2025 SUMMIT SESSIONS AND WORKSHOPS
From left to right: Harold Steward (Executive Director, New England Foundation of the Arts), Kayla Coleman (Executive Director, New England Museum Association), Brian Boyles (Executive Director, Mass Humanities), and Dr. Mary K. Grant (President, Massachusetts College of Art and Design).
CREATIVE SECTOR SUMMIT 2025
We are pleased to announce this year’s schedule of Creative Sector Summit sessions and workshops.
Led by creative sector leaders from communities across the Commonwealth, this year’s program will provide attendees with a diverse offering of insightful workshops and panels to help you become a more confident, knowledgeable, and effective advocate.
Attendees can choose which workshops they want to attend at the Summit and do not need to register in advance for sessions. These descriptions are available for you to consider which workshops you wish to attend in advance of the Summit.
Tickets are still available for the Creative Sector Summit. Please visit our registration page for more details about ticket rates and discounts.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
WORKSHOPS AND SESSIONS: FIRST BLOCK
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
-
Facilitated by Ruth Mercado-Zizzo (Vice President, Programs & Equity at EdVestors), Lisa Donovan, (Co-Founder of Berkshire Regional Arts Integration Network and Co-Director of BRAINworks), and Eileen McCaffery (Executive Director of the Community Music School of Springfield)
Three leaders from rural, mid-sized gateway city, and major urban center regions of Massachusetts will share how they catalyze collective action to increase arts education in their communities, including strategies that strengthen arts education ecosystems and challenges around ensuring equity, quality, and sustainability.
-
Facilitated by Keylin Rivera, Tamia Booker, Cayana Mackey, Dasheika Ruffi, and Ihsanne Leckey of T Booker Strategies
Learn how to apply campaign strategies to creative-sector advocacy. This hands-on workshop offers tools for organizing, mobilizing, and building narrative power—equipping artists and cultural workers to drive change through real-world tactics and a take-home resource guide.
-
Facilitated by Billy Spitzer (Executive Director of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment)
This workshop will explore the intersection of creativity and civic engagement. We will explore how storytelling can support environmental activism and climate justice, and can help turn eco-anxiety and eco-grief into active hope. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the importance of personal narratives, hear examples of youth voices on climate change, and learn about effective practices and evaluation results. We will use the Hitchcock Center’s “Youth Climate Ambassadors” project as a case study. This project, in partnership with the Climate Stories Project and with support from Mass Humanities, is providing teens with opportunities to learn how to tell their own climate stories, share them through social media and an ongoing exhibit at the Hitchcock Center, and lead intergenerational conversations through with community members.
-
Facilitated by Jessica Maher, Executive Director of SAG-AFTRA New England Local
Whether you're an aspiring actor, a current member, a fellow labor leader, a filmmaker, or simply intrigued by the dynamic world of entertainment and media, this workshop will provide invaluable insights. The workshop will review the pathways to becoming a SAG-AFTRA member, while highlighting the benefits and resources available to performers. For content creators, we will provide guidance on how to hire professional performers. And, we will discuss the pivotal 2023 TV / Theatrical strike, examining its underlying causes, the significant gains achieved for our union members, its profound impact on the broader industry, and how it forged unprecedented solidarity within the entertainment community. Join us to understand the multifaceted role SAG-AFTRA plays in protecting performers' rights, advocating for fair wages and working conditions, and contributing to a thriving and equitable creative ecosystem.
WORKSHOPS AND SESSIONS: SECOND BLOCK
1:15 - 2:00 PM
-
Facilitated by Pedro Soto (MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative), Tiffany Alecia, (Springfield Creative City Collective), Luis Cotto (Arts and Culture Planner, City of Lynn), Derek Craig (CEO of CoFF33 Corp.), and Margo Saulnier (Director of Creative Strategies at New Bedford Creative)
Located in The Workroom
Discover how leaders from MassDevelopment’s TDI Creative Cities program are unlocking the power of creative leadership to transform Gateway Cities. From harnessing relationships to building bold partnerships, this conversation explores how the arts, innovation, and emerging technologies fuel resilience, connection, and community impact, and how you can do the same.
-
Facilitated by Dee Boyle-Clapp (Director of the Arts Extension Serviceat the University of Massachusetts Amherst) and Carlos Uriona (Cultural Strategist at Double Edge Theatre)
Located in The Flex
How are arts organizations working together and in cross-sector partnership to address issues as vast as climate change, affordable housing, funding, and resiliency? With the backdrop of national upheaval come ready to discuss changes in expectations, resources, and collaborations.
-
Facilitated by Dr. Lisa Wong (Associate Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Arts and Humanities Initiative, Harvard Medical School), Cory Shea (Director of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy - Town of Franklin), and Dr. Erik Holmgren (Manager of Advancement and Strategic Partnerships, Mass Cultural Council)
Located in Eli’s Room
Massachusetts is currently the only state in the country that has health insurance companies that pay for arts experiences as a part of the treatment plans of patients. Franklin, MA also became the first municipality in the United States to utilize Opioid Relief Funding to support Arts Experience as a mitigation strategy for addiction and therapy for recover. This session will explore the challenges and opportunities of Arts Prescriptions in Massachusetts from the perspective of a Physician, a municipality and the from the state level.
-
Facilitated by Danya Sherman and Mina Kim of Building Creative Power MA
Located in Carole’s Dance Studio
Join us to imagine and co-create economic justice solutions. We’ll discuss how our labor builds capital (not just $) and intersects with housing, health care, and more, leveraging our power to achieve a more just economy. The session will integrate music, discussion and creative reflection.
WORKSHOPS AND SESSIONS: THIRD BLOCK
2:15 - 3:00 PM
-
Facilitated by Annis Sengupta and Abbey Judd of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
Located in The Workroom
MAPC understands that a thriving arts and culture sector is also the foundation of a thriving, prosperous region. Hear about policy ideas we think hold promise to ensure that arts and culture can thrive in Metro Boston and across the Commonwealth.
-
Facilitated by Blair Benjamin and Elizabeth Moy of Assets for Artists
Located in The Flex
How can we support artists to use their powerful ideas and voices to propel meaningful community change? Assets for Artists staff will share how they approach artist-leadership development through a holistic lens, and discuss strategies to center artists as cultural advocates and change agents.
-
Facilitated by Christopher Robinson, karen Krolak, Kristin Johnson, Sam Gould, and Olivia Reinebach of Think Outside the Vox
Located in Eli’s Room
What did we learn about accessibility and connection during the pandemic? Our disability justice advocates will share tools and sustainable inclusion practices to build trust and resilience within our communities that are relevant to the current unpredictable climate.
-
Facilitated by Danielle Amodeo of the Arts Equity Group
Located in Carole’s Dance Studio
Feeling stuck in today’s political climate? This hands-on session from Arts Equity Group introduces asset mapping as a tool for resilience. Learn to identify your power, map resources, and strategize for impact—so your organization can adapt, thrive, and lead through uncertainty.
WORKSHOPS AND SESSIONS: FOURTH BLOCK
3:15 - 4:00 PM
-
Facilitated by Gabriela Yadegari, Program Coordinator of Artists At Work. Panelists include: Desiree Taylor (educational storyteller), Danielle Coomes (Program Specialist at Have Hope Peer Recovery Center), and Alex Kostopoulus (Lotus Writing Class participant and community activist)
Located in The Workroom
Join North Adams-based artist and educational storyteller Desiree Taylor, along with Danielle Coomes, Program Specialist at Have Hope Peer Recovery Center, and Alex Kostopoulus, Lotus Writing Class participant and community activist, for a conversation about their collaboration through Artists At Work (AAW), a national workforce resilience program designed to support artists and their communities through artistic civic engagement. As a full-time salaried artist with AAW, Desiree partnered with Have Hope – a free peer-led and peer-driven community space – to support their mission of addressing mental health and substance abuse recovery in the region. Desiree’s writing workshops have helped community members reflect on their personal histories, develop their creative voices, and recognize themselves as part of a larger and interconnected community to uncover pathways toward hope and healing for the future.
Using the AAW program in the Northern Berkshires as a model, this panel will explore how creative partnerships led by artists can respond to complex regional challenges. Through their firsthand experiences, the panelists will reflect on how paid creative labor catalyzes meaningful connections and sustainable, community-centered solutions. The session will also offer space for dialogue about integrating artist employment practices into broader social infrastructure, and how we can mobilize toward comprehensive cross-sector solutions with the often limited resources we have as cultural workers, artists, and community-based organizations.
-
Facilitated by Erin Ryan Heyneman, Garin Boyd, and Shan Ross
Located in The Flex
At the Intersection of Disability and Culture, a panel featuring disabled artists who share insights about navigating the creative sector. Guided by Erin Ryan Heyneman, the discussion will explore cultural representation, barriers to access, and how artists and administrators can advocate.
-
Facilitated by Danya Sherman and Jenn Chang
Located in Eli’s Room
Learn about the Art Takes Work campaign and consider how to advocate for labor, economic, and safety net policies in MA that benefit creative (and all) workers. Art Takes Work advocates for a NYS Policy Playbook that proposes 18 economic policies and was created in NY based on Creatives Rebuild NY, a three-year guaranteed income and artists' jobs program.
-
Facilitated by Margo Saulnier, Creative Strategist at New Bedford Creative
Located in Carole’s Dance Studio
Learn how to build sustainable partnerships and coalitions for advocacy through real-world tools and examples from New Bedford Creative. This hands-on session offers a practical framework for cultural organizing that meets the moment with purpose and impact.
The Summit will conclude with a keynote address by Giselle Byrd, Executive Director of The Theater Offensive and a fireside chat moderated by Tiffany Allecia, M.Ed., Executive Director of Springfield Creative City Collective.
Learn more about Giselle:
