This Summer, MASSCreative has an exceptional group of fellows and interns leading and supporting our efforts. Learn more about them and their wonderful work!
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Sophia Balsamo, 2020 Summer Fellow
Sophia Balsamo began working for MASSCreative in September 2019. She is a recent graduate of Tufts University where she earned her BA in Peace & Justice Studies and Theatre, Dance, & Performance Studies. She has previously worked for Massachusetts Peace Action and the Office of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and volunteered with the Cambridge Women's Center.
Sophia has a deep love for theater and its ability to inspire social change. At Tufts, she was a member of Lord Barnum's Players, a troupe dedicated to performing Shakespeare in schools around the Commonwealth, and its parent organization the Boston Shakespeare Project, where she taught Shakespeare-focused after-school programs to promote literacy and community. She looks forward to deepening her knowledge of advocacy and justice as she obtains her Master's in Conflict Studies & Human Rights at Utrecht University this fall.
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Simone Lewis, Tufts Fellow Simone Lewis is a rising junior at Tufts University double majoring in Environmental Studies and Economics with a minor in Art History. She is joining the MASSCreative team this summer as a fellow specifically focusing on Create the Vote. Originally from Berkeley, California, Simone has gained broad policy experience from working on local ballot measure campaigns in the Bay Area, working in the CA state capitol, and interning for MA Senator Ed Markey this past semester. At Tufts, Simone has been volunteering in a Cambridge Head Start preschool with Jumpstart AmeriCorps and is the Community Director for The Mountain Club. Simone is excited to join the arts and culture community in Massachusetts and to contribute to MASSCreative’s role in supporting this community. |
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Ian Lam, Tufts Fellow Ian Lam is a rising senior at Tufts University where he is pursuing a double major in Economics and American Studies. This summer he is interning with MassCreative through the Tisch Summer Fellows program. Ian is passionate about the intersection of arts and civic engagement, having previously interned at Rosie O’Donnell’s non-profit Rosie’s Theater Kids, which offers musical theater education and college-readiness to students from Title 1 public schools in Manhattan. This summer at MassCreative, he is working on Create the Vote, a nonpartisan public education campaign that harnesses the power of Massachusetts’ artistic and creative communities to foster civic engagement through voter education, registration, and turnout. |
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Dani Yan, Policy Intern Dani is a rising junior from Houston, TX pursuing a double major in Public Policy and Art History with a minor in Economics. He is the Co-Editor in Chief of FORM Magazine, the Undergraduate Student Representative on the President’s Art Advisory Committee, a member of the Nasher Museum of Art’s Student Executive Board, the Vice President of Mixed Martial Arts Club, and a Senator on Student Government, at Duke University. He enjoys writing, exercising, trying new food, and going to art museums. After graduation, Dani wants to work in the art world. He is interested in improving arts accessibility and education, as well as supporting arts culture more generally, so is very excited to be working with MASSCreative this summer. |
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Danisha Pierre, Bloomberg Arts Initiative Intern Danisha is a rising senior at Fenway High School. She’s spent her whole life very interested in the arts. Wanting to know more about what it's like to incorporate art into a professional environment Danisha joined the MassCreative team for experience. Hailing from Boston Danisha has always spent her youth being involved in art as much as possible through all mediums. She spends her free time writing and drawing when she can. She hopes to go to college and major in Art Therapy after her senior year. This summer Danisha is working on create the vote which is a non profit Initiative to engage the youth in pre registering to vote in this upcoming election. She is hoping to leave a positive long lasting impact! |
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Jacintha Fontellio, Bloomberg Arts Intern Jacintha is a rising junior at Josiah Quincy Upper High School where she'll become an International Baccalaureate (IB) student this upcoming fall. This summer Jacintha has been interning at the MASSCreative worksite through the Bloomberg Arts Internship (BAI) Program. In doing so, she and another intern will be focusing on organizing the "Create the Vote" Campaign to encourage voter registration and engage youth voters. During her 8th grade year, Jacintha joined the Advisory Student Council (ASC) Club at her school. From then until now she has learned how to organize school and afterschool events, take inventory, and plan for the year ahead. She is on the "Snowden Cougars" volleyball team which has taught her how to communicate strategies, practice team building, and learn that a team will not succeed if the teammates are against one another. She is known for being strongly opinionated, honest, and having a caring attitude towards others. She is a visual artist who is very passionate about art and it's impact on the world. For those who know Jacintha, they know that she is overly detailed when it comes to her art projects. In the near future, her goal is to become an Interior Designer. She wants to make people's dreams come true and bring out the inner artist within them starting with the inside of their home. Hopefully MASSCreative is one of her many steps on the way to accomplishing this goal. |
