Calling all teachers, artists, advocates, school administrators, cultural workers, arts leaders, parents, and arts education champions! Now is the time to educate, organize, and take action.
Catalyzed by advocacy and coalition-building through our “It Starts with the Arts” campaign, the Roundtable is thrilled to host our first-ever advocacy symposium! Join fellow advocates in a half-day event designed to educate and empower participants with tools and skills-building to support your advocacy as individuals, on behalf of your organizations, and at a field-wide level.
Network with other stakeholders, engage with decision makers, and help us collectively generate action steps and shared vision towards equity in arts education and support for the workforce behind it. Coffee, tea, and light refreshments to be provided.
Please Note: Gibney uses a Sign In system for all guests entering the facility. All registrants for the symposium will be registered in their system 72 hours prior to the event for ease of sign in and entry on the day of the symposium. If you register for this event less than 72 hours prior to its start time, you may be asked to add yourself to their Sign In system using your mobile device or the iPad onsite upon arrival.
This event is hosted in partnership with the Roundtable’s Advocacy Committee.
Schedule
Subject to change.
| 3:00pm | Doors open |
| 3:30 – 4:30pm | Welcome & Opening Plenary: Setting the Stage: Unpacking NYC’s Current Landscape for Arts & Education Advocates – STUDIO H |
| 4:45 – 5:45pm | Breakout Sessions — Workshop A: Crafting Compelling Advocacy Stories – STUDIO G — Workshop B: How to Build Coalitions & Sustain Your Advocacy – STUDIO H |
| 6:00 – 7:00pm | Coalition Building & Closing Remarks – STUDIO H |
Accessibility
The Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center is accessible via elevator from the main entrance at 53A Chambers Street. There are automated, double doors at this entrance. Please utilize the square actuator to the side of the entrances to mobilize the doors. Upon entrance, there will be a wide hallway and a guard stationed at a desk near the bottom of the stairwell.
The NYC Arts in Education Roundtable is committed to providing opportunities for everyone to participate in our programming. If you have any questions or additional requests for accommodation, please contact Programs Director Kinsey Keck at kkeck@nycaieroundtable.org.
Session Information
More information to come!
Presenter Information
Facilitators will include elected officials and arts education leaders. Stay tuned as we announce the complete line up!
Councilman Justin Brannan was born and raised in Brooklyn, the proud son of a teacher and a record salesman. After attending PS 185, McKinley JHS and Xaverian High School, Brannan studied journalism in college before embarking on a career as a professional musician. His bands released several albums and toured the world – performing in over fifty countries across five continents.
Later, while working at a New York City radio station, Brannan got involved in union organizing and fought to recover unpaid wages for his co-workers. He then served as chief of staff to his predecessor Councilman Vinnie Gentile before being tapped by Mayor de Blasio to help oversee the expansion of his historic universal pre-K initiative as director of intergovernmental affairs at the NYC Department of Education.
Dr. Matthew J. Camp is a government relations professional with nearly 20 years of experience in politics, public policy, and advocacy. He is Director of Government Relations & Community Engagement for Teachers College, Columbia University, where he oversees alumni engagement and cultivates relationships with city, state, and federal government officials. Matt is author of Tend: Exploring Mindful-Driven Advocacy, which forges together the fire building process, mindfulness, and political advocacy. He is a registered yoga teacher and teaches yoga in New York City and Massachusetts. Matt holds a Ph.D. in Politics & Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, a Masters of Public Policy from Rutgers University, and a B.A. with distinction from the University of Delaware.
Born in Brooklyn, Nikiesha Hamilton (she/her/hers) is a first-generation West Indian American who has a deep passion for arts and culture. She is currently an arts & cultural consultant and scholar. Nikiesha grew up in Brooklyn politics, which shaped her career and life trajectory across her work within the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. House of Representatives, NYC Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit Office, and the Domestic Policy Council’s Office of Urban Affairs, Justice, and Opportunity at the Obama White House. Nikiesha lived in Spain and Belgium and traveled to 19 countries in Europe to study the European Union’s economics, governance, security, and culture, which ignited her passion to work to enhance African Diasporan creative industries.
New York City Council Member Rita Joseph was elected in 2021 to represent Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, Ditmas Park, and Southern Crown Heights. Before serving in the City Council, Ms. Joseph was a public school teacher, a community activist, and a proud union member.
After immigrating to the U.S. from Haiti in her youth, Ms. Joseph began her life of advocacy. At just 19 years old, she organized her first rally with a group she founded, Haitian Enforcement Against Racism, in order to protest the FDA’s discriminatory “bad blood” rules that prevented people of Haitian descent from donating blood. The rally succeeded in its mission, and the FDA rescinded the racist rule.
Since organizing the rally, which had more than 150,000 people participate, Ms. Joseph hasn’t looked back with her activism. Despite being a teen mom who was only able to attend college because of a full tuition scholarship, Ms. Joseph spent her twenties raising her children while organizing protests against police brutality and cuts to student transit discounts, even while working a full-time job. Since then, she hasn’t stopped working for her neighbors, both as a teacher at PS6 and as a community activist. Among many other successes, Ms. Joseph was able to provide for her school financially, securing hundreds of thousands of dollars for technological improvements that help thousands of children receive a better education, including funding from then-Borough President Eric Adams, Senator Kevin Parker, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte, and then-Council Member Matthieu Eugene. Additionally, Ms. Joseph was appointed by State Senator Kevin Parker to serve as Chair of the Neighborhood Advisory Board and has been a part of the Citywide Participatory Budgeting Committee, thanks to an appointment by then-Council Speaker Corey Johnson. Council Member Joseph is focused on improving public schools, fighting for affordable housing, combatting the climate crisis, and achieving real criminal and social justice reform for New Yorkers.
Council Member Keith Powers represents New York City’s Council District 4, covering Carnegie Hill, Central Park South, Garment District, Koreatown, Midtown East, Midtown West, Murray Hill, Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, Sutton Place, Times Square, Tudor City, Turtle Bay, Upper East Side, and Waterside Plaza.
During his time in office, Council Member Powers has introduced and passed legislation to make it easier to run for office, prevent housing discrimination, broaden sexual harassment protections, and protect small businesses. In his first term, the Council Member chaired the Criminal Justice Committee, where he worked to overhaul the criminal justice system and change the culture in our City’s jails. He played a key role in stewarding the vote to close Rikers Island and has passed legislation to eliminate bail fees.
In the district, Council Member Powers has worked hard on important issues focused on the future of the East Side. In 2019, Council Member Powers helped pass the historic affordable housing deal at Waterside Plaza, which secured affordable units at Waterside Plaza through the year 2098. In addition, he has delivered long-term storm protections on the East River, championed the 14th Street Busway, created hundreds of new supportive housing units for homeless New Yorkers, and secured hundreds of millions of dollars in transit improvements in Midtown.
Council Member Powers graduated from the University of Dayton and The CUNY Graduate Center. He is a lifelong New Yorker and third-generation resident in Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town.
