HOST

Erica Rosenfeld Halverson is a professor, an author, an actor, and the Mayor of Whoopensocker. She is Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she studies arts education and teaches the next generation of teaching artists and classroom teachers who learn to share their artistic superpowers with the next generation of geniuses! Her book How the Arts Can Save Education: Transforming Teaching, Learning, and Instruction shows how we can fix our broken system of schooling by reimagining teaching and learning using the arts. Erica has founded two community arts outreach programs, Playmakers Lab in Chicago and Whoopensocker in Madison, WI. Erica has been blessed with incredible arts mentors, including the late Jacques d’Amboise who founded the National Dance Institute, where Erica first encountered the power of arts education for all. Learn more about her at EricaHalverson.com.

PRODUCER

Alek Lev is a writer, director, podcast producer, and American Sign Language interpreter. Podcasts include Meeting Tom Cruise and Private Joke: The Official How I Met Your Mother Podcast. He wrote and directed the recent release, WHAT?, a black-and-white, silent feature film about a Deaf actor struggling in Hollywood. And he’s interpreted for three presidents, two Broadway shows, and one Beatle. Arts mentor whose words still ring in his ears (because of both their volume and brilliance): Professor Bill Francisco, Wesleyan University. Learn more at AlekLev.com.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Doug is a co-creator, writer, and EP of the 2021 AMBIE-award winning Whistleblower podcast and the upcoming podcast Eric Rudolph Saved My Life, both with Tenderfoot TV. He is also a co-creator and EP of The Thieves of Manhattan, a scripted podcast based on Adam Langer’s best-selling novel, starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Zegen, and Kathleen Turner (in production). Doug lives in LA with his wife Taly, their son Benji, and their dog Goose.

AUDIO PRODUCER

Justin Asher is a Los Angeles based composer, sound designer, audio producer and multi-instrumentalist. Recently, he’s been sound designing for the Webby winning podcast Levar Burton Reads. He was also the audio producer for the Emmy nominated documentary Con Safos and composer for the silent feature film What?. His eclectic, tech-centric career covers most sound producing media, currently focusing on immersive 3D audio and web-based digital media. Arts mentor who changed everything, taught endurance, focus and generosity: sound designer Dane A. Davis.

COMPOSER

Dan Lipton scored the film All These Small Moments (Orion Classics 2019) starring Molly Ringwald and Jemima Kirke. He has arranged music and led bands for Sting, Audra McDonald, John Lithgow and Kelli O’Hara, performing at The White House, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and on PBS, NPR, Today and Late Show with David Letterman. A pianist on Rebecca Hall’s film Passing (Netflix 2021), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and three Grammy-nominated albums, his collection of jazz-pop covers with singer Colby Beserra, Jukebox Saloon Vol. 2, is streaming everywhere. Learn more at DanLipton.com.

ARTIST/DESIGNER

Lyra Evans is an illustrator, printer, and comic book artist. Most recently the illustrator and cover artist of the book How the Arts Can Save Education written by Erica Halverson. Graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison in Art. See more of her work at ArtStation - Lyra Evans.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Lee is co-founder and creative director of the Story Pirates. He executive produces and hosts The Story Pirates Podcast, winner of the 2020 and 2022 iHeartRadio Awards and 2020 and 2022 Webby Awards for Best Kids and Family Podcast. He received a Drama Desk nomination for the book of his musical Found (co-written with Hunter Bell) at the Atlantic Theater Company and IAMA Theatre Company. Lee has directed at the Williamstown Theater Festival, Center Theater Group, the Philadelphia Theatre Company, New York Stage & Film, the American Music Theater Project, Goodspeed Musicals, the Kennedy Center, the Geffen Playhouse, Berkshire Theater Group, the Mystic Aquarium, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. He has taught at the Atlantic Acting School and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Center. Lee is an alumnus of Northwestern University and member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers union.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Benjamin (Jamie) Salka is the co-founder and CEO of Story Pirates, a media company that celebrates the words, ideas, and stories of kids. Under his leadership, Story Pirates has grown from a pilot program in a single school auditorium to an internationally respected family entertainment brand. Everything the Story Pirates create is based on the core belief that kids are creative geniuses. They have produced multiple award winning albums, a series of acclaimed books, a sold-out national tour, a weekly PBS series, and one of the top downloaded podcasts for kids and families. Benjamin also co-founded Story Pirates Changemakers, the non-profit arm of Story Pirates that makes arts and literacy programs available to low-income schools and communities.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Amy Fiore is the Director of Development for the Story Pirates and Managing Director for Sobel Bixel: Consulting for Nonprofits, specializing in board and staff training/retreats, strategic planning, project management, and particularly enjoys helping clients in the arts, youth development, education, and social services sectors with atypical income streams through new programmatic initiatives. Prior to JSC, Amy served as the Executive Director for Only Make Believe, Managing Director and Director of Development for TADA! Youth Theater, the Director of External Affairs for Vineyard Theatre, Associate Director of Marketing and then Interim Director of Marketing for The Public Theater, and as the Ticketing and Marketing Manager for MCC Theater. Currently, In addition to her work in non-profit arts administration, Amy was an adjunct professor of Managing the Arts and Marketing the Arts at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and has been a guest lecturer at NYU, Baruch College and with the Arts & Business Council of New York, among others. She is the founder and director of Play Theater in Union County NJ and currently teaches classes and directs musicals with children there. Amy resides in Scotch Plains, NJ with her husband and 2 daughters.