STAFF
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Frank EscamillaDirector of School & Community Programs -
Matthew Cuban HernandezDirector of Camp Programs -
Art QuirosRecording Studio Director -
Michelle SorgenGrants Manager -
David SanchezTeaching Artist -
Alyesha WiseTeaching Artist -
Chris HenriksonFounder and Executive Director
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.
Matthew Cuban Hernandez is a poet, educator, and teaching artist from Jacksonville, Florida. He is the co-coach of the Get Lit-Words Ignite Youth Slam Team and the Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) Adult Slam Team, who recently made finals in the 2017 National Poetry Slam. Matthew has traveled around the world, from Duval to Abu Dhabi, performing, teaching poetry, and coaching slam teams to great success. Matthew has also served as the Lead Instructor for New Earth, working in youth detention centers across Los Angeles county. He has opened for artists such as Wu-Tang and has performed for platforms such as BuzzFeed. Matthew brings his artistic and educational background to Street Poets Inc. where he continues to empower opportunity youth as the Director of Camp Programming.
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.
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.).
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.
BOARD
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Ricardo (Ric) Torres – Los Angeles, CA -
Jake Falby – Venice, CA -
Robert Perrin – Santa Monica, CA -
Don Flood – Rancho Mirage, CA & San Miguel de Allende, MX -
Rona Mercado – Los Angeles, CA -
Chirag Menon – Los Angeles, CA -
Julie Arias Young – Santa Monica, CA -
Chenjerai Kumanyika – Philadelphia, PA -
Sean Scott – Los Angeles, CA -
Susannah Grant – Santa Monica, CA -
Alison Tatlock – Los Angeles, CA -
Travis Heath – Denver, CA -
Taylor Code Maxie, Jr. – Houston, TX -
Nick Streets – Los Angeles, CA
Recently retired as a Partner and Portfolio Manager in the London office of Capital International Investors (a division of LA-based Capital Group Companies), where he worked for 28 years. He is active with the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School, and also Camino Nuevo Charter Academy where he chairs the college scholarships committee. Ric is Mexican-American and fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Senior Producer/Composer and multi-faceted musician (violin/viola) at New Math Music, Jake manages the bi-coastal music/sound company’s West Coast office, which has served as a “creative vacation home” and workspace for musically-inclined Street Poets youth over the past year. Jake also provides mixing and production support for the Street Poets Podcast and album projects. As a violinist, Jake has performed with the likes of Adele, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill and Mariah Carey among others.
Rob Perrin retired from the international law firm Latham & Watkins LLP in 2020, after a 23-year career, including 12 years as Chair of the firm’s Los Angeles Litigation & Trial Department. Rob has been a member of the Street Poets board since 2010. He is additionally the Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Committee of PEN America, and a member of the Board of Visitors of the UCLA Department of English.
Don Flood is a veteran photographer specializing in celebrity portraiture and beauty advertising. He also is founder and creative director of FliePaper, a photo-based wallpaper line that’s included in the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt/Smithsonian Design Museum. He is a huge advocate of architectural preservation and is active in the architecture & design community near his home in Rancho Mirage, CA.
Rona serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at Cashmere Agency, a “Culture Agency” providing strategic marketing/PR/branding consulting for a wide-range of entertainment/media companies and artists.
A recording/performing artist, writer, facilitator, educator and former Street Poets Program Director, Chirag now serves as a Principal with the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Consulting firm Third Settlements, while continuing to record and release music under the name Chee Malabar.
Julie is an attorney and founding partner of Young, Zinn, Pazzani & Sandhu LLP, a boutique employment litigation firm. Julie has served on the Street Poets board since 2014.
An associate professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University, Chenjerai is also a Peabody Award-winning podcast producer (Uncivil) and community activist. At the turn of the century, he was a member of the rap group The Spooks on Epic Records, and later served as the associate director of Street Poets where he launched our recording studio and produced our first compilation album.
Despite his best efforts, Sean learned a lot about the shoe business at great brands like Nike, ASICS, and Vans. Later, he struck out on his own helping to build companies like TOMS, and now COMUNITYmade who are manufacturing great designs locally while serving the community. Sean believes that there are very few valid excuses not to be happy and he rides his bike almost everywhere.
Susannah is a screenwriter/producer/director. Her credits include such projects as Netflix’s Unbelievable, HBO’s Confirmation, Ever After, and Erin Brockovich.
Alison is a tv writer/producer and playwright. She has extensive experience as a community organizer and served for many years on the staff of Street Poets, where she facilitated a writing program for teen mothers.
Travis is a licensed psychologist and an Associate Professor at the University of Denver where he is co-director of the International Disaster Psychology: Trauma and Global Mental Health graduate program as well as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Graduate School of Professional Psychology.
A founding member of Street Poets’ first performance group in the late 90s, Taylor later served as a teaching artist with the organization, returning to many of the same juvenile probation facilities that once housed him as a youth to mentor and facilitate writing workshops for our next generation of Street Poets. He is currently in the process of finishing up his college studies and professional certifications in Computer Science/Information Technology (specializing in Cyber Security).
Our board chair, Nick is a product design engineer in the consumer electronics industry and currently works at Snap Inc. on camera development. He helped to start SnapNoir which provides a forum for fostering cultural understanding, diversity, and professional development for people of the African diaspora at Snap and in the community.