DiasporaDNA Team
Varissa McMickens Blair (she/her) is a seasoned nonprofit leader & professional. She has led successful programming, volunteer, and fundraising efforts in urban, suburban and rural communities across the nation. She has been instrumental in growing organizations, hiring and training staff & contractors, designing workshops and training sessions, and developing and designing new programs wherever she has worked. McMickens Blair is Founder & Executive Consultant of NOWWellspring Consulting, a boutique firm providing organizational and business services, including grant writing, strategic planning, interim and surrogate executive leadership, social media content management, Inclusion Diversity Equity Accessibility & Belonging (IDEA/B) training and planning, board & executive leadership training, program & project management, and a host of other professional offerings. She also serves as Chief Strategies Officer for Olney Culture Lab of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia, an organization that utilizes culture as a catalyst for community development and social change. She also joined the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) team at Case Western Reserve University in 2023 as a research Associate.
Varissa McMickens Blair | Impact Director
Eva Solano is an emerging museum professional with a passion for community engagement, education, and collaborative program development. With a background in art history, arts administration, and museum leadership, she focuses on creating inclusive programs that connect people and inspire meaningful conversations. She believes that art, art-making, and museum spaces should be accessible to anyone and everyone.
Eva Solano | Administrative Manager
Nideen Froukh is a Palestinian-American historian and museum professional who specializes in public history, social justice, and decolonization. Nideen’s work aims to uplift both those in her position and those across all socio-political lines through education and radical empathy, the crux of all social change. Passionate about collective memory and combating injustice, Nideen is personally and professionally invested in forging connections that respect and honor our distinct identities within the broader diaspora.
Her mission has led Nideen to hold positions at numerous cultural and historic organizations including the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Historic Germantown, and the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection. Nideen holds a BA in History with a minor in Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and is currently pursuing a MA in Public History at Villanova under the Presidential Graduate Fellowship.
Nideen Froukh | Archives & Education Consultant
Jillian Glace is a Philadelphia area based Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (R-DMT). She is the owner and founder of Belonging Counseling LLC, a mental health practice centering on movement, creative/emotional expression, and embodied liberation. Jillian’s Clinical experience includes working with diverse populations at the inpatient, outpatient, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, community/recovery and residential levels. She is a passionate advocate for dance and movement as a clinical creative art therapy and therapeutic artistic medium that has the power to foster physical/mental health integration, as well as a more profound connection with self and others. Jillian’s current focus centers on systemic transformation, including developing a consultation arm of her private practice working with organizations to reimagine more person-centered missions, goals, and work environments. Offerings include a movement program based on polyvagal theory and social neuroscience to support employees in recognizing, responding to, and recovering from occupational burnout. This work is framed within the context of liberatory practices and the necessity of embodied diversity, equity, and inclusion in organizations. In addition to clinical practice, Jillian is a former Adjunct Professor at the University of the Arts in the Creative Arts Therapy Minor, as well as a choreographer who is curious about the interplay between dance as an art form and dance as therapy. Choreographic credits include commissioned and self-produced originally created work presented locally as well as internationally.
Jillian Glace | Creative Art Therapy Consultant
Aria Springfield (she/her) is a museum worker and educator based in Philadelphia, PA, with a background in historic preservation, southern history, and plantation tourism. Her experience includes conducting research and community outreach for exhibitions, developing volunteer engagement strategies, creating interpretation and educational materials, and providing methods for museum learning in the digital sphere.
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Aria imagines the future of southern tourism as a space that promotes healing and creates opportunities to center Native and Black voices. She believes communities and institutions, through historic preservation and mindful interpretation, must propel the stories of marginalized individuals upward. Currently, her work revolves around understanding how the public interacts with southern history, plantation museums, and the interpretation of those spaces.
Aria is a proud graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and is currently pursuing her Master of Liberal Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Aria Springfield | Education & Scholarship Volunteer
Jelivet Perez is a public programs and partnership leader working at the intersection of care, culture, and institutional change. Trained in clinical social work and trauma-informed practice, she began her career grounded in supporting individuals and families navigating systems under stress. Over the past 15+ years, she has carried that foundation into museums and cultural institutions—designing learning experiences, leading multilingual access initiatives, and building partnerships that expand who cultural spaces are for and how communities engage with them. She builds with communities, using feedback and evaluation to shape strategy and make real changes in how programs are delivered and sustained.
A graduate of New York City’s High School of Art and Design, Jelivet’s path began in the studio and evolved into a commitment to strengthening the arts and culture sector itself. Her work centers public program development, partnership stewardship, and inclusive engagement strategies that translate values into action. As a bilingual leader, she has advanced multilingual initiatives and collaborated with artists and community organizations to deepen belonging and accessibility across institutional spaces.
Jelivet Perez | Partnerships Advisor
Sarah-Jane El Kassmi is a French-Moroccan-American anthropologist, dancer, educator, and community arts practitioner based in Philadelphia, PA, with international education, research, and work experience across Europe, North Africa, and East Asia. She holds a Master of Science in Material and Visual Culture from University College London and a Bachelor of Arts in Human and Social Sciences from the University of Strasbourg. Her work centers on global perspectives, accessibility, public scholarship, and community engagement in diverse cultural contexts.
Her research examines body politics, embodied resistance, cultural expression, and narrative performance. As a Programs Coordinator Volunteer with DiasporaDNA Story Center, Sarah-Jane supports oral history and archival initiatives, grant writing, program development, and live event coordination. Drawing on a lifelong dance practice, Sarah-Jane also contributes to trauma-informed, arts-based wellness and creative art therapy programming. She is committed to advancing accessible, participatory spaces where cultural memory, creativity, and healing intersect.
Sarah-Jane El Kassmi | Programs Manager
Daisy Jean Embate | Administrative &
Advancement Coordinator
Daisy Jean Embate (she/her) is a multifaceted project and communications professional who moves fluidly across project coordination, communications, business development, creative work, and community initiatives. With purpose, integrity, humility, and a willingness to serve others she brings people, ideas, and moving pieces into alignment and treats each new context as a chance to learn, adapt, and grow. Rather than being defined by one industry or title, Daisy draws strength from the varied skills and perspectives she has gathered along the way. Working across different sectors and communities has made her flexible, resourceful, and at ease in unfamiliar spaces. She is at her best when complexity needs a clear through-line: when a challenge can be turned into an opportunity to build something useful, tell a story well, or connect the right people at the right time. With broad experience and relevant formal education, LaFern developed her business acumen at DiasporaDNA Story Center, Frank Creative and a variety of corporate clients. At the center of her work is her faith in God, which grounds how she leads, collaborates, and grows. It calls her to purpose, integrity, humility, and a willingness to serve. That foundation shows up in the way she approaches relationships and results alike—with curiosity, care, and a steady commitment to doing work that matters. Daisy attended International School for HRM College and graduated with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. She is passionate about creativity, culture, storytelling, and meaningful connection.
She continues to seek the next opportunity to learn, create, and make a difference—bringing together the practical discipline of project work with a communicator’s instinct for narrative and a community-minded heart.
As a Licensed Real Estate Professional and PA Commissioned Notary Public, Anastasia’s career has been grounded in acquisition strategy, municipal processes, investor collaboration, and asset management. She has worked alongside local governments, non-profits, and private investors. These experiences have afforded her access to redevelopment opportunities and an understanding of how public policy, capital, and community interests intersect. As a Realist & Realtor, she has learned and grown through numerous roles of leadership, volunteering and simple hands-on deck projects guided by the ethics and standards of both the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (PMBR) & the National Association of Realtors (GPAR/PAR). Holding professional development in high regard, Anastasia holds designations of ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative, AHWD (At Home w/ Diversity), C2EX, is a graduate of LeadershipPAR, trained “Hill Day” Advocate, and is currently in the process of obtaining her CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist). Today Anastasia continues to maintain her cultivated relationships and actively work with clients across acquisitions, project and property management, sales and marketing, and real estate consulting. For all those who know, Anastasia’s first and foremost commitment is to quality time with LovedOnes & Travel.
Anastasia Crisostomo-Dawan | Outreach Advisor
Mthokozisi Nyathi is the inaugural VEX Director of DiasporaDNA. A dynamic, charismatic leader with over 25 years of cross-sector experience in museum management, human resources, security, facilities, and community engagement across Africa, Europe, and America.
A Chartered Forensic Scientist (CSI) with diplomas in Criminal Psychology and Criminology, an Advanced Diploma in Human Resources Development, and an Honours Degree in Human Resources Management from DIT (Republic of Ireland).
He has held key roles including Manufacturing Line Lead Manager at Froneri Nestlé, Museum Manager at Formerly Incarcerated Renaissance Museum and Community Engagement Manager at Museum of Impact (New York City & Newark NJ) & Prince Georges African American Museum and Cultural Center (Washington, DC). Facilities Director and Appraisals Director at Professional Resources LLC (Harlem NYC)
Mthokozisi excels in customer care, team development, public relations, employee motivation, performance management, and facilities. He brings strong supervisory expertise from 20+ years specialized knowledge in security operations, law enforcement principles, criminal and background investigations.
Mtho Nyathi | Visitor Experience Director
Chidinma Onukwuru is an emerging artist from and based in Philadelphia, PA. Onukwuru’s multidisciplinary work explores the layered complexities of her Nigerian and African diasporic identity, merging inherited traditions with contemporary form. Within her research-based practice, Onukwuru has worked in ceramics, sculpture, textile, and mixed-media installation, allowing her conceptual mappings to inform the work’s final form.
Her recent solo exhibition, It’s Frightening Having This Much Presence, engages with the deeply personal dimensions of spiritual inheritance, honoring the generations of craftswomen who embedded prayers and affirmations within their work for an unknown future.