JAYU Staff

Our year-round team; say hi!

**Amanda Blair Roberson**
Executive Director
she/her

Amanda found her passion in creating impact programming and experiences for the creative arts community in Toronto. With over 10 years of sector experience she has worked for Artscape Daniels Launchpad as Partnership Lead and most recently as the Director of Community Impact for Justice Fund Toronto, she brings strong experience in cultural programming and partnerships, working with organizations like Refinery29, Universal Music Canada, OVO and Tim Hortons. Amanda’s dedicated to creating expressive experiences that celebrate art, culture and social justice and is passionate about creating sustainable change.

**Desiree Mckenzie**
iAM Program Manager
she/her

Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning poet, arts educator, national poetry slam champion, voice actor and programming manager at JAYU. Her poetry and voice have been featured in works for CBC’s Poetic License series, When Sisters Speak, Clearco Financial, Button Poetry, Kids Help Phone and Home Depot. She facilitates a range of community poetry programming for organizations like JAYU, VIBE Arts, Unity Charity, Poetry in Voice, and Shakespeare in Action. To continue refining her craft, she is currently an MFA candidate in the University of Guelph Creative Writing program.

As program manager at JAYU, she curates free arts programming for equity-deserving youth, helping them to grow in their artistic careers.

**Esther Phua**
Operations Manager
she/her

Esther has worked in Toronto's creative community for 8 years as an arts administrator, community builder, and artist. Having worked in a variety of roles including communications, marketing, customer service, and operations management, she understands the wrap-around supports artists need to thrive.

An artist herself, Esther is an emerging singer-songwriter-producer who fuses indie, pop, chamber pop, and R&B influences. Currently, she co-leads the Asian music collective 'Tiger Balme' and writes and releases music as 'Estyr'.

**Sursattie Pooja Raghunandan**
Marketing & Communications Manager
she/her

Sursattie is a designer working within the arts, culture, and community sectors. She takes a human-centred approach to amplifying digital spaces that support collective wellbeing online and offline. Sursattie excels at crafting heart-led design strategies that resonate with diverse audiences. You can her find her work at women’s wellness spaces like HERSpace and Laadliyan.

As an artist, she draws inspiration from nature, using it as fuel to explore and express her emotions. She blends design, photography, and video elements to connect real life experiences to her digital footprint.

**Samantha Lu**
iAM Program Coordinator
she/her

Sam Lu is a self-taught photographer, program coordinator, and emerging poet based in Toronto. In 2023, she received the Juror’s Choice Award for her photography-based installation The Restaurant Kid on Finch West at the DesignTO Youth: Blueprint exhibition as part of the DesignTO Festival. This year, her photography highlighting Scarborough sights was in the 2024 CONTACT Photography Festival, in partnership with Next Generation Arts.

Recently, she also stood on stage to share her poetry for the first time and has been using spoken word to reconnect with her physical voice ever since. She has performed at events for JAYU, Toronto Poetry Slam and Unity Charity. When not sharing her work, she is dedicated to enhancing her craft by taking workshops with Lakeshore Arts, Next Gen Arts and more. Sam is now at a fulfilling crossroad between the pen and the camera, and imagining ways to bridge the two together.

Team morale booster, personality hire with a cause and the diva of the group.

Board of Directors

Alicia Rose
Chair

Nidhi Khanna
Vice Chair

Brittney Cathcart
Secretary

Liz Kohn
Director

Lauren La Rose
Director

Michael Prosserman
Director

Nonna Aroutiounian
Director

Kate Shao
Director

The Hum

The team behind our podcast, The Hum.

Gilad Cohen
Co-host / Producer

Simona Ramkisson
Co-host

Alex Castellani
Producer / Editor

Brandon Fragomeni
Producer / Editor

Ron Ma
Associate Producer

The Artists

The mentors who make the iAM program such a meaningful experience.

Adeyemi Adegbesan
@soteeoh / @yung.yemi

Britta Badour
@missbrittab

Gina Chung
ieota.com

Gilad Cohen
@mrgiladcohen

Joel Clements
@joelclements

Celeste Cole
@ovita.cole

Vuk Dragojevic
@vukdragojevic

Samuel Engelking
@samuelengelking

Anthony Gebrehiwot
@xvxyphoto

Jah Grey
@jahgrey

Ian Griffin
@griffian

Chrisann Hessing
@chrisannn20

Ally Kamino
@allykamino

Sanjeev Kugan @sksquared

Taku Kumabe
@smaku

Don Lane
@dleeezy

Charlie Lindsay
@doncharleone

Ben Marans
@benmaransphotography

Fred Martin
@fred_insta_martin

Tanya Mok
@loqtm

Taha Muharuma
@tahaphoto

Neil Nofuente
@neilnofuente

Yasin Osman
@yescene

Chin Pua
@chinpua

Melanie Renee
@melanierenee.photo

Melissa Renwick
@melissarenwick

Jon Rix
@normster

Graeme Roy
@g_wah

Jack Roy
@jxkson

Brianna Roye
@briannablank

Rose Sauqillo
@gummyting

Sara Shirley
@sara_e_photography

Zahra Siddiqui
@zahra_siddiqui

Rachel Simpson
@rachelsimpsonphoto

Dave Skene
gyvn.ca

Marcus Tan de Bibiana
@tandebibiana

Shanik Tanna
@shanikt

Chris Young
@chrisyoungnewsphoto

Emilia Zibaei
@emiliacreates