Kate Becker

Creative Economy Director, King County

Building sustainable creative communities has been at the core of Kate Becker’s career. As the first King County Creative Economy Strategist, Becker currently spends her days (and nights!) working to build Seattle’s creative economy, keenly focused on the film and music industries. Prior to this, Becker served on the Cabinets of four Mayors as the Director of the Seattle Office of Film + Music. She has served in leadership roles in large and small non-profit organizations, and co-founded legendary Northwest all ages venues The Vera Project and the Old Fire House, talent pipelines for the music industry. Becker has produced more than 1,000 all ages shows, and numerous large scale events and fundraisers. She was a charter member of the Seattle Music Commission and serves on multiple nonprofit boards.

Hakim Bellamy

Founder/CEO Beyond Poetry LLC and Inaugural Poet Laureate of Albuquerque, NM

As the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Albuquerque (2012-2014), Hakim Bellamy has worked as a professional poet, actor (stage and screen), musician, and journalist for 20 years. Bellamy's music and musical collaborations have earned him a share of three New Mexico Music Awards. He has featured as the lead and backup vocalist for such New Mexico-based bands as Law of Attraction and Merican Slang. His music has been licensed by organizations such as the Sierra Club for collective action campaigns both regionally and nationally. A recent graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law, Bellamy served as the Deputy Director for the Department of Arts & Culture at the City of Albuquerque (2018 - 2022). During his time as Deputy Director, he served as an advisor to the Mayor on Creative Economy initiatives and helped oversee the department's $40M budget for staffing and programming which included the city's year round live music offerings and media production facilities. Bellamy spent three years as the on-air host of New Mexico PBS's ¡COLORES! program, an award-winning weekly arts and culture series that explores the creative spirit of New Mexico and the Southwest through in-depth stories about local and national artists, musicians, writers, and cultural traditions.

Michael Bracy

Founder, Music Policy Forum

Michael Bracy is an advocate, strategist, entrepreneur, and educator who works at the intersection of emerging technologies, culture, and public policy. In 2017, Michael co-founded the Music Policy Forum, a non-profit dedicated to catalyzing music ecosystems. He also co-founded and co-owns Misra Records and is an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University. As a Founder Emeritus of the non-profit Future of Music Coalition, Michael spent fifteen years bridging the gap between the music community and policymakers with a particular focus on consolidation of the commercial radio industry, protecting and expanding non-commercial radio, solidifying legal structures to facilitate webcasting, increasing artist access to health care and protecting innovation through strong net neutrality regulations. In the film community, Michael created and leads Policy in Focus, a boutique consultancy that helps creators maximize their social impact, revenue, and audience through a service-based model prioritizing film teams, film participants, and the broader advocacy ecosystem in which the project lives. Through Michael’s public affairs firm, Bracy Tucker Brown, he has provided representation and strategic council to a wide range of public agencies and cultural institutions including the Cities of Albuquerque, Tucson, and Boise, NEA, American Ballet Theatre, NPR, Native Public Media, International Documentary Association, Colorado Creative Industries and Fractured Atlas.

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Anna Harwell Celenza

Professor, Johns Hopkins University, Peabody Conservatory

Anna Harwell Celenza is a professor at Johns Hopkins University, where she holds a joint appointment in The Writing Seminars (Krieger School of Arts & Sciences) and Musicology Department (Peabody Conservatory). She is the author/editor of several scholarly books, including Music and Human Flourishing (2023), The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin (2019), Jazz Italian Style: From Its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra (2017), Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America (2014) and Hans Christian Andersen and Music: The Nightingale Revealed (2005). Her work has also appeared in The Hopkins Review, Musical Quarterly, Nineteenth-Century Music, Notes, The Cambridge Companion to Liszt (2005), and Franz Liszt and His World (2006) and The Cambridge Companion to Duke Ellington (2014). In addition to her scholarly work, she has authored a series of award-winning children's books with Charlesbridge Publishing: The Farewell Symphony (2000), Pictures at an Exhibition (2003), The Heroic Symphony (2004), Bach's Goldberg Variations (2005), Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (2006), Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite (2011), Vivaldi's Four Seasons (2012), Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre (2013) and a 14-part syndicated series on Louis Armstrong for the NC Press Foundation. Her work has been featured on nationally syndicated radio and TV programs, including NPR's "Todd Mundt Show", BBC's "Music Matters" and "Proms Broadcasts", and C-Span's "Book-TV". In 2017, Celenza curated an exhibition titled Margaret Bonds and Langston Hughes: A Musical Friendship (Georgetown University Library, 2016). Her exhibition catalog won the 2017 Leab Exhibition Catalog Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries. In 2016, Celenza co-founded Music Policy Forum, a non-profit organization that advises local governments about how to create sustainable music ecosystems. Over the last ten years, she has participated in a range of music advocacy work, including serving on the Board of the Baltimore Jazz Alliance and as a co-developer of the 2019 Washington DC Music Census and the 2024 Baltimore Music Census.

Lisa Gedgaudas

Cultural Affairs, Denver Arts and Venues

Lisa Gedgaudas has dedicated over 25 years of progressive work in the creative industries, demonstrating a consistent track record of outstanding support to culture and communities locally and nationally. Her background includes research, policy, advocacy, cultural programming, cultural district and economic development. She has led and advised on the distribution of resources across foundation, state, city, and federal funding streams, guiding equitable grantmaking and strategic cultural investments that strengthen communities.

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MPF would not exist without the steadfast leadership and policy innovation that define Lisa’s career. Through her work with Denver Arts & Venues and the National Independent Venue Association and Foundation, she has been a driving force in strengthening local and national music ecosystems and building vital connections between artists, venues, policymakers, and communities. She has advised cities and organizations across the country and abroad, championed equity in cultural investment, and inspired colleagues through her leadership and dedication to ensuring that music remains vibrant and accessible. Lisa is deeply committed to advancing equity, justice, diversity, inclusion, and access in all her work practices, building a stronger and safer environment for cultural diplomacy.

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Dani Grant

Owner Mishawaka Amphitheatre, Riverside Colorado and Mish Media Marketing Agency

Dani Grant is one of those tenaciously hard-working, creative entrepreneurs who has transformed a deep passion for music into her life’s work. Dani owns and manages the 1000 cap legendary and historic Mishawaka Restaurant and Amphitheatre and Mish Media, a marketing agency with a focus on publicity and live music and entertainment. To add to the mix, Dani owns and operates Riverside Colorado, a 40 unit tiny home, cabin and glamping resort that is nestled on banks of the Poudre River.

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To complement her roles as business owner and local arts and culture champion, Dani also has served on many boards including KUNC & KJAC The Colorado Sound, WESTAF Denver Music Task Force, The Sustainable Living Association, Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation (CSU Media) and Community Radio of Northern CO -KRFC. She currently sits on the executive board of directors as Treasurer for the Washington DC based Music Policy Forum. Dani has satisfied her affinity for the development of aspiring youth as founder of SpokesBUZZ Fort Collins an economic development generator for the state of CO and an incubator for developing musicians as well as serving as an adjunct professor at Colorado University Denver and Colorado State University in the Music Business departments. She raised three incredibly bright and independent daughters to adulthood and currently shares her life with her dog Isabel, her partner Larry Little, and his two amazingly creative sons in Fort Collins CO.

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Johannes Larson

Founder, Campfire Music Foundation

Johannes Larson is a drummer, young leader, and recognized technologist focused on systemic reform within the music industry. Johannes is a 2023 graduate of Georgetown University (B.A., Computer Science and American Music Culture), where he played in the jazz program and managed a local jazz club at Blues Alley. During his time at Georgetown, he founded Campfire Music Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building a streaming platform to reform artist compensation and music discovery in the age of digital music. Johannes holds roles with the Music Policy Forum and the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW), and has led strategic efforts for the Internet Security Research Group, D.C. Music Summit, and Twin Cities United Performers.

Dena Morris

Partner, The Contorta Group

Dena Morris has served as a federal advocate for non-profit clients, as the Legislative Director for a senior member of the U.S. Senate’s Democratic leadership, and as Washington (DC) Director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Political experience includes leading debate preparation and questionnaires for candidates, contributing to and appearing in television ads, and (of course) knocking on doors in Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, and Arizona.

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In Seattle, Dena led the Washington Global Health Alliance, served as chief of staff with Seattle Public Schools, is now with the governing board for the Washington School-Based Health Alliance, and remains a dedicated, if not particularly gifted, student of the cello.

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Board of directors emeritus

Ashlye keaton

Ashlye Keaton has practiced law for more than 20 years in the arts, culture and entertainment sectors with a focus on intellectual property. She also advocates for strong arts and cultural policies and practices in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana. Ashlye is the Co-Founder of The Ella Project, a nonprofit based in New Orleans that serves Louisiana artists, musicians and culture bearers with direct legal, business and advocacy services. Ashlye is an adjunct professor at Tulane Law School, where she has received recognition for distinguished teaching, in addition to the University of New Orleans Graduate School in Arts Administration. Along with other legal successes, Ashlye helped the Mardi Gras Indians by arguing that their elaborate suits qualified for copyright protection as works of sculpture. She is also noted for her work around the New Orleans municipal noise ordinance and other regulations, policies and programs that impact arts and culture. Ashlye co-founded and is an emeritus board member for Music Policy Forum, a North American organization dedicated to providing resources and strengthening networks within the music sector. Ashlye is the Chair of the community advisory board for WWOZ 90.7FM, the President of the Tchoupitoulas Art Corridor, and the Vice-President of the Dave Bartholomew Culture Center. She has served in the past on numerous boards for arts and culture related organizations, including the Recording Academy, OffBeat Music and Cultural Arts Foundation, the New Orleans Fringe Festival, New Orleans Video Access Center and the Jazzy Hideaway. Beyond New Orleans, Ashlye has convened stakeholders and presented at conferences at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Georgetown University, Canadian Music Week, the NoncomMusic Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts, South Arts, and other organizations steeped in conversations around developing best practices focused on fairness and equity in promoting thriving creative industries and cultural ecosystems. Ashlye was a ballet/tap instructor and choreographer until 2020 and still enjoys dancing in her free time. Ashlye lives in New Orleans with her husband Joel and their dog Django.

Amy terrill

Amy Terrill is one of the Co-Founders of the Music Policy Forum and the lead author of The Mastering of a Music City which was published by Music Canada in 2015, as well as many other reports on Music Cities. During her 10-year career in the music industry, she curated various summits on the topic, and had the privilege of visiting cities around the world to talk about how to create a supportive environment for music. She also served on numerous other boards including the Polaris Music Prize.Amy is an experienced advocate and community builder and lives in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. She left the music industry in 2019 in order to lead the Boys and Girls Club of Kawartha Lakes where her team supports and inspires over 8000 children and youth each year. Never one to sit still, she recently published her first novel, an historical fiction inspired by her Great Aunt’s work at a munitions factory in WWI.

KWENDE KEFENTSE

For more than two decades, Kwende Kefentse has worked across creative practice, cultural industries development, and civic leadership, with a focus on how culture can shape more vibrant, inclusive cities. As Ottawa’s inaugural Cultural Industries Development Officer, he helped lead initiatives including Cultural Resource Mapping, the Connecting Ottawa Music report, the development of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, and the Ottawa Music Strategy. He later served as the first Executive Director of CKCU-FM, where he led the station through post-pandemic renewal focused on modernization and community reconnection. Alongside that work, Kwende has sustained a long-running artistic practice as DJ Memetic of the TIMEKODE collective, solo performance and production, exhibitions, interdisciplinary collaborations, and cultural curation. His recent work has included projects with the National Gallery of Canada and Artengine, and he's spoken widely in Canada and internationally on music ecosystems, nightlife, cultural policy, and urban change. He holds an MRes from UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture and currently serves on the boards of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, and the Ottawa Film Office.

Don PITTS

Don Pitts is the Founder and President of Sound Music Cities, where he works with communities across the United States to strengthen local music ecosystems through research, policy, and community engagement. With more than three decades of experience in the music industry, his career has included artist and venue management, entertainment relations at Gibson Guitar, and leadership of Austin’s Music & Entertainment Division.Known for his practical, community-centered approach, Don has helped cities and regions better understand the needs of musicians, venues, and industry professionals through music census and ecosystem development projects. His work focuses on translating community voices into actionable strategies that support local music economies, strengthen cultural infrastructure, and improve the conditions that allow music communities to thrive. As a founding board member of the Music Policy Forum, Don considers it both an honor and a privilege to have helped support the organization’s mission of advancing thoughtful music policy and fostering stronger connections between music communities, policymakers, and civic leaders. Through his work, he continues to advocate for thriving local music ecosystems where artists, venues, and industry professionals can live, work, and succeed.