Bio

Heather Beasley is a playwright, director, dramaturg, and teaching artist. She currently serves as Director of Education at Miners Alley Playhouse, where she designs and manages the company’s education programs for students of all ages. She also writes and directs for the mainstage and theatre for young audiences (TYA) production seasons. At Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado (BETC), she runs the BETC Writers Group, a collaborative of Colorado playwrights developing ten-minute, full-length, and TYA plays.

Heather’s experience in new play development and professional production includes work on ten world premiere productions and dozens of new plays with writers from across the country. She designed the innovative Generations residency program, the first residency program in the country specifically for parent playwrights. Heather created the Science Shorts program, which paired playwrights with environmental science researchers to create an original education event incorporating short plays, science talks, and hands-on experiments and creative activities.

Heather’s original plays include Bone Records, The Gentle Life-Changing Magic of Burning it All Down to the Ground, and the TYA musical Amelia’s Big Idea (co-written with Richie Cannaday and Edie Carey).

Education

Heather holds a B.A. in Creative Writing/Theatre from Creighton University, an M.A. in Theatre with Dramaturgy focus from Villanova University, and a Ph.D. in Theatre from University of Colorado Boulder.

Motivation for Teaching 

Heather brings her arts administrative experience and artistic creativity into her teaching approach. She loves working with students who are breaking disciplinary boundaries and re-envisioning arts organizations as places to build satisfying lives as well as prominent creative careers. Previously, she taught at the University of Colorado Boulder and for the MFA Performance Program at Naropa University, where she won the 2020 Faculty Involvement Award.

Bio

Monica Butler is a dedicated and experienced educator with diverse experience in arts and community nonprofit organizations. She has designed and implemented engaging art museum education experiences for students of all ages and is passionate about creating community through dynamic encounters with arts and culture.

As an instructor, Monica is committed to creating community through inquiry, reflection, and critical thinking practices. She encourages students to integrate their professional and life experiences into course content as they make their learning their own.

Education

Monica holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of Colorado, Boulder, an M.A. in Art History from the University of California, Davis, and an MDiv from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Bio

Bertrand Evans-Taylor is the Director of Government Affairs at Dance/USA, with over a decade of experience in strategic event planning, community building, and cultural marketing in the arts sector.

Professional Background

As the founder of Ujima Cultural Solutions, Bertrand has led initiatives that support Black artists, build equitable arts ecosystems, and center community voices in creative placemaking. His work reflects a strong commitment to justice-centered engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Education

Bertrand holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Digital Marketing from Purdue Global University, an M.A. in Arts and Culture Management from the University of Denver, and a certificate in Social Difference, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the University of Pennsylvania.

Teaching Philosophy

Bertrand’s teaching emphasizes real-world application, digital strategy, and the critical role of art in movement-building, with a focus on Black art, advocacy, and accessible design. He is deeply committed to inclusive pedagogy, guiding students to explore the arts’ power as tools for entrepreneurship and systemic change. He encourages critical thinking and creative leadership through a lens of cultural responsibility and community impact.

Bio

Gisela Flanigan is cultural entrepreneur and arts advocate consultant, deeply committed to social change and collective impact in the nonprofit world. Her expertise is based on the intersection of leadership, management, and arts advocacy. .

Education

Gisela holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Miami and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas.

Professional Background

Gisela currently serves as Executive Director of Sistema Global, an award-winning social change organization inspired to expand access to music making as a basic human right. Under her leadership, Sistema Global has been selected for three years in a row to be part of the HundrED Global Education Innovation Collection. She is also a Certified Colorado Change Leader and a member of the International Music Education Policy Group advancing global policy dialogue in music education.

An expert in the intersection of leadership, management, and arts advocacy, Gisela has reviewed programs and grants for organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, and HundrED, Finland. She is regularly invited to speak at national and international conferences for organizations such as El Sistema World Conference, Virtual Concert Halls broadcast (Sound Espressivo), The Music, Business, and Peace Summit at Indiana University, Sphinx Connect, the College Music Society, and the Imagine IF… Festival in honor of Sir Ken Robinson. As a HundrED Academy member and Advisory Board member, she participated in the review of the HundrED Spotlight on Teachers for a Changing World in partnership with the World Bank Group.

Helping Students Be Successful

Gisela brings her comprehensive teaching background, non-profit leadership, and management expertise to the classroom in the Arts and Culture Management program. From critical analysis of art history to creative cultural placemaking and belonging themes, her firm belief in the profound impact of the arts and culture in society permeates her teaching style. Gisela is her students’ best advocate and designs her classes and learning activities to apply theory to real-life application and actively helps build a comprehensive arts and culture toolkit for her students.

Bio

Jennifer Golightly has taught research, argumentation, writing, rhetoric, history and literature for the past 24 years. She is the author of a book, “The Family, Marriage, And Radicalism In British Women’s Novels Of The 1790s: Public Affection And Private Affliction,” published in 2011 with Bucknell University Press and chapters in two edited collections, “Reproduction in the Novels of the 1790s,” which appeared in The Secrets of Generation: Reproduction in the Long Eighteenth Century (U of Toronto P, 2015), and “Gender Performance and the Spectacle of Female Suffering in Samuel Jackson Pratt’s Emma Corbett,” published in Female Transatlantic Travelers 1688-1843 (Bucknell P, 2021).

Jennifer supports digital humanities research and online teaching and learning and teaches courses on material and cultural eighteenth-century history as lecturer at Colorado College. She has taught writing, research, and literature courses at the College of Professional Studies since 2007.

Education

Jennifer earned a Ph.D. from the University of Denver in English Literature with a subspecialty in composition and rhetoric and an M.A. from the University of Denver in English Literature.

Bio

Steve Jenks is a career researcher with over 10 years of experience in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research for industries ranging from universities to non-profits to global e-commerce and social media platforms. He has a passion for helping organizations make data-informed decisions that lead to positive, sustainable change.

Steve currently serves as an UX Researcher at MeasuringU, a Denver-based research agency, where he provides research services including study design, data collection, analysis, and reporting, using surveys, interviews, and in-person product trials. Previously, he served as a course strategist for edX, a researcher for the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges, and in program evaluation roles at Cornell University, Ithaca College and the University of Tennessee.

Education

Steve earned a B.S. in African-American Studies from Florida State University, an M.S. in College Student Personnel from the University of Tennessee and a Ph.D. in Higher Education (cognate in Research Methods and Statistics) from the University of Denver.

Motivation for Teaching

Steve loves learning about real-world challenges in different industries and coaching people through the process of discovering potential solutions. He believes that research should be accessible to everyone and strives to help students understand how to be better consumers of research while learning ways to better inform their professional work as well.

Helping Students be Successful

Steve teaches students research processes by breaking down complex ideas and tasks into individual components, striving to help students make connections to prior professional and life experiences to make learning personal and practical. He loves coaching students through all steps of research, and often helps students with future projects after courses have ended.

Bio

Michael Lange serves as a faculty member and Director of Fine & Performing Arts at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, WY. In this position, he oversees the Surbrugg/Prentice Performing Arts Auditorium, the John Clay Fine Art Gallery and the academic programs in theatre, visual arts, and music.

For the previous decade, Lange served as the Executive Director of the Wyoming Arts Council helping strengthen Wyoming communities by supporting and investing in the arts. Mostly teaching the Capstone course for students studying in the Arts and Culture Management program, Lange uses his 15+ years in executive management in the arts and cultural field to help enrich student’s understanding of the role the arts play in the social and economic development of communities.

Lange is a former trustee for the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and is the recipient of the 2017 Northwest College Alumnus of the Year. Lange is also a musician and composer, performing mostly in the jazz idiom.

Bio

Melissa Leland is a leader in organizational effectiveness with nearly 20 years of experience in helping organizations execute their strategic/operating plan, and evaluate results tied to objectives. She has a solid understanding in performance measurement and how to align mission, strategy, and people. She helps organizations understand their performance outcomes, levers and barriers, define meaningful metrics, and create systems to reliably track progress.

Professional Background

Melissa is currently the managing owner of Cordillera Consulting which focuses on identifying the problem to be solved, the best route to get there, how to measure results, and create positive change experiences. Previously she worked for a consulting firm as a managing consultant, working across all sectors and many industries. Prior, she worked as an internal consultant at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and before then she oversaw learning and development programs. She has led successful engagements, including system implementations that received international recognition for the focus on deep-rooted organizational impact vs. “getting it done”. 

Education

Melissa holds a B.A. in Organizational Communication & Psychology from Western State Colorado University and an M.S. in Organizational Leadership from Regis University.

Motivation for Teaching

Melissa has a passion for learning and enjoys providing positive and impactful learning experiences to others. She enjoys facilitating thoughtful reflection for objective analysis, and guiding students to well thought, relevant solutions and approaches.

Helping Students Be Successful

Melissa enjoys working alongside students in the learning journey. She takes a practical approach to prepare students for on-the-job experiences. She’s available virtually during office hours to answer questions, work through scenarios, listen to ideas, and create a safe and positive learning experience.

Bio

Mya Martin-Glenn is a dedicated and experienced educational researcher. Currently, she serves as the Director of Assessment & Research in the Division of Equity & Learning for Aurora Public Schools, where she leads a team responsible for overseeing all district and state-level assessments.

Mya’s dedication to research excellence is evident in her academic background. She holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Denver, where she focused on educational measurement and evaluation. She also holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on Research and Evaluation Methodology from the University of Colorado Denver.

In the classroom, Mya fosters a collaborative learning environment where students can engage with the material and learn from each other. She uses innovative teaching methods and real-world examples to make research methods relevant and engaging for her students.

Bio

Tanya Mote has 26 years of experience in working with arts and culture organizations. Her expertise includes group facilitation, grant writing and collective movement building.

Education

Tanya earned her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and Spanish from the University of Denver, and her Master of Arts and her Doctor of Philosophy from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

Professional Background

Tanya is the Associate Director at Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center where she collaborates with an executive team to foster organizational development and system-wide impacts. She has participated in collective fundraising efforts that have taken the organization from an annual budget of $250,000 in 2000 to a budget of $1.5 M in 2023.

Motivation for Teaching

Tanya values the meaningful exchange and dialogue that occurs between students. She attempts to facilitate a learning environment that allows students to show up as their best selves, and ideally, to learn from each other. She is enthusiastic about passing on what she has learned and equipping students with the tools they will need to succeed as nonprofit professionals.

Helping Students Be Successful

Tanya uses a social justice perspective to teach students how their work matters in a global context. She supports students as they develop their own skills and versatility. She works with the individual talents and authentic gifts of students to foster their fresh insights and potential to make unique contributions to the field.