The Team
Meet SJAA’s Core Team – the volunteer brigade that organizes our events, trainings, and advocacy. If you’re interested in getting involved and have 2-3 hours a month to give, we’d love to add your perspective to our group! Send an email to hello@sjartsadvocates.org.
Peter Allen
Peter was formally educated as a screenwriter and now wears hats of different shapes and sizes, including marketing guru, community activist, and dad.
Julia Canavese
Julia is a San José native, a dancer, a writer, a passionate arts administrator, and the local nerd next door.
Edgar Ochoa
Edgar currently serves as Director of Community Engagement at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza.
Amanda Rawson
Amanda advocates for the arts both through her work in public art planning and as a volunteer in various arts organizations and museums.
Brendan Rawson
Brendan has been gleefully clapping on the 1 and 3 his whole life and is not about to stop now.
Emeritus
Eileen Beckley
Eileen spent her career teaching middle school and junior college and now consults on the arts for the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
Jeannine Flores
Jeannine is the former Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) and is currently serving in that capacity in Los Angeles.
Sofia Fojas
Sofia is an advocate for arts and culture for the students in our county as a veteran educator and continues to play music professionally and for fun.
Dana Harris Seeger
Dana is a printmaker, painter, educator, and entrepreneur. She is currently the SVCreates Artist Laureate for Santa Clara County. She is the co-creator and program coordinator of the School of Visual Philosophy in San José.
Mighty Mike McGee
Mike is a spoken word artist, the former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, and a fan of lasagna.
Ron P. Muriera
Ron has 20 years of experience as a performing artist, community activist, arts advocate, and culturista. He's known for playing a mean accordion.
Yori Seeger
Yori is a figurative sculptor classically trained in Florence, Italy. He graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and is a co-founder of Visual Philosophy, an art hub and atelier in San José.
Eva Smith Glynn
Eva, a marketing communications professional and undercover writer, has found meaning and purpose in helping nonprofit art organizations and nascent literary movements.
Usha Srinivasan
Usha Srinivasan is the founder and president of Sangam Arts / Mosaic America, a South Bay nonprofit dedicated to strengthening diverse communities through intercultural arts.