Gabriella Calandro is the Director of Grants and Curatorial Affairs at the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and oversees the delivery of over $3.5 million in arts funding annually to artists across the US through NYFA awards and grants programs.
Throughout her career Gabriella has worked in the nonprofit arts sector in Australia and New York City holding positions in arts funding management, curatorial, marketing and museum audience development.
Gabriella is a graduate from the University of Melbourne, Australia and holds a Masters in Curatorial Studies.
Kate Gavriel is the Cultural Affairs Director at Two Trees Management Co, a family-owned, Brooklyn based real estate development firm founded in 1968 that currently owns and manages more than 6,000 apartments and 3 million square feet of office and retail space throughout New York City. Since 2011, she has worked with Two Trees to develop their arts- and education-focused philanthropic programs, engaging community stakeholders to create and support cultural programs and spaces that contribute to the prosperity of neighborhoods and local economies. These programs include curating public art commissions and cultural programming, developing cultural spaces, and providing affordable workspace for artists and arts nonprofits. In her professional experience working with artists, arts organizations and galleries, civic groups, and real estate developers, she advocates a holistic understanding of the artworld ecosystem and encourages partnerships and collaboration across industries. A Chicago native, Gavriel attended Wesleyan University (CT), and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Helena Huang manages the Art for Justice Fund. Established by art philanthropist Agnes Gund in June 2017 and administered by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the $100 million, five-year fund is dedicated to ending mass incarceration in the United States through criminal justice grants in support of high-impact campaigns in the justice sector and the arts. The Ford Foundation is responsible for the Fund’s grant-making strategy, which focuses on bail reform, sentencing reform, and reducing legal barriers to reentry for people coming home from prison.
Helena has held leadership positions in both the foundation and advocacy world. She was a program manager for two national philanthropies for nearly 10 years: at the Open Society Foundation (1997-2002) and the JEHT Foundation (2002-06) where she worked in support of grassroots advocacy, fellowship programs, and public-private partnerships addressing criminal justice reform. Later, she co-founded and directed Oregon Voice, a state civic engagement organization that helped to pass the first automatic voter registration law in a US state. Before joining Ford in 2017, Helena served as senior director of Philanthropy and Communications for the State Voices Network in Washington, DC.
Helena holds an MPA from the Columbia School of International Affairs and a BA from Cornell University.