Kent Jones

Award-winning filmmaker, critic, and former director of the New York Film Festival

Kent Jones is a filmmaker and writer who lives in New York. His most recent film is Late Fame with Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee. His previous films include the award-winning Diane (2019) and the documentaries Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015), A Letter to Elia (2010, co-directed with Martin Scorsese) and Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (2007). He is the writer of the streaming series The Saints, and the co-writer of Arnaud Desplechin’s Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2013) and Scorsese’s epic documentary My Voyage to Italy (1999). Jones is also the author of several books, and from 2013 to 2019 he served as Artistic Director of The The New York Film Festival.

Daniel Arnow

Executive Director of Fund Housing Development Corporation

Daniel Arnow is the Executive Director of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC), a subsidiary of the Entertainment Community Fund. AFHDC brings together educational programming, advocacy and real estate development with the goal of increasing access to affordable housing opportunities for people in the performing arts and entertainment community. Daniel oversees direct services, asset management and development projects and works closely with development partners, government agencies and other stakeholder groups to execute successful projects. Daniel has contributed to online publications including Createquity and Multiple Cities and participated in Next City’s Vanguard conference—an experiential urban leadership gathering of 40 rising urban leaders working to improve cities across sectors. With a background as a musician and arts worker and an MS in Urban Planning from Pratt Institute, Daniel is committed to building sustainable communities in the arts.

Deirdra Govan

Multi Award Nominee costume designer & Vice -President United Scenic Artist Local 829, IATSE

Deirdra Govan creates culturally grounded worlds through costume, space, movement and image. She believes cinema carries cultural memory forward and that artifice can reveal emotional truth.

Through design, landscape, proximity and composition, she reveals how desire and power move beneath the surface, giving visual form to what remains unspoken.

Frampton Tolbert

Executive Director Historic Districts Council 

Frampton is Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council. He is a New York City-based preservationist and non-profit management leader, with extensive experience in historic preservation advocacy and community outreach, fundraising, communications, and a deep knowledge of New York’s architectural and cultural history. He previously served as HDC’s Deputy Director from 2005-2014.

Tolbert graduated with a BA in Historic Preservation from the University of Mary Washington, and has held positions at the Center for Urban Pedagogy, Brooklyn Museum, and the Phillips Collection.

He has received a New York State Council on the Arts grant and a James Marston Fitch Foundation Fellowship for his work examining vernacular modernism in the borough of Queens, and currently serves on several boards including Docomomo New York/Tri-State and the Victorian Society in America. He lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn and serves on the board of the Society for Clinton Hill.

Tara Sansone

Executive Director Materials for the Arts

As Executive Director of MFTA and Executive Director of FOMA, I have executive oversight of both organizations, providing critical leadership of the private/public partnership. During the global pandemic,  I have expanded the vision of the organization and created new operational efficiencies to support our future growth in a new paradigm. In addition to redefining the core mission and vision of the organization, I am responsible for overseeing general operations, development of strategic planning and fiscal P&L responsibility for FOMA.

Emma Gage

Fashion Designer -MELKE  focused on locally produced and sustainable fashion

Emma Gage is a fashion designer and advocate whose work merges ethical responsibility with artistic expression. As founder and creative director of MELKE, she is redefining luxury through sustainable practices and transparent production, bridging craft, ethics, and emotion with a focus on not just making clothes, but spotlighting the meaning behind how they're made.

Emma's approach centers on fair wages and dignified working conditions across every tier of the supply chain. A steadfast champion for labor rights, she partners with Knit One, Change One (KOCO) to produce handcrafted knitwear that supports financial independence and education for female artisans in rural India as well as partnering with a women lead embroidery company out of Kyiv. She is equally committed to the power of local production, working with historic manufacturers in New York's Garment District to help preserve American craftsmanship. MELKE's collections, shown at New York Fashion Week and carried by specialty boutiques, reflect a balance of conceptual design, refined tailoring, and unexpected whimsy.

Prior to launching MELKE, Emma honed her craft with designers including Betsey Johnson, Todashi Shoji, and Carolina Herrera, gaining hands-on experience across both heritage and contemporary fashion houses. 

She holds a BFA in Fashion Design from Marist University, where she was a two-time Fashion Scholarship Fund recipient and a Kate Spade & Company Foundation Scholar.

Emma currently serves on the boards of Closely Crafted and Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden's World Childhood Foundation, extending her advocacy for ethical labor and the protection of children globally.

Cindy Castro

Fashion Designer -Cindy Castro New York, local and responsibly made luxury fashion / workforce development 

Cindy Castro is the founder, designer, and activist behind Cindy Castro New York, a
Latina-owned sustainable luxury womenswear brand committed to fashion innovation
and social justice. Her brand is rooted in transparency from fiber to production,
prioritizing biodegradable materials and ethical craftsmanship. With community at its
core, over 98% of the label’s garments are produced in NYC by skilled Latino
immigrants and minorities, advocating for safe working conditions and fair wages.
Founded in 2022, Cindy Castro New York creates timeless, statement ready-to-wear
pieces made with plastic-free and certified fabrics and dyes filling an industry gap in
both sustainability and representation. Every garment is designed for longevity, intended
to be worn on repeat, cherished, and eventually passed on.

In just a few years since launching her brand with no outside funding Cindy opened her
own atelier in the heart of the Garment District. She received significant recognition from
Vogue Business, being named one of the “100 Innovators of 2025.” The brand also
participated in 'Labor is Art,' dressing union workers for a special runway show for
workers’ rights in NYC. Cindy Castro New York has been featured in more than 30
publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue Business, Huffington Post, Forbes
Ecuador, and Vogue, and has been showcased at the iconic Kennedy Center in
Washington, D.C.

Cindy is deeply committed to elevating her community. As a proud Latina fashion
leader, she mentors students and interns and has spoken on panels for Saks Off Fifth,
VISA, and the Raizado Festival, advocating for representation and equity within the
industry. A percentage of annual sales is donated to women’s, immigrant and children’s
rights organizations, reinforcing the brand’s activist foundation.

Born in Quevedo, Ecuador, Cindy immigrated to Chicago at 19, determined to find a
better opportunity. After working as an au-pair, she earned her BFA in Fashion Design
with top honors from Columbia College and later moved to New York, living in her aunt’s
attic while working unpaid internships for designers such as Derek Lam and
KaufmanFranco. Her talent and perseverance led to design roles at Coach, Parker New
York, and Shoshanna, where her pieces were sold in major retailers including
Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Amid the rise of fast fashion and its issues of worker exploitation, waste, and inequality
Cindy found her purpose after losing her job during the pandemic. Inspired by local
garment workers, she built a brand that serves as a platform for change and
opportunity: one that uplifts artisans, honors the environment, and centers immigrant
communities.

With 12 years of industry experience, Cindy now operates her own atelier in the heart of
NYC’s Garment District and has dressed numerous influential women. She recently
launched her “Made by Immigrants” campaign in response to rising hostility toward
the Latino community, using fashion as a platform for dignity, awareness, and
representation. As part of this mission, a percentage of sales is donated to
organizations that support immigrant rights, reinforcing the brand’s activist foundation
and the purpose behind the Made by Immigrants campaign.

“Every garment has a story.” - Cindy Castro
 

Naomi Mishkin

Fashion Designer - Naomi Nomi- locally sourced and produced bespoke fashion 

NAOMI NOMI was founded by Naomi (Nomi) Mishkin, an artist and designer currently making things in Brooklyn, NY. Trained as a glassblower, she spent a decade making sculpture before looking around her studio and realizing that all of her sculptures had sleeves and hemlines and were meant to be worn and worked in, not just looked at. As the granddaughter of a wedding dress manufacturer and the great-granddaughter of a pattern cutter, the schmatte life was apparently hard to shake. So, after years of sewing for herself (and for some friends who lowkey begged for more), in 2018 she officially launched NAOMI NOMI.

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The conceptual themes of her sculpture ring true in her clothes: love your materials and put meaning in the making.

Brian Cook

Government Affairs specialist -  Brown & Weinraub

Brian Cook has over 20 years’ experience in New York City civic engagement, policy campaigns, participatory community engagement processes, and strategic planning for complex policy issues. Brian utilizes this expertise to bridge communication gaps, and find solutions for clients seeking to engage the public or government officials.

Brian's engagements include for not-for-profits seeking operational and capital funds; real estate clients seeking inducements or other entitlements; and a variety of corporate clients across sectors seeking to communicate with elected officials and government agencies.