artworxLA’s New Executive Director Shelby Williams-Gonzalez!

(from left) artworxLA Board Member Grant Kirkpatrick, artworxLA Founder & Executive Director Cynthia Campoy Brophy, incoming artworxLA Executive Director Shelby Williams-Gonzalez, and artworxLA Board Chair Joe Skeehan. 

Dear Friends, 

I am thrilled to announce that artworxLA’s Board of Directors has appointed Shelby Williams-Gonzalez to be our next Executive Director, effective November 1. 
 
Shelby began working with artworxLA, then known as The HeArt Project, in 2008 as a Workshop Coordinator in our classrooms.  She rose to become the Artistic Director overseeing our weekly arts program in our partner continuation high schools and our partnerships with LA’s cultural institutions.  She now serves as our Development and Communications Director, raising funds and awareness for the organization.  Shelby also served as Interim Executive Director when our current ED, Cynthia Campoy Brophy, was away on her Durfee Foundation Sabbatical.  Since she has served in every job position at artworxLA, the Board has every confidence that it is time she stepped into the leadership role.
 
Shelby has participated in numerous leadership development programs including the Next Leaders Development Program through the Center for Nonprofit Management, Leadership L.A. produced by the L.A. Chamber, the Durfee Foundation’s LEAD Program, and the Courage to Lead Fellowship.
 
She holds a B.A. in Dance and Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Shelby is a proud native Angelino, mom, wife, avid runner and company member of the national touring Afro-Brazilian dance company, Viver Brasil.
 
Our Board of Directors has appreciated the dedication, commitment and vision that Shelby has brought to the organization over these ten years.   Her own artistic practice incorporates performance with activism and intersects with artworxLA’s mission of using the arts as an effective re-engagement strategy for our County’s most vulnerable youth.  She is part of artworxLA’s history, and we are thrilled to support her in her new role as our leader.
 
Please join me in welcoming our new Executive Director, Shelby Williams-Gonzalez.

Joe Skeehan
artworxLA Board Chair