BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Khadijah Queen, President, is the author of Conduit (Black Goat/Akashic Books 2008) and Black Peculiar, which won the Noemi Press book award for poetry in 2010. Individual poems, essays and short fiction appear in jubilat, Aufgabe, Eleven Eleven, Rattle, Memoir, Cutthroat, Best American Nonrequired Reading, The Force of What’s Possible (Nightboat 2014) and many other journals and anthologies. Her most recent chapbook is I'm So Fine: A List of Famous Men and What I Had On (Sibling Rivalry Press 2013). She is currently raising a teenager, and works full time as an editor for a finance company. Visit her website: www.khadijahqueen.com.

photo credit: First Person Plural Harlem, 2013
Alice Ritscherle, Secretary, is a freelance grant writer and novelist who has lived in Tucson since 2008. She attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where she obtained a B.A. in English, and the University of Michigan, where she completed a Ph.D. in History. Before moving to Tucson, she worked for several years as a professor at the State University of New York - Stony Brook. In Tucson, she has volunteered for a number of non-profits, including the Community Food Bank, worked as a grant writer and research coordinator at the University of Arizona, and done freelance grant writing and editing. Currently, she’s finishing what might be close to the final draft of her first novel. 

Sandra Bong Um-Pinkney, Treasurer, A violist with Tucson Symphony Orchestra since 1998, Sandra Um began her musical career by studying piano at the age of five. Four years later, taken with its deep and rich tones, she took up the viola. As a young adult, Sandra studied privately with Dr. Jeffrey Showell, former viola professor at The University of Arizona. Sandra holds two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s of business administration, also from The University of Arizona. Combining her arts background and academic credentials with her deep roots in Tucson, Sandra is passionate about ensuring that arts and culture remain strong and vibrant in southern Arizona. Sandra has more than 15 years experience in fund development for local arts organizations including Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona Theatre Company, UApresents, and Loft Cinema. Currently, Sandra serves a dual role as director of development for Arizona State Museum and University of Arizona Museum of Art.