STAFF

Josefa Vaughan, Founder and Executive Director: Josefa has recently returned to the Board to serve as secretary until a new officer is found for that position.  Her classical and cutting-edge art projects began connecting gifted and vulnerable communities in the year 2000.  Despite her teenage homelessness, she has lectured widely, is a Djerassi Resident Artist Program alum, has won Awards from the San Francisco Arts Commission, and has been a juror for the California Arts Council.

Jennifer Spencer, Office Manager. First a typesetter, then a legal secretary, Jennifer, a Taoist Tai Chi practitioner is a native San Franciscan who developed her career in Great Britain. She has happily been vital to ArtSeed’s contact relationship management system upgrades. Her exacting attention to detail is helping us to update our data and move to a more sophisticated and personable way of reaching out to our growing list of beloved constituents.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Edna Arterberry, Community Elder – Edna is a recently retired social worker for foster families (which she did for 20 years) at the Department of Human Services, City of San Francisco. Prior to this she has worked in Bayview Hunters Point for over 21 years as manager of California Association of Health, Education, Employment and Dignity. She was on the advisory board of San Francisco General Hospital and the Southeast Health Center. She is actively involved in Cornerstone Baptist as a teacher for high school students and is a leader on the scholarship committee. She hopes that ArtSeed can touch as many lives as possible through art and community service through commitment, love and success at creating a healthier environment.

Kevin Quan, Treasurer – Kevin has been the finance manager for a private real estate investment firm and has experience with nonprofit and public affairs organizations. He holds B.A.s from UC Davis in Political Science and Communications. As a San Francisco native, Kevin is active with a number of local Chinese organizations.

William Bicknell, IT Manager / Systems Administrator – Bill is an IT professional with over 20 years of experience applying technical solutions to enable more efficient business functions and support office infrastructure for small businesses as well as at the enterprise level. He grew up in upstate New York, but has called San Francisco home for 27 years, more than half his life. He developed a passion for the creative arts as a child and while that was not his major in college he was able to take photography courses at the College of Fine Arts at Cornell. All the visual arts, especially photography, have held a special place in his heart. Bill also currently participates at board level at two non-profit addiction recovery organizations. He would like to use his IT skills to help ArtSeed be even more effective in its mission to empower people through art.

Anita Smith-Christopher – Anita, originally from Buffalo, NY, is an artist and retired educator. She holds a doctorate degree in Child & Youth Studies, a masters in Elementary Education & another in Educational Administration and a BS in Community Development & Leadership.
Anita is self-employed as dog sitter. She does volunteer work as a foster mom for SFSPCA, a reading tutor at Sanchez Elementary School, an outreach worker with Project Homeless Connect, and she answers the phone lines at the Institute on Aging’s “Friendship Line,” a suicide prevention/emotional support call center for seniors and adults with disabilities or a contact center where you can get similar services to a call center online.
Anita enjoys reading, traveling, studying Spanish and playing with her dog, Ichabod.

Anita Stokes – Anita currently leads the University Relations & Recruiting efforts at a local San Francisco entertainment technology company, helping to bridge the gap between various departments and academia with the Dolby U internships and entry-level employee programs. She received her MA at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication in Communication Management and has run programs and recruited candidates at Pandora, Sony PlayStation, Lucasfilm, Apple, and Electronic Arts. Additionally, Anita worked as an assistant director/video producer/consultant inside the university systems at Colorado College, Stanford University, and Vanderbilt University.

ArtSeed’s Founder and Executive Director Josefa Vaughan recently returned to the Board to serve as Secretary until a new officer is found for that position.