Event Info: The Future Of Leadership

Recess, a nonprofit in Brooklyn partnering with artists to build caring and accountable creative communities, recognizes the work to make equity possible and acts on their collective vision, with the conviction that their decisions within the organization have a ripple effect into their surrounding ecosystem. Join Co-Directors Leonardo and Weisberg as they discuss the enactment of values-driven, embodied leadership.

We invite artists and arts workers from both the for-profit and non-profit art worlds to learn from their experiences, and use that knowledge to engage in a process of looking inward to develop structural changes in your communities.

Shaun Leonardo’s multidisciplinary work negotiates societal expectations of manhood, namely definitions surrounding black and brown masculinities, along with accompanying notions of achievement, collective identity, and experience of failure. His performance practice, anchored by his work in Assembly—a diversion program for court-involved youth at the Brooklyn-based, non-profit Recess where he is now Co-Director—is participatory and invested in a process of embodiment.

Leonardo is a Brooklyn-based artist from Queens, New York City. He received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, is a recipient of support from Creative Capital, Guggenheim Social Practice, Art for Justice, and A Blade of Grass, and was recently profiled in The New York Times. His work has been featured at The Guggenheim Museum, the High Line, and New Museum, with his solo exhibition, “The Breath of Empty Space,” is currently on view at the Bronx Museum.

Allison Freedman Weisberg is the Founder and Co-Director of Recess. She approaches all of her work through a racial justice lens, collaborating with radical thinkers who reimagine an equitable future. Prior to founding Recess, she worked in the Education Department at the Museum of Modern Art and then at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She has given lectures and presentations at colleges, universities, arts institutions, and Museums, and has curated performances for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Performa, and The Museum of Modern Art. She has contributed writing to publications ranging from artist books to Art in America. She is a Critical Dialogue Partner for the Studio Museum in Harlem, on the Board of The Van Alen Institute, and the Advisory Board of Art+Feminism. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University, and an MA in Visual Culture Theory from NYU.

Pamela Capalad is a Certified Financial Planner™ and Accredited Financial Counselor™ who has worked in the field of financial services for over a decade. She founded Brunch & Budget to provide people who felt ashamed or embarrassed about money with a safe and friendly place to speak openly and make financial progress. Her mission is to make financial planning as affordable as possible for the communities who need it most. Her work has been featured in publications including the Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, and Vice Magazine. She was named in New York Magazine’s Best of New York 2019 and has brunched with over 400 people and counting.

Dyalekt is an MC, playwright, educator, and podcaster. His work focuses on defining personal identities and finding one’s voice, authentic communication, and supporting one’s community. His first album and one-man show, Square Peg Syndrome, is also a 6-week school curriculum that toured through St. Croix’s 17 schools. His new album and one-man show, The Museum of Dead Words, explores communication, race, and empathy in the internet age. Dyalekt was named to the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and his performance venues include the Bowery Ballroom, SXSW, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Mozilla’s Internet Festival in London, the United Nations, Santa Barbara’s Lucidity Festival, and the Divadlo Archa in Prague, CZ.

Pam and Dyalekt host the Brunch & Budget podcast, where they discuss how personal finance and racial economic inclusion intersect. They also co-founded the Race & Wealth Podcast Network with Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chief of Race, Wealth and Community at NCRC. Through what they’ve learned in their work, Dyalekt and Pam have started a group financial planning program called See Change, specifically designed for People of Color and make financial planning more inclusive.

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