STREET POETS Inc. is a non-profit poetry-based peace-making organization dedicated to the creative process as a
force for individual and community transformation.
Street Poets Staff photo 2008
- TO INSPIRE at-risk youth in the juvenile detention facilities, schools and streets of Los Angeles County to discover and develop their voices as writers, artists and human beings.
- TO EMPOWER these young people to use the skills and increased self-awareness engendered through the arts to transcend self-destructive lifestyles.
- TO CREATE a healing community that unites different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic segments of our city around the transformational power of the creative process.
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In 1995, Street Poets Inc. founder Chris Henrikson began teaching a weekly poetry workshop in the Los Angeles
County Probation Department's Camp Fred Miller as a volunteer through the Writers Guild of America. The experience
transformed his life, and, in the process, Street Poets United, a grassroots poetry collective for the workshop alumni,
was born. In 1997, the group joined forces with the New York City-based DreamYard Drama Project to form DreamYard/LA.
Street Poets worked under the DreamYard umbrella from 1997 to 2005 when we made the decision to reclaim our original
name and become Street Poets Inc., a California non-profit corporation. Now, with our own independent 501c3 status,
we continue to provide transformational workshops for youth and young adults at school and juvenile detention sites
through Los Angeles, while expanding our peace-making work in the community.
Chris Henrikson
Executive Director
Chris@streetpoetsinc.com
(read bio)
Read Founder's Interview with Explore.org
Read Chris Henrikson's Commencement Speech at the Milton Academy Graduation (Milton, MA)
Marjorie Jean
Associate Director
Marjorie@streetpoetsinc.com
(read bio)
Chirag Menon
Program Coordinator
Chirag@streetpoetsinc.com
(read bio)
Andres Rivera
Community Outreach Coordinator
andres@streetpoetsinc.com
(read bio)
Michelle Sorgen
Grant Writer/Manager & Teaching Artist
Darlene Chavarria
Teaching Artist/Street Poet
Matt Sawaya
Teaching Artist
(read bio)
Arturo Quiros
Studio Engineer & Outreach Associate
art@streetpoetsinc.com
(read bio)
Mari Beltran
Social Media Coordinator
mari@streetpoetsinc.com
Taylor Maxie Jr.
Teaching Artist
(read bio)
Mayda del Valle
Teaching Artist
(Visit Mayda's website - maydadelvalle.com)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- Neal Anderson, Co-Founder/Managing Partner, The Propellant Group
- Gregg Renfrew, Entrepreneur/Business Consultant
- Susannah Grant, Screenwriter/Director
- Chenjerai Kumanyika, Music Producer/Recording Artist
- Leo Marmol, Architect/Partner, Marmol & Radziner Architecture & Construction
- Loren Montgomery, Attorney/Consultant
- Robert Perrin, Partner/Attorney, Latham & Watkins
- Alison Tatlock, Screenwriter/Playwright
- Greg Walker, Writer/Producer
ADVISORY BOARD
- Justin Heimberg, Writer (Former Associate Director)
- Javier Stauring, Director, Office of Restorative Justice, Archdiocese of Los Angeles
- Maha Dakhil, Literary Agent, Creative Artists Agency
- Larry Dorsey, Retired Camp Director, Los Angeles County Probation Dept.
- Michael Etter, Graphic Designer, Founder Re:Active Magazine
- Kenan Harris-Holley, Writer (Former Associate Director)
- Adam Smith, Founder, Seeking Peace Poetry & Meditation Workshop
- Alex Koffler, Creative Director, Imitsu Media
- Heath Slane, Slane & Slane Designs
JUNIOR BOARD
- Jeff Greenberg, Agent, Paradigm Agency
- Michelle Habecker
- Kalynn Jenkins, Producer
- Vi Ka Margulis
- Christian Rozier, Filmmaker/Educator, Cosmic Rockstar Productions
- Susy Sobel, Student, Pitzer College
