2023 Fellows
Robert Gonzalez
The Music Center
Los Angeles, CA
Robert Gonzalez serves as operations manager at Grand Park/The Music Center in Los Angeles, CA. He has served in this role since 2016. Robert started working at the Music Center in 2007, as a theater usher and tour guide, giving him unique knowledge of the innerworkings of theater operations, from customer service to maintenance. He worked his way up to supervisory roles and admin support in various departments. In 2012, he took a job working for the City of Los Angeles as a council aide for a predominantly low-income area with communities of color. During this time, he saw the need for advocacy for communities to have access to free and readily available arts programming and education. In his current role as grand park operations manager, he is responsible for overseeing operations and stakeholder communications, which include city and county departments/officials, as well as maintaining and helping program 12 acres of green space with free community experiences.
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Robert grew up in South Los Angeles in the same low-income area where he later worked as a council aide. This helped inform his need for free arts programming. He has a degree in Cinema Production, which taught him the value of collaboration, communication and project management. He is also a graduate of Central Park's Conservancy, Urban Parks Leadership Program 2019 class. He is a father and a husband, and enjoys spending time with his family and traveling.
Yvette Loynaz
Opera Theatre of St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
Yvette Loynaz is an accomplished arts leader; educator; fundraiser; producer; performing artist; and diversity, equity and inclusion advocate with over 20 years' experience working in the nonprofit and performing arts fields.
She currently serves as the director of artistic administration at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in St Louis, Missouri where she leads artistic planning, operations, and casting for the company, including the internationally acclaimed spring festival season. Yvette's early successes in her current role include successfully facilitating the company’s first community-centric, artist-led and curated program featuring performances by local artists and festival season artists in celebration of Black creators and music. In 2022, she co-led the development and launch of the company’s New Works Collective, an initiative that redefines opera-making by putting the decision-making power in the hands of the community and inviting new voices and creators into the creative process.
Ebonie Pittman
Dance Theatre of Harlem
New York, NY
Ebonie C. Pittman proudly serves as the senior director of development at Dance Theatre of Harlem where she oversees all fundraising activities. Previously she was the Senior Director of Philanthropy, Institutional Support at American Ballet Theatre where she also played a leadership role in the advancement of ABT's former Project Plie diversity initiative, now known as RISE. She has also served as a review panelist for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts. Ebonie previously worked for the North Carolina Theatre, The Wallace Foundation, Young Audiences New York, and Buglisi Dance Theatre.
A native of Durham, NC, Ebonie started dancing at a very early age under the tutelage of Lauren Lorentz de Haas and the late Barbara Bounds Milone. She spent summers studying at North Carolina School of the Arts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Bates Dance Festival. She danced professionally with Mezclado Movement Group in New York City, and she is currently on the Board of Directors of the Triangle Youth Ballet in Chapel Hill, NC.
Ebonie graduated with distinction from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, and she has a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Columbia University, Teachers College.
Oscar Quesada
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
West Palm Beach, FL
Oscar Quesada is a Miami-born, Cuban-American currently serving as director of programming at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. Quesada joined the Kravis Center in 2022 and is part of the team responsible for programming the 2,195-cap Dreyfoos Hall, 305-cap Rinker Playhouse, and 299-cap Persson Hall. In its 30th anniversary season, the Kravis Center presents hundreds of performances annually including Broadway, classical, dance, theater, comedy, contemporary music, and more.
Prior to the Kravis Center, Oscar spent nine seasons at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, where he started in 2012 as Customer Service Representative in the box office, and advanced into other roles including Programming Coordinator, Facility Rentals & Schedule Manager, and eventually Director of Programming, a role he held until 2021.
While at the Arsht Center, Oscar was also accepted into the 2020 Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) Emerging Leadership Institute as well as the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Global Fellowship in New York City, NY.
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Valerie Riles
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
Miami, FL
Valerie Riles is vice president of board and government relations for the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. As a member of the senior executive team, she is responsible for nurturing and maintaining the Arsht Center's relationship with government bodies including the federal and state government and the Arsht Center's most significant partner Miami-Dade County. She also manages the relationship with the Performing Arts Center Trust Board of Directors, a volunteer group of 55 South Florida community leaders who have a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including fiduciary, governance, policy setting and advancement initiatives. During January 2019, she served as the Interim President and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center.
In 2009, South Florida Success Magazine named Valerie one of the 25 most distinguished black businesswomen in South Florida. In 2011, Legacy Magazine honored her as one of South Florida’s 50 most powerful black professionals. She has been recognized by Miami-Dade County for numerous awards including the Community Pillar Award from the Black Advisory Board in 2012 and the In the Company of Women Award in the category of Arts & Entertainment in 2014. Other honors include a 2017 Quiet Storm Award from the Women’s Power Caucus and a 2018 honoree in the Miami-Dade County Black History Month exhibit.
Alice Santana
David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Tampa, FL
Alice C. Santana came to the Straz Center in 2016 and today is the vice president of education and community engagement.
In addition to her responsibilities managing the day-to-day goings-on of the vibrant and fully-accredited Patel Conservatory for the Performing Arts, she is an integral part of Straz outreach efforts and is responsible for several successful community engagement projects.
Alice has helped fan the growth of the Straz Center’s Arts Education Partnership Program in four area counties, played a role in the creation of the Performing Arts College Fair and oversees the Straz Center’s inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility efforts. Notably, Alice helped to spearhead VetArtSpan, part of the Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, a project that supports healing, wellness and reintegration of veteran citizens and their families. Alice brings experience and success in nonprofit management and community programming from previous service as Director of Artists and Musicians of Latin America, a nonprofit connecting at-risk youth in Pennsylvania and Delaware with high-quality, hands-on cultural arts learning experiences
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Timmy Yuen
San Francisco Opera Association
San Francisco, CA
Timmy Yuen is the human resources manager at the San Francisco Opera Association and Chief Finance Officer for Camp Winnarainbow. Originally from Santa Paula, CA, he holds a bachelor's degree in both Drama and International Relations from Stanford University.
Timmy has embraced arts administration with a passion as deep as his love for opera, theater and circus. After a 14 year journey as co-director of one of Northern California's premiere summer circus programs, Camp Winnarainbow, he joined the San Francisco Opera Education Department to manage its acclaimed ARIA school programs. Deepening his knowledge, Timmy then served three years in Finance managing payroll and now commits himself to bettering the employee experience in the San Francisco Opera Human Resources department. He is driven by a passion to support his fellow SFO colleagues, advocate for increased representation and inclusion in opera and help realize more sustainable work/life practices for the Opera industry. Additionally, Timmy currently serves as a Board Director and Secretary for the Prescott Circus Theatre and has served as a Board Director for the Mosaic Project, both youth-centric Oakland-based non-profits.