Dream team.
Although our core organization runs lean–in order to reach as many children as possible–our staff is long on talent, experience, and enthusiasm. Culled from the fields of dance, art, drama, development, and education, we thrive in a warm and creative environment that fosters ongoing collaborations with some of the most outstanding visual and performing artists in the Bay Area.
Chad joined SFArtsED in 2010 as Director of Development and Communication, and assumed the position of Executive Director in 2015, having worked previously in development with the French American International School and in marketing for Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
A fifth-generation Nevadan and graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Chad was a long-time member of the American Theatre Critics Association and has served for more than a decade on the Glickman Committee, which awards a cash prize for the best play to debut in the Bay Area.
It is hard to find a musical or play with which Chad is not familiar (believe us, we’ve tried), as he spent more than a decade as a staff theater critic and features writer with the Bay Area News Group (a chain of daily newspapers) and has written regularly for such publications as the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, American Theatre, Theatre Bay Area, Sacramento Bee, Palo Alto Weekly, the London-based Plays International, and at his own TheaterDogs.net, which he created in 2006.
Dancer, choreographer, educator, and advocate, Emily has been at the artistic helm of SFArtsED since 1985, a fact she finds both unfathomable and thrilling.
A veteran of some of the Bay Area’s most memorable dance companies—including the San Francisco Moving Company and the Joe Goode Performance Group—Emily has been a choreographer and movement consultant for such storied entities as the Oakland Ballet, American Conservatory Theater, Magic Theatre, George Coates Performance Works, Pickle Family Circus, Z Space, and many others. She has also been a resident artist and lecturer at DeAnza College, Mills College, San Francisco State, and at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, and has been the recipient of four National Endowment for the Arts Choreographic Fellowships.
A former member of the San Francisco Arts Commission, Emily also holds an MFA in Creative Writing.
Tiersa joined the administrative staff of SFArtsED in January 2025. She is a multidisciplinary artist and designer who foregrounds fiber-based mediums and practices that require methodical handwork.Techniques such as weaving, braiding, and hand sewing, as well as painting and illustration that reference textile structures and surface design are common themes in her work. She is interested in revealing the psychological underpinnings, emotional pathology, and spiritual disconnection that accompanies being a descendant of the African American diaspora as well as simply a human and a woman in this world now. She has been a teaching artist with SFArtsED since 2006 and is a recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts-funded residency via SFArtsED at the Minnesota Street Project. She was a selected artist included in the 2023 DeYoung Open and is producing ``Soft Spaces for Hard Times: A Community Quilting Project`` that engages San Francisco youth in the creation of a monumental textile collage funded by the SF Arts Commission.
Mia has had a long tenure with SFArtsED as a parent, volunteer and teacher in collaboration with SFArtsED artists.
Mia’s involvement with the arts began at a young age with a broad range of experiences, which eventually led to technical theater work. As a teenager and young adult she worked throughout Orange County, California as a set builder, stage crew, and stage manager. After graduating from San Francisco State University, she pursued a multiple subject teaching credential from UC Irvine and spent two decades teaching elementary school in the Bay Area. She is firmly committed to the value and importance arts education plays in the development of young people.
Mia additionally holds a M.A. in Records Management & Archival Administration from University College London and has served on the boards of Market Street Railway and various school district PTAs.
Pete Belkin is a visual artist, digital media engineer and exhibitions producer. Pete has worked with numerous museums and nonprofit arts institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area and internationally and can often be found interviewing artists, producing public programs, or curating exhibitions. Previously, Pete worked with KADIST Art Foundation, Oakland Museum of California, and Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive. He holds an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute and a BFA from California College of the Arts. His studio practice is rooted in investigations of natural phenomena, typically taking form in painting, sculpture and video installation. Pete joined the SFArtsED staff in 2020 and serves as Curatorial Associate and Digital Media Producer.
Laura has served as SFArtsED's business and accounting manager since 2009, having worked for, and consulted with, small businesses and start-ups in the Bay Area for more than two decades. Laura holds a BS from Purdue and an MBA in Finance from the University of West Florida.
Susan Tramontana has focused on after-school education since 2005, and joined SFArtsED in 2012, when she assumed the role of Glen Park Big Blue After-School Site Coordinator. Susan works tirelessly with both the Site Principal and Glen Park School Community to make sure that families in need of after-care are granted a place for their children. Under her supervision, the program has doubled in size and now enrolls more than 200 students. In 2017, Susan assumed the role of Program Manager, and she continues to provide an engaging, high-quality, and hands-on program for the youth of Glen Park Elementary.
Kathryn joined the SFArtsED administrative team in March 2025. She is a performer, choreographer, and teaching artist from the Bay Area. She is a dance instructor and choreographer for SFArtsED’s Broadway Bound summer program as well asa for the SFArtsED Players. Kathryn holds an Irene Ryan Nomination for Best Actress for her performance as Whatsername in Green Day’s ``American Idiot`` (Chico State) and has performed in regional productions in California and Iowa, along with a few cabarets in NYC! Favorite roles to date: Mrs. Walker in ``The Who’s Tommy,`` The Yellow Girl in ``SHOUT!`` (Clinton Showboat), Cinderella in ``Into the Woods`` and Kate Monster in ``Avenue Q`` (Chico State). Kathryn also works as a choreographer and guest artist for various high schools in the Peninsula, and is overjoyed at any opportunity to teach the next generation of artists.
