People

Our Team

Ashley Adams

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • Ashley Adams has spent over 20 years advancing equitable, high-quality arts instruction for all students. As the Founding Executive Director of the nonprofit Creative Educators Network (formerly the AME Institute), Ashley’s work celebrates, supports, and connects the educators who lead our creative classrooms.


    Ashley’s expertise in career focused pathways in Arts, Entertainment, and Design (AED) is recognized on a national scale, where she consults on Career Technical Education (CTE) strategy and curriculum for schools and districts across the country.

    A former teacher and founding Envision Director at Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego, CA), Ashley holds an MA in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Denver and a BA from Middlebury College. She remains a dedicated advocate for bridging the gap between creative industry and our creative classrooms.

Jessie Vacchiano

EVENTS MANAGER

  • Jessie Vacchiano is a theatrical stage manager with a passion for education. Jessie graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts with a degree in Theatrical Production with a focus in Stage Management in 2009. In 2010 Jessie joined Actors Equity as a Union Theatrical Stage Manager and has freelanced the country as a theatrical stage manager working on theatrical productions from Off-Broadway to large regional theaters to small intimate black box workshops. In 2020 Jessie began lecturing with University of California Los Angeles in their Department of Film and Television. In the summer of 2022 Jessie developed UCLA Summer Institutes first Stage Management Institute for high school and college students interested in pursuing careers in stage management. Jessie is very excited to join the AME team as the Event and Communications Coordinator after working on the June 2022 Shock of the Now Event.

Clare Haas Claveau

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

  • Clare is a nonprofit professional with a track record of leading organizations through growth and change. Her non-profit work has spanned programming, financial oversight, staff development, and organizational governance. Clare brings this same focus on operational excellence, financial stewardship, and building strong organizational cultures to her role at Creative Educators Network. Prior to working in the non-profit sector, Clare worked as a consulting engineer in the water and wastewater industry, focusing on the technical, managerial, and financial health of rural water systems. She holds a Master's degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Marquette University and a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

Merlynne Godwin

COMMUNICATIONS & PROGRAMS COORDINATOR

  • Merlynne Godwin graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2023 with a BA in Communication Studies and Mediation Certificate. She started as an intern in January 2022 and transitioned into her position as a Programming Associate later that year.

Jamie Treacy

DIRECTOR OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • Jamie Treacy is an Oakland, California-based visual artist, masters swimmer and art educator. He received his BFA at the University of Michigan and his MFA from CCA (both degrees in painting and drawing).  He also holds a Single Subject Visual Art credential and a Career Technical Education credential in Arts, Media and Entertainment. 

    Jamie’s artwork is imbued with themes of eco-justice, speculative fiction and exo-biology. He creates bodies of work in painting, drawing and mixed media that draw imagery from underwater worlds, and his internal landscape.

    His philosophy as an art educator is that all youth deserve access to a high-quality arts education, and that creative inquiry is fundamental to solving the most pressing problems of our future. 

    Jamie is the recipient of the William H. Lewis Watercolor award and an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation fellowship. Jamie’s work has been exhibited in the California Bay Area, Canada, Mexico and Japan.  He currently works for AME Institute as a professional development facilitator,  Oakland Unified School District as an arts instructional coach and is a managing artist with Gearbox Gallery in Oakland.

Amiya Vashi

STUDENT INTERN

  • Amiya Vashi is a current second-year student at Yale University pursuing a B.A. in Philosophy and a certificate in Climate Science and Solutions. She has interned with Creative Educators Network since January of 2026, her work including a module-based learning system for CTE media teachers as well as logistics and programming for the 2027 Colorado Educators Summit.

Facilitators

Anne Bown-Crawford

FACILITATOR

  • Anne Bown-Crawford is a senior consultant, policy leader, and interdisciplinary educator specializing in arts, education, and cross-sector innovation. She currently serves as a senior consultant for California State Parks’ Arts in Parks program, leading initiatives that integrate public art with environmental stewardship.

    She also holds roles as an artist-in-residence at Google’s Quantum AI Research Labs and as a principal with DRAWEVERYWHERE’s Creative Exchange Program, where she bridges art, science, and technology through creative engagement.

    Previously, Bown-Crawford served as Executive Director of the California Arts Council, where she led statewide arts policy and major initiatives, including the California Creative Corps, Cultural Districts expansion, and the state’s Public Art Program.

    Her broader career spans classroom teaching, academic leadership, and high-level government roles, with a focus on developing arts education policy, strategic networks, and interdisciplinary programs that connect the arts with education, economic development, and community building.

Jack Mitchell

FACILITATOR

  • Jack Mitchell is a former theater teacher with 22 years of experience in LAUSD. He served for 13 years as the Arts, Media, and Entertainment Consultant at the California Department of Education, during which time he worked on the National Core Arts Standards for Theatre and was the Theatre content supervisor for the California Arts Standards revision in 2018. Jack spent the past year supporting CA Pre-apprenticeship programs for the BRIC Foundation, California's first Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) in the Arts.

    Jack currently teaches Theatre Methods at CSU East Bay. He is a past Board member of the AME Institute Foundation and the owner and principal consultant of AME Consulting, LLC.

Jasmene Miranda

FACILITATOR

  • Jasmene Miranda, serving as the Director of a California Distinguished Academy and a Career Technical Education Teacher, is dedicated to providing exceptional career technical education opportunities.

    For more than 12 years, her mission has been focused on empowering the youth of Oakland through the art of storytelling. The role of the educator has facilitated the development of a new generation of producers, editors, and content creators, providing them with the technical expertise and strong communication skills necessary to succeed across various platforms.

    The program director's primary objective is to keep inspiring students to take control of their own postsecondary readiness, while also striving to improve work-based learning opportunities and access to pre-apprenticeship programs for the youth in Oakland.

    The organization is honored to collaborate with a dedicated team of educators who have successfully improved graduation rates and established strong partnerships with businesses and post-secondary institutions, resulting in recognition from the California State Assembly.

    She consistently pursues new opportunities for professional growth and collaborations with organizations dedicated to fostering talent in the media and technology sectors.

Board members & officers

Gayle Nicholls-Ali

  • 2018 La Cañada USD’s Teacher of the Year, Gayle Nicholls-Ali is a CTE AME teacher, fine arts photographer, and Girls Who Code advocate. Gayle has been teaching at La Cañada H.S. for 15 years and is also an adjunct professor at Pacific Oaks College. On California Educators Together, she is currently serving as this year’s CTE AME Ambassador.

Lisa Vazquez

  • As Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility at Disney Entertainment, Lisa Vazquez drives strategic development and execution of youth development and career pathway initiatives to ensure they meet the highest educational and diversity and inclusion social impact standards while simultaneously achieving business objectives.

    Prior to joining Disney, Lisa was at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) supporting educators through communications and outreach and innovative grant programs. Previous experiences include teaching middle school and high school in Chicago and Uruguay and directing youth leadership programs focused on citizenship, diversity and inclusion, and the environment.

    In addition, she currently produces and co-directs theatrical productions and pop-up learning exhibits for All Souls World Language School, engaging 70+ youth cast and crew and 100+ volunteers and industry professionals annually.

    She has a passion to make the world a better place by unlocking the next generation of storytellers and ensuring that every individual is empowered and equipped to use their voice for the change they want to see.

    She is committed to building strong partnerships and collaborating with a range of stakeholders across sectors to achieve create meaningful change in the arts, media, and entertainment industries by ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities needed to succeed.

Chad Reisfelt

  • Chad Reisfelt is currently the US Head of Sales at Soundtrap for Education. For the last five years, Chad has worked with schools and districts worldwide to bring creative learning into core subjects. During his tenure, Soundtrap transitioned from a Spotify division to an independent company, and he helped steer go-to-market through that change. Prior to Soundtrap, Chad was a sales executive and sales leader at IXL Learning. He began his career teaching middle and high school history in Oakland Unified School District in California. He’s based in the San Francisco Bay Area and loves reading, punk rock, and reading about punk rock.

Lisa Pedee

  • Lisa Pedee is a design and learning-development leader with extensive experience building scalable programs that connect industry, education, and community. She has led high-impact initiatives across major creative and technology organizations, focusing on professional learning, talent development, and expanding pathways into creative careers.

    Passionate about empowering educators and students, Lisa brings a strategic, human-centered perspective to the AME Institute Board. She is especially committed to strengthening the creative workforce pipeline, fostering industry partnerships, and supporting programs that increase access and opportunity for the next generation of artists, designers, and storytellers.