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The People of Baldwin

Daphnee Nicolas

Program Manager

Daphnee Nicholas selfie in ball cap in nature

Daphnee Nicolas (she/her) is an educator, learner, coach, trainer, and artist. She worked in the early childhood field for over 15 years supporting children, youth, early childhood professionals, and families. When she is not advocating for the education system, she can be found creating welcoming spaces for people to gather, eat, dream, and find joy. Daphnee is a co-author of two articles for PBS Parents which provided tools to support parents and educators to talk about racial injustice and COVID-19 with children.

updated: 2 months ago

Moné Dixon-Sabio

Program Coordinator

photo of Mone Dixon posing in a tree

Credit Abigail Dudley

Monè Dixon-Sabio is a traveler, enjoys reading, and loves animals. She's a U.S. Navy veteran and has a M.A. in women, gender and sexuality studies. She lives in Queens, N.Y.

updated: 2 months ago

Jacqueline Woodson

Founder, President

Jacqueline Woodson in a doorway with a dog on the lawn

Jacqueline Woodson is a writer whose accolades include a MacArthur “Genius” Award, the National Book Award, The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, The Hans Christian Andersen Medal and NAACP Award among many others. She was inspired to create Baldwin For The Arts after spending time at Macdowell, Hedgebrook, and The Fine Arts Workcenter and witnessing the impact of these residencies.

updated: 2 months ago

Reuben Walker

Treasurer

Reuben Walker
Reuben Walker is the Director of Research at Columbia Law School where he provides donor prospect research and assists in the development of comprehensive fundraising strategies. His over 20 years of experience in non-profit management ranges from work with large academic institutions to smaller community-based organizations serving People of Color LGBTQI and HIV/AIDS communities. His devotion to the arts began at UC Berkeley, where he studied African diasporic cultural literacy.

updated: 1 year ago

Merele Williams Adkins

Merele Williams Adkins
Merele Williams Adkins is a lapsed lawyer who now represents the Estate of Terry R. Adkins, an artist and musician. She has been instrumental in preserving his legacy in the canon of art history, with numerous books published and exhibitions staged, including a recent one at the Putlizer Arts Foundation. Merele could be described as an “arts activist” and currently serves on two boards, the Laundromat Project and the Hood Museum of Art.

updated: 2 months ago

Glory Edim

Glory Edim portrait
Glory Edim is the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, a Brooklyn-based book club and online community that celebrates the uniqueness of Black literature and sisterhood. In fall 2017, she organized the first-ever Well-Read Black Girl Literary Festival.

updated: 1 year ago

Catherine Gund

Catherine Gund at the camera

Catherine Gund, Founder-Director of Aubin Pictures, is an Emmy-nominated producer, director, writer, and activist. Her media work focuses on strategic and sustainable social transformation, arts and culture, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, and the environment.

Gund currently serves on several other boards including Art For Justice, Art Matters, and The George Gund Foundation.

updated: 1 year ago

Kaija Langley

Kaija Langley
Kaija Langley is a writer and fundraiser for non-profit organizations with a global reach. Currently she is the author of When Langston Dances, her debut picture book about a little Black boy’s first day of ballet by Denene Millner Books/Simon and Schuster Young Readers imprint. She is also on the board of the Cambridge Public Library.

updated: 1 year ago

Katy Nishimoto

Katy Nishimoto with walking sticks

Katy Nishimoto is a Senior Editor at The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House. Before joining Dial as their first-ever editor to focus specifically on lgbtq+ writers, she spent ten years at the global talent agency William Morris Endeavor in their Literary Division. Katy lives in Los Angeles with her partner and their tiny dog.

updated: 1 year ago

Lydia Polgreen

Lydia Polgreen
Lydia Polgreen is an award winning journalist and media executive who is currently Managing Director of Gimlet, a podcast studio at Spotify. Prior to that, Polgreen served as editor in chief of HuffPost following a 15 year career at the New York Times that included roles as an editor, South Africa bureau chief, a correspondent for the New Delhi bureau and chief of the West Africa bureau. Polgreen was a 2006 recipient of the George Polk Award for foreign reporting and the 2008 Livingston Award for international reporting.

updated: 3 months ago

Toshi Reagon

Toshi Reagon playing guitar
Toshi Reagon is a talented, versatile singer, composer, musician, curator and producer. While her expansive career has landed her comfortably in residence at Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House & Madison Square Garden, you can just as easily find Toshi turning out a music festival, intimate venue or local club. Toshi knows the power of song to focus, unite and mobilize people. Her latest theatrical work is the opera Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. She is a 2015 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, a 2018 United States Artist Fellow.

updated: 3 months ago

Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books for young people, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys, Long Way Down, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, and the upcoming Stuntboy, in the Meantime. The recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors, Reynolds is also the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. He lives in Washington, DC.

updated: 7 months ago

Linda Villarosa

Linda Villarosa fishing with dog
Linda Villarosa is a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine where she covers race, inequality and public health. Her article "Why America's Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis" was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. Linda is also a professor at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism @ CUNY with a joint appointment at the City College of New York where she teaches journalism, Black Studies and pre-med students. Linda's book "Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of a Nation," was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2022 by the New York Times.

updated: 2 days ago

Baldwin's Honorary Board Members

  • Kwame Alexander
  • Carrie Mae Weems
  • Julie Lythcott-Haims
  • Marlon James
  • Ocean Vuong

updated: 7 months ago

Baldwin

Baldwin for the Arts is a public charity recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Your contribution is deductible for federal income tax purposes as permitted by law.