Club lobbyists on Capitol Hill.  In her spare time, Ms. Go is a developing musician and poet, classically trained in voice and violin with experience in opera, mariachi, and jazz.  She is also involved in the Asian American community working on both the Tuesday Night Cafe crew and the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture Programming Committee.

Lead Artists

Michael Massenburg was born in San Diego, California and studied at California State University, Long Beach and Otis Art Institute. He has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the country, completed several private commissions, and worked on public art projects throughout Los Angeles, including the MTA Rosa Parks Station. He has received funding from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and the California Arts Council. His work resides in the private collections of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Lawrence, Nikki Giovanni, President Jimmy Carter and Mrs. Carter, Mr. & Mrs. Cecil Fergerson, and the Los Angeles Urban League, Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, USC-Architecture & Fine Arts Library Archives, Boribana Museum in Dakar, Senegal, TDG4 in Tambacounda, Senegal, and many others. Massenburg is the current President of the Board of Directors of Sheenway School and is developing a Cultural Master Plan for the Inglewood Cultural Task Force that will bring arts to the city of Inglewood, California.

Ellaraino, renowned storyteller and spoken word performer, is also an accomplished actress with solid television, motion picture and stage credits. Her television credits include a co-starring role in a WAYANS BROS episode and a guest star role in CITY GUYS. Her 1995-1996 television series THE FOX CUBHOUSE received the coveted National Education Association recommendation. She is the Official Storyteller of Allensworth State Historic Park, California’s first town founded by African Americans in 1908, as well as a featured storyteller at the Los Angeles African Marketplace. She was a Consultant and Performance Artist for the Los Angeles International House of Blues Foundation’s Educational Tours Program. She was a co-creator of “The Blues Schoolhouse” Program and a member of the original ensemble that presented an innovative interpretation for students outlining the history of Blues music and the African American experience that created it.

Ellaraino is co-author and publisher of “Another Kind of Treasure,” a book based on the personal story of Silvia Mack Gardner, her great-grandmother, who learned to read at the age of 85 and lived to be 116 years old. She is a respected educator who conducts adult and children’s storytelling workshops throughout the Southwest. She was a Consultant, Theatre Arts and Drama Instructor for the Compton Unified School District. She entertained the Las Vegas Alliance of Black School Educators, and was a guest performer at Florida A & M University’s Ninth Higher Education Conference on Black Student Retention.