Who We Are

Known in the streets and open-mic venues of Los Angeles as “Bus Stop Prophet” for his propensity to bust rhymes in unexpected places, Frank has been deeply engaged in creative peace-making work for over 15 years, both here in LA, and as far away as South Africa. A gifted poet, spoken word-artist, open-mic host, community-builder and teacher, Frank first connected with Street Poets in 2013 and has been working with us ever since. In his capacity as an SP teaching artist, Frank facilitates writing workshops for everyone from Compton elementary school 5th graders to formerly incarcerated adults at Homeboy Industries. In any setting, his passion for the healing power of poetry is truly infectious.

A rapper, poet, sound engineer and music producer, Art first stepped inside a recording booth at age 16, and fell in love with the process of making music. Today, Art’s creative passion is matched only by his passion for inspiring youth to realize their full potential. Art has recorded, produced and performed on all of Street Poets’ compilation albums since 2007. Over those years, he has travelled with Street Poets as far away as Belize, Sweden, Finland and the Apache reservation in Arizona – sharing his poetry, music and gifts as a teaching artist. A mentor to many youth, Art oversees Street Poets’ recording studio program and Poetry in Motion van outreach. He also continues to write, perform and produce music for Los Angeles’ underground hip-hop scene. Once incarcerated for a year at the age of 18, Art embodies the redemptive spirit of the Street Poets community he serves so well.

 

Matt (a.k.a. Matre) is an accomplished recording/performing artist with a focus on social justice, personal and cultural healing (Matre has recorded 6 studio albums and performs internationally). As a teaching artist with Street Poets Inc., he works primarily with youth in schools and juvenile detention facilities throughout the Los Angeles area. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on “Sacred Art” from U.C. Berkeley and continues to explore the power of the creative process, and of hip hop culture, in supporting individual and collective growth and wellness. He has also taught English as a Second Language to adults; and is a member of ShadeTree Multicultural Foundation, a mentoring and community-building organization. For more information about Matre and to hear his music visit www.mcmatre.com.

Michelle Koukhab Sorgen is a poet and teacher with extensive experience teaching English, American Literature, Creative Writing and Poetry at a wide range of high schools. She’s been facilitating workshops for Street Poets for the last 11 years. She helped design our poetry curriculum and a resource book of poetry and writing exercises. Michelle holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Maryland and BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan.

David Sanchez first met Street Poets when he joined their writing workshop in an L.A. County Probation Camp back in 2007.  Thanks to a Street Poets sponsorship, David went on to receive his high school diploma from Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center in Colorado, and later graduated from California Conservation Corps’ prestigious back country trails program. In addition to serving as a teaching artist with Street Poets, David is the proud owner of Seed & Sol, an organic gardening company he launched in 2014. He also works on the youth outreach staff at Wolf Connection, a unique educational sanctuary for rescued wolf-dogs and humans.  A long-time member of Street Poets performance group, David continues to share his original poetry and hard-won wisdom in a wide range of school, community and conference venues throughout the U.S.

Alyesha Wise is a published poet and veteran teaching artist with 10+ years of experience leading poetry workshops for youth and young adults.  In addition to her work with Street Poets, Alyesha has served as the Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) Slam Team head coach, leading the team to the finals both years.  She also served as the L.A. (Get Lit) Youth Slam Team co-coach from 2014-2017. As a poet herself, she is a 2-time Women of the World Poetry Slam finalist. She and her poems have been featured on a wide range of platforms and publications such as Huffington Post, Bustle, Afropunk, PBS, POPSUGAR, Buzzfeed, Free Speech TV and more. She has collaborated with Brave New Films, and featured in the Google Interstellar Project, in conjunction with the release of the film Interstellar. Alyesha is the co-founder of Spoken Literature Art Movement (S.L.A.M.).

Through her many years of experience as both an educator and innovative business expert, Maira Rios has forged a unique path combining her experience in business management and passion for the arts to make meaningful contributions to nonprofits that seek social justice. Educated at CSU Chico, the University of Ghana and Dauphine University in Paris, Maira’s professional experience has included work as Operations Manager for the international nonprofit Mercy for Animals, Assistant Project Leader of Rhythm Arts Alliance, and Program Manager for Community Sites and Reentry Programming at Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network.

As Director for Operations at Street Poets Inc. Maira is helping to develop and manage innovative arts programming for youth in LA County and beyond. Maira also works as a freelance videographer, photographer and film editor through her media company Blossoming Light Media.

Chris has over 23 years of experience teaching poetry and mentoring youth and young adults within and around the Los Angeles County educational and juvenile justice systems.  He has served as a consultant and retreat facilitator for a wide range of companies and organizations including Snap Inc. and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, for which he leads homecoming retreats for formerly incarcerated adults.  Chris also has served as a keynote speaker and conference panelist exploring youth rites of passage, arts-based violence intervention strategies, creative community building, the healing arts and alternatives to incarceration. Originally from Boston, Chris is a graduate of Duke University (B.A. English) and the American Film Institute (M.F.A. Screenwriting).  He worked as an arts journalist in New York City and later as a screenwriter in Hollywood before a volunteer teaching stint in a Los Angeles County juvenile detention camp in 1995 inspired him to create Street Poets. He currently sits on the board of the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network and Wolf Connection, a wolf-dog sanctuary and educational retreat center one hour from downtown L.A.