Hot Topic Panelists
DIANA CRUZ
Diana Cruz (she/ella) joined CCSM in January 2021 as the Director of Programs and Services. Since coming on staff, Diana has taken CCSM’s service work to a new level, expanding the number of people CCSM works with and deepening our relationships with partner organizations to provide quality, liberatory support for the community. She lives in Dutchess County and has helped significantly expand our work south of Hudson! Diana received her Master’s degree for University at Albany in International Affairs with a concentration in Immigration Policy and Service Provision. Diana is a working-class DACA recipient and truly believes in walking alongside CCSM members to help them reach their full potential.
Eric De Feo
Eric is an organizational designer with a background in business development, architecture and product development. He believes that better design can transform, revitalize, empower, and coordinate communities. Eric uses design thinking methodologies to bring business concepts into reality. Having been on varying sides of building startups for the last 8 years, he helps entrepreneurs connect authentic passions with key, measurable goals.
He specializes in the real estate and technology industries, but his frameworks apply across sectors. He has worked on projects at corporates like Spotify and Gensler, to small business startups like Open Door Co-living and ROOT, a smart-indoor hydroponic garden. Learning from both successes and failures, Eric created HCI to make it easier for founders to avoid pitfalls, navigate for openings, and most critically, take care of their own health first.
He holds a dual Masters in Architecture and Integrated Product Design from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in History from Northwestern University. As a New York native, he enjoys living in Hudson with his husband, Bruno, and dog, Jack.
PHOTO&BIO CREDIT - https://www.hudsonincubator.com/team
Victoria Emanuela
Victoria Emanuela (She/They), MS, is an avid explorer of the human experience, dedicated to guiding fellow travelers into the playground of their consciousness. She fosters shifts in self-awareness through multidisciplinary learning, the lost art of meaning-making, and embodiment as a paradigm shift. As an author, educator, thanatologist, and multi-certified practitioner with over a decade of expertise in trauma-informed somatic healing and practical mindfulness, her journey has been one of continuous inquiry into what brings us home to ourselves, especially during times of profound change. Victoria’s book, "My Body, My Home: A Radical Guide to Resilience and Belonging" (Penguin Random House), has resonated with individuals around the world.
Navigating Event Horizons: What Black Holes Can Teach You about Change, Consciousness, and Personal Liberation.
Delve into the wild, mysterious world of supermassive black holes and uncover the astonishing parallels they offer in our understanding of the Self as a constant paradigm shift. Explore how to navigate the beauty and perplexity of change through a philosophical yet practical framework. A black hole will be your guide, teacher, and lover—mirroring the intricate tapestry of wisdom it holds about the cosmos within and around us.
Maleke Glee
Maleke Glee is the inaugural Director of STABLE. Before joining STABLE, he has held positions for the Studio Museum in Harlem, Prince George’s African American Museum; and has produced exhibitions and programming with the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, No Longer Empty, DNA Works, Red Bull Arts, Sugarcane Magazine, TENTH Zine, John F. Kennedy Center, and Don’t Mute DC.. Maleke obtained his M.A. in Cultural Sustainability from Goucher College and B.F.A. in Arts Management from Howard University.
PHOTO&BIO CREDIT - https://www.stablearts.org/who-we-are
Shannon Greer
Shannon Greer is a NY based photographer who shoots fashion lifestyle and portraiture and is also a director and DP on commercials and documentary videos. He received his BFA at SUNY Purchase studying under Jan Groover and Gregory Crewdson. Since embarking on his photography career in 1997, he has photographed for Citibank, Conde Nast Traveler, Glamour Magazine, Eddie Bauer, JCrew, Jockey, Nordstrom, Target and UK Traveller. Shannon presently resides in Hudson, NY, where - when he is not traveling near and far making photos for his clients - he owns and operates an art gallery, the Hudson Milliner Art Salon.
PHOTO&BIO CREDIT - https://www.shannongreer.com/about
JOAN E. HUNT
In 2011, Joan received her MSW from Hunter College in Community Organizing, Planning and Development and received her undergraduate degree from New York University, double majoring in Social Work and Africana Studies. As Project Director of the Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood, Joan has successfully built partnerships with community-based organizations, schools, elected officials, County agencies, municipalities, businesses, youth,families and faith-based organizations to address unmet needs in the Hudson community. Most recently, Joan and her team launched the Greater Hudson Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents (GHICIP), a partner in Osborne’s NY Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents. Joan is also an Adjunct Professor at Siena College and teaches at Greene Correctional Facility through Hudson Link.
PHOTO&BIO CREDIT -https://greaterhudsonpromise.org/our-team
Mayor Kamal Johnson
Mayor Kamal Johnson was elected to serve as the Mayor of Hudson, NY in 2019. He made history as the first black Mayor of Hudson, NY and at 34 years old, the youngest.
Upon entering office, he was immediately faced with the issues posed by COVID-19. Partnering to create the Shared Streets program, Hudson Safe, WiFi hotspots, and more, Mayor Kamal has helped the city get on top of one of the hardest years on record.
PHOTO&BIO CREDIT - https://www.kamalforhudson.com/
Sondra Loring
Sondra Loring is an interdisciplinary queer witch, sharing somatic practices, yoga, meditation, science, poetry, farming and dance, with a strong sense of play, and a nurturing of community. She lives on Feathertail Farm, a small shared garden.
ASHNI
Ashni, daughter of Cynthia and Allan, is a farmer, at Mumbet’s Freedom Farm, facilitator, educator and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY with rich roots in the island of St. Vincent. Movement, music, healing and their expansion through meditation and love are essential keys to Ashni’s being. From early experiences with death, escapades in library stacks to discovering yoga and teachings with Buddhist monks in High school, Spirit has always piqued her curiosity and tickled her heart. From an early age, Ashni has been devoted to learning from and listening to Spirit. Working on and at the intersections of Earth based teaching and practices, wellness, and environmental and social justice, Ashni facilitates 1 on 1 and group sessions, ceremonies, meditations and experiences permeated with love that cultivate radical awareness, appreciation of self and overall ecstatic wellness within participants and their community with the intention of re-cultivating a deep connection with our Earth mother.
Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore
Jacqueline Salvatore is a lifelong Columbia County resident and mother of three children. After graduating from Hudson High School, Jackie attended Vision Christian Bible College and Seminary in Clermont, Florida and graduated with an associate degree in Bible Studies.
Jackie began her career with New York State at the NYS Crime Victims Board as an assistant to legal counsel. Thereafter, Jackie worked for the NYS Office of Developmental Disabilities, Rate Appeals Unit, where wages were negotiated for persons providing direct care.
Jackie entered the New York State Police Academy in March of 1988. Following her graduation, she became a State Trooper and served as a Road Trooper, Investigator, Senior Investigator and Director of the Employee Assistance Program.
Jackie is trained in Critical Incident Stress Debriefings, Recovery Peer Advocacy and a multitude of other modalities that help people alleviate stresses and live fulfilling lives.
PHOTO&BIO CREDIT - https://www.ccwomensalliance.org/news/help-operation-unite-bring-holiday-cheer-to-adults-with-disabilities-y5lp7
JOHN SILVIS
John Silvis is an art advisor based in New York City and Berlin.
The focus of his practice is on marginalized conversations of identity, spirituality and sustainability.
Silvis writes for Artsy, CNN and PARNASS, and curates exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Vienna, Berlin and Singapore. In addition to building international private art collections, he is committed to facilitating art dialog through studio visits, artist interviews, and podcasts.
He is on the board of Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts.
AlliE Young
A topliner and producer of enigmatic force, Allie Young makes nostalgic, gritty, vocalpower pop. On her self-released debut EP Changeling (March 2023), honest lyricism cuts through waves of magnetic soundscapes and vocal layers that range from delicate to dissonant and bellowing. She is also an event curator, artist manager and Kingston, NY local. Her live performances infuse tenor saxophone, vocoder, off-kilter samples, synths and other mysteries.