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Anna West, PhDExecutive Director
she/her, they/them awest@humanitiesamped.org Anna West is the Executive Director of Humanities Amped. Over the span of twenty years, Anna has co-created multiple community youth organizations, including Humanities Amped, that focus on the intersection of humanities and social justice. She is proud to have been raised in an intergenerational network of youth organizers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she remains committed to nurturing our community’s collective genius so that we all may thrive. She holds a PhD in English Education from Louisiana State University where she was awarded the 2018 Distinguished Dissertation Award in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and an M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education where she received the 2011 Arts-in-Education Intellectual Contribution Award. Her collaborative research and writing projects have appeared in Harvard Educational Review (2011), At Our Best: Building Youth-Adult Partnerships in Out-of-School Settings (2020), and the forthcoming Strategies and Perspectives on Social Justice Work (in-press).
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Kayla Stansbury, M.Ed.Operations Director
she/her kstansbury@humanitiesamped.org Kayla Stansbury is Humanities Amped's Operations Director. Her work includes managing HA's finances, coordinating team meetings, and collaborating with the staff to create processes and systems that reflect HA's mission and vision. She was born in the United States but was raised in Porto Velho and São Paulo, Brazil, moving back to the US as a high school student. She taught English in EBR public schools for several years and recently earned her M. Ed. from Louisiana State University. When not working on spreadsheets, you can find her writing middle grade novels or baking gluten-free pastries (They are delicious, promise!).
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Zach Williams, MATYouth Programs Director
he/him zwilliams@humanitiesamped.org Zach Williams is a North Louisiana native and advocate for the inclusion of arts and social justice in education. After receiving his bachelors in Sociology and English from Fisk University and starting a career in social work, Williams quickly saw that more preventative measures can be taken from the angle of education. This prompted him to teach and earn his masters in teaching from RELAY Graduate School of Education with a concentration of ELA instruction to match his passion for reading and writing. A part time poet and prose author, as well as doctoral student with Xavier University of Louisiana, Williams seeks to lead students and fellow educators to success by creative measures and conscious decisions.
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Emma Gist, PhDEducation Director
she/her egist@humanitiesamped.org Emma Gist began working with Humanities Amped as a graduate assistant in Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University. Her research focuses on literacy practices in secondary English Language Arts classrooms, multimodal literacies, and project-based learning. Before joining Humanities Amped in 2018 she taught high school English at Da Vinci High School, a wall-to-wall project-based learning school in Davis, CA, where she designed and implemented curriculum to promote inquiry, real-world connections, and student voice, engaged in school- and district-wide restorative practices, and became a New Tech Network Certified Teacher. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California.
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LaChanda Harris, LCSWCommunity Care Manager
she/her lharris@humanitiesamped.org LaChanda Harris is Humanities Amped's Community Care Manager. She holds a Master of Social Work from Louisiana State University and has extensive experience working with diverse populations, using a blend of treatment modalities in her practice, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and Solution-Focused Therapy. Her practice focuses on assisting both individuals and families in developing more flexible ways of being in order to live their most authentic life. She strives to instill hope, and help individuals learn to challenge and replace irrational thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes, in order to be free to experience change and freely choose to do what matters in their lives.
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T. GeorgeProgram Leader
she/her tgeorge@humanitiesamped.org T. George is a graduate of McKinley Senior High School following her third year with Humanities Amped. She is working hard to make her family proud. She’s also working on her own non profit organization to help expand the next generation’s leadership skills. She has presented at various conferences, including the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s arts-in-education conference. George wants to attend the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and one day get her PhD.
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Ashanta GleasonAlumni Program Leader
she/her agleason@humanitiesamped.org Ashanta Gleason is a Humanities Amped alumna of McKinley Senior High School’s Class of 2019 who now studies History at Southern University and A&M College. During her time with Humanities Amped as a student and staff member, she developed a passion for civic and community engagement, public speaking, and empowering youth. Ashanta now serves as one of our Alumni Program Leaders who works in our classrooms and the after school Amped Studio, assisting current students reach their goals through the culture and teachings of the program. Ashanta accredits the Amped program as she believes it is a primary factor that inspired her to start a community service organization, Filled with Love Project, that is devoted to connecting and providing assistance to the community, and has motivated her to work with many organizations geared towards the upward development of the youth community in Baton Rouge. She thanks the program for all it has done and for giving her and all of her peers the tools needed to grow beyond high school.
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Andrew Kuo, PhDBoard Member-in-Residence
they/them akuo@humanitiesamped.org Andrew Kuo, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Louisiana State University and Vice President of the Humanities Amped Executive Board. Throughout the Fall 2022 semester, Andrew is serving in the role of Board Member-in-Residence and is responsible for developing new marketing, fundraising, and community engagement initiatives at Humanities Amped. Originally from Florida, Andrew moved to Baton Rouge in 2012, where they now reside with their partner, son, and two Boston Terriers. In their free time, Andrew enjoys noodling on their guitar, watching cheesy horror flicks, and hanging out at bookstores.
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Amped BOard of Directors
Board PresidentAlejandra Torres, PhD
Board Vice PresidentAndrew Kuo, PhD
BOard SecretaryBri’Yonna Collins
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BOard MembersGina Armbruster
Suzy Caleo, PhD Holley Haymaker, MD Emmy Hicks Briauna Hopkins Rev. Betsy Irvine Walter Geno McLaughlin Kevin McQuarn Petrouchka LL Moise, PhD Luz Randolph, PhD Bobby Thompson Susan Weinstein, PhD |
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