Emma Osore is a social architect who builds programs and ecosystems that arc towards justice. She is currently the first Equity in Arts Leadership Program Manager overseeing a new leadership development portfolio focusing on the future arts management workforce.

Prior to joining Americans for the Arts, she worked in Los Angeles at the City of Beverly Hills where she worked on projects ranging from strategic planning to public art. Before receiving her Master’s degree she worked as chief-of-staff, community partnerships and philanthropy manager, and founded a student-run community garden at a reconstituted public high school in Washington, DC. Emma got her start working with youth in the juvenile justice system and in the DC Public Schools central office supporting the hiring and evaluation of school leaders. She is currently the co-founder of BlackSpace, a Black urbanist collective, and a mixed media artist.

Emma holds a Bachelor’s in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University and a Master’s of Public Administration from Baruch College where she was a National Urban Fellow.

Emma finds joy in meandering city walks and creates collages and watercolors along the way.

Twitter Handle: @EmmaOsore

AmiScherson (she/her/hers)is an arts administrator, musician, and self proclaimed "mover". Sheis fascinated by the intersections of social justice and the arts, and strongly believes in using creativity to create positive change. Ami works for Americans for the Arts as the Equity in Arts Leadership Program Coordinator, creating opportunities and initiatives to pursue cultural equity throughout the field. Prior to working at Americans for the Arts, she has interned at Kaufman MusicCenter, the Cleveland Orchestra, and Stuart's Opera House. She is passionate about community development, and has pursued projects throughout urban, suburban, and rural regions of the United States. Most recently, she conducted research in Nelsonville, Ohio to understand the impact of nonprofit arts programming on rural Appalachian communities. She graduated from OhioUniversity's Honors Tutorial College with a B.A. in Music and a minor in Business. In addition to her work, Ami is a member of the Dance/NYC JuniorCommittee 2019-2020 Cohort. She is a proud Japanese-Chilean, and currently lives in Queens, NY. 

Cristyn Johnson is the Local Arts Advancement Program Manager at Americans for the Arts. In this capacity, she develops Americans for the Arts’ comprehensive full-career-spectrum field education offerings to advance competent and informed local, regional and national arts professionals.  She also develops a suite of programs and resources centered around the full leadership pipeline and organizational needs of a diverse workforce. She manages, grows, and cultivates an Emerging Leaders Network, a Mid-Career Leaders Network, and an Executive Leaders Network by building a connected network of arts professionals in the field of practices, who can share their knowledge with the field at large.