Rooting Community Through Art and Place

Olivia Malabuyo Tablante began her tenure in 2006 and is currently the Gerbode Foundation’s Administrative Manager and Program Director of the Special Awards in the Arts Program. The Special Awards Program has funded arts Bay Area presenting organizations to commission the works of individual artists since 1989. The Special Awards in the Arts Program currently supports the creation of new works in dance, theater production, and music composition. These nationally respected awards recognize the creative excellence of innovative California artists and support projects that represent the Bay Area’s diverse communities and neighborhoods. Prior to joining the Gerbode Foundation, Olivia served as Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center’s Administrative Manager as well as Post Production Manager and Production Manager for its PBS-series Cultures of Mexico in California. Olivia also served as San Francisco’s Filipinx American Bindlestiff Studio’s Managing Director and Project Manager for the construction of the new blackbox theater from 2001-2004. Olivia holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies and Documentary Film from UC Berkeley.

Nancy Ng is the Executive Director of Creativity & Policy and is on the Professional Learning faculty at Luna where she facilitates professional development workshops; and mentors and coaches teaching artists, teachers, and social service workers. Ng is a co-founder of MPACT (Moving Parents and Children Together), Luna’s nationally recognized program for families in the child welfare system. Prior to joining Luna, Ng was the Administrative Director and a resident choreographer with San Francisco’s Asian American Dance Performances where she directed the presentation and education programs; and choreographed dances which delved into Asian female stereotypes, immigration, and racism. Ng’s leadership service includes past president of the California Dance Education Association, committee member on the National Dance Education Organization’s (NDEO) Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiative, and board trustee for the National Guild for Community Arts Education where she co-chairs the racial equity committee. She served on the state Department of Education’s Visual and Performing Arts Standards and Framework Advisory Committees, to revise the pre-K through 12th grade guidelines for public instruction. Nancy is committed to social justice and systemic change through dance education. In her role at Luna, she collaborates with her colleagues to manifest the theory-to-practice-to-policy loop that fulfills Luna’s mission to bring creativity, equity, and community to every child through the art of dance. Among Luna’s current projects in the design phase, she is most excited about the ripple effect of Luna’s BIPOC artist residency and creativity research center. These two programs will be housed in Luna’s recently acquired building in Berkeley, California.

Vanessa Shieh has worked for the School of Arts and Culture at MHP since 2012. During that time, she has helped to transform the Mexican Heritage Plaza from an underused facility into a trusted community hub. With over 15 years of experience in nonprofit accounting and organizational development, Vanessa continues to ground the Plaza’s team and partners in strategic perspectives that seek answers to the question: how we can create a better normal? Vanessa has an MBA with an emphasis in Accounting from Golden Gate University and a BA in English from the University of San Francisco.

Tyese brings extensive nonprofit administration experience to her role, spanning education, family literacy, youth development, and the arts. Prior to CAST, Tyese honed her social justice lens as a grantmaker in Cultural Equity Grants at the San Francisco Arts Commission, and as a presenter and producer of culture-specific artist populations with the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. A 2014 Emerging Arts Professionals MADE award recipient, Tyese has been recognized for her expertise as a panelist, consultant, facilitator, and advisor for various Bay Area arts organizations, including Silicon Valley Creates (formerly Arts Council Silicon Valley), and the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, and was an Association for the Performing Arts Professionals Fellow 2018-2020. At CAST, Tyese was instrumental in designing and implementing Keeping Space–Oakland, an artist-driven peer knowledge exchange forum for artists and arts groups representing Oakland’s diverse arts ecosystem. Tyese facilitates CAST’s Cultural Space Ambassador network, which is included in the planning and execution of Dreaming Spaces.