MEET THE ACI CO-DIRECTORS

A circular model for collective leadership

ABOUT THE COD MODEL

Recognizing that non-profit boards and leadership structures are predicated on antiquated capitalist, patriarchal, and white supremacist principles valuing charity over self-determination and equity, ACI continues to ideate around an innovative, decentralized, community-oriented leadership model. With this, we launched out co-director model in July 2021.

ACI’s co-director model aims to share and redistribute power equitably among team members that belong to the communities our programming targets and champions a board and staff that are the same. Our team members have the same voting responsibility in this lateral leadership structure, and we do not prioritize our co-directors based on their positions. The inflection point catalyzed by our shared leadership model is also reflected in our programming and strategic vision.

Present co-directors are listed below, and we want to thank our former co-directors who we continue to learn alongside, including: Marian Taylor Brown (2014-2024), Dawn Meredith Simmons (2021-2024), Joseph Quisol (2021-2023), Deidra Montgomery (2021-2023), Zakiyyah Sutton (2021-2023), Alyssa Liles-Amponsah (2021-2023), Karthik Subramanian (2021-2023), Meena Malik (2021-2023).

CO-DIRECTOR | EMPLOYEE

t’Ajmal Hogue (they/them) | Co-Director of Systems Support

T’Ajmal is a creative who grew up in Detroit, MI, and currently resides in Boston, MA. They enjoy making space for friends and loved ones to be themselves, create, and feel safe. In college, they refound their love for the arts through multimedia practices and are grateful to the ancestors who passed down the freedom to create as a continuous act of resistance. A lot of T’Ajmal’s creative work is inspired by their own life as a Black, queer, and non-binary person seeking to build safe spaces for their community. They started their journey on the East Coast at Harvard and found roots in Boston by teaching youth and strengthening programmatic systems with Girls LEAP. Additionally, they worked at BAGLY to create a housing and support program for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. They are a co-founder of the Pomegranate Art Collective, a QTBIPOC+ space to make art in collaboration with others focused on healing, love, mental health, and collective care. At the end of 2023, T’Ajmal decided to combine their passion for supporting spaces and the arts and joined ACI’s team as Co-Director of Systems Support.

Resides on lands of Pawtucket & Massachusett peoples, colonially known as Brighton, MA.

mica rose (they/them) | Co-Director of Emergence

mica rose is a gemini gust of slumber-party who trains in ancestral medicine. Their teachers include lola Nellie & Laguna, manong Wayne & pangalay, Márquez Rhyne & story circles, and taiko passed down by sensei Karen Young. Chosen and blood families shape mica's practice of international solidarity. They are a member of Liyang Network. Living between Boston and their ancestral home in the Philippines, they organize with masses for land, water, and self-determination. After performing at the Arts Equity Summit and ACI’s fifth birthday celebration in 2019, mica served as a 2020-21 Artist in Community Fellow, and helped launch the co-director model. Instagram: @micaxrose 

Resides on Wampanoag waterlands, colonially known as Roslindale, MA.

Andrea Gordillo (they/THEM) | Co-Director of Community Weaving

Andrea is an audiovisual artist and co-founder of Selva Records, a transnational feminist audiovisual production house that intentionally disrupts the music industry with intersectional feminist culture. Andrea is also a doctoral candidate at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, having previously earned their EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and their BA from Emerson College. At UCLA Andrea's work focuses on cultural studies and informal public pedagogy through the arts. Andrea is an ACI Artist Leader Alumni, from the 2016 - 2017 Artist-in-Residence cohort, and former ACI Board Member 2019 - 2021 before becoming an ACI co-director 2021 - present. Andrea's residency took place in Mexico and focused on transnational migration through participatory mixed-media arts.

Resides on Mexica land, the landwaters colonially known as “México City”

River Ingham (they/them) | Co-Director of connection

River grew up in the Southwest, but has called the East Coast home for nearly 15 years. They have accessed expressive arts their entire life and believe in the healing power of creative energy as a main driver of dismantling oppressive systems. River is deeply invested in youth development, creative justice, and narrative change. They founded their consultancy WordSpark four years ago to connect more expansively with community leaders after divesting from the "traditional nonprofit" culture of work. River's approach to social impact support is rooted in anti-racist, anti-colonialist, anti-capitalist, and feminist/queer frameworks that allow for human-centered strategic solutions. Their lived experience, intersectional identities, and core values influence the way they role model alternative pathways to leadership. River obtained their master’s in communication from Clark University in 2020. They completed The University of Pennsylvania’s master’s level Executive Program for Digital Media in Social Impact in 2022 where they later served as a Teaching Fellow and alumni mentor for the 2023 cohort. River is also a freelance writer and author of an immersive book called Awakening to Nature's Beauty. This title was self-published in collaboration with The American Art Therapy Association with the vision of bringing awareness to the mental health movement and inspiring increased nurturing of our natural resources.

River primarily resides on the ancestral homeland of the Lenape (colonially known as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

CO-DIRECTOR | NEUTRAL

Jessica Doonan (she/her) | Co-Director of Integrity

Jessica is is a queer woman born and raised in New England. She earned her bachelor's in Theater and American Sign Language at Northeastern University and a master's in Global Inclusion and Social Development with a concentration on International Disability Policy from UMass Boston. Over the last decade, she has worked professionally in disability access, first at the National Braille Press and then at the City of Boston Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities under Mayor Martin J. Walsh. Currently, she is the Manager of Accessibility at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In her professional free time, Jessica has consulted on disability access for theater companies and supports the Center for Atypical Langauge Interpreting, a federally funded project dedicated to addressing the growing demand for sign language interpreters with specialized skills to serve Deaf and DeafBlind persons with atypical language. When she is not working, Jessica can be found out in nature, traveling, or enjoying a good book.

Resides on the land of the Wampanoag and Massachusett peoples, in Jamaica Plain, MA.

Erdene Clark (she/her ) | Co-Director of Wisdom

Erdene (fondly known as Mama) was born in South Carolina, then grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, and has been in Boston, MA, since 1977. Mama worked at Tufts Medical Center as an administrative assistant for 25 years, retiring in July 2015, the same year Marian became her neighbor. Soon into her retirement chapter Erdene became an integral part of Boston’s artist world. She has been fascinated with the dedication and compassion of all different art forms and is now excited to learn more deeply with ACI, and as a Taiko player with Older and Bolder. In her free time you can find Mama cuddling with her dog Prince, reading, listening to music, dancing at Zumba, and at community events. Some of her favorite community spots are the Cultural Equity Incubator, the Roxbury Library (or any library, really!), the Design Studio for Social Intervention’s Design Gym, and the Kroc Center. 

Resides on the land of Massachusetts people, in Dorchester, MA.

JAZZMIN BONNER (she/her ) | Co-Director of Alacrity

Jazzmin is an experienced theater manager, presently as the Managing Director at Fresh Ink Theatre Company, and the Senior Company Manager at Huntington Theatre Company in Greater Boston. Creative strategic planning and facilitating powerful artistry are her professional passions. Jazzmin was part of the 2020-2021 Core Certificate Program at the Institute for Nonprofit Practice and a Board Member at Dunamis Boston. Her hobbies include singing classical music, her pet rabbits, boxing, knitting, and crocheting.

Currently in geographical shift, land updates coming soon!