Leadership

Alex Wasalinko

Alex Wasalinko is a poet, artist, and educator. As ArtistYear’s Marketing and Communications Manager, she is responsible for managing ArtistYear’s marketing and media presence.

Prior to starting her role as Marketing and Communications Manager at ArtistYear, Alex served as an ArtistYear AmeriCorps Creative Writing Resident Teaching Artist for two years at Alexander Adaire Elementary School in Philadelphia.

She has taught children’s after school arts classes and managed organizations’ social media in Scranton and Philadelphia, PA.  In 2019, Alex was a research assistant and guest alumni playwright for the University of Scranton’s original oral history play, The Porches Project, which presented the history and evolution of Scranton’s historic Hill Section via community members’ stories.  

Alex received her B.A. in English literature and philosophy with minors in art history and French from the University of Scranton. She also holds an MRes in creative writing with a concentration in ekphrastic poetry from the University of Strathclyde. As a writer, she often uses visual art, the natural world, and urban landscapes to explore themes of selfhood. She also enjoys experimenting with found language and imagery as a medium for expression. 

Betsaleel (Bets) Charmelus

As CEO of ArtistYear, Betsaleel “Bets” Charmelus (he/him) is dedicated to ensuring every K-12 student in the nation can reap the benefits of creative learning.  Bets brings over 10 years of programmatic and executive leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, including ArtistYear’s National Program Director position. With his leadership, ArtistYear has refined its evidence-based model and is expanding exponentially; in the 2024-2025 school year, ArtistYear will launch in four new urban and rural regions, growing and deepening its impact across eight states. 

Bets is a distinguished facilitator and storyteller. Throughout his career, he has partnered with and presented at Drexel University, the Maryland Department of Education, Moore College of Arts & Design, New Victory Theatre, Rowan University, the School District of Philadelphia, the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation, and TEDx.

Prior to joining ArtistYear, Bets previously served as Program Director for Beyond the Bars, an anti-violence initiative, and worked as a Technical Analyst at Aramark and Temple University. Committed to community advocacy, he has  supported survivors of sexual trauma as a music facilitator through The Joseph J. Peters Institute’s B.O.S.S Program, and championed Philadelphia grassroots efforts for Black men’s mental health.

Bets graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Information Science & Technology from Temple University. He holds a certification as a Trauma-Informed Practices for Teaching Artist Educator from the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation. As a lifelong artist, Bets centers his practice in finding and claiming new spaces, and building strong, inter-dependent communities.

Eugene Cottrell

Before joining ArtistYear as the North Carolina Lead, Eugene Cottrell was a decorated educator and band director in North Carolina public schools.

He began his 25 year teaching career as an assistant director of bands at West Point Middle and High Schools in West Point, Mississippi.  In 1999 he moved to Northwood High School and Horton Middle School in Pittsboro, NC where he  was challenged with rebuilding a program that had been neglected and fallen to only 28 enrolled students.  Within 3 years the total number of students at Horton and Northwood grew exponentially to over 130 enrolled in the band program. After 6 years the program at Northwood had grown large enough to allow for full time high school duties.  Under Eugene’s leadership, both schools’ bands garnered superior ratings, with the Marching Chargers of Northwood racking up 1st places awards at local, regional and national competitions. More than one administrator commented that “the Marching Chargers are giant slayers” because they had defeated so many bands larger than them for overall grand championship honors.

After 15 years at Northwood, Eugene moved to a new high school in the Sandhills region. Before retiring in 2021 his wind ensembles, jazz bands and chamber ensembles racked up superior ratings in state competitions while playing college level literature from the grade V and VI  NC state lists.  During his time at there, Eugene saw the band almost double in size and receive countless 1st place caption awards and numerous grand championships for best band of the day.

In 2005 Eugene was awarded the Mr. Holland’s Opus Award which recognizes music teachers who best demonstrate the spirit and dedication of “Mr. Holland” portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss in the 1995 hit movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus.  In 2011 Eugene was awarded the Jackson Parkhurst for Special Achievement by the North Carolina Symphony.  This award recognizes NC teachers “that make a lasting difference in the lives of students of all abilities and backgrounds, serve the community in an exemplary manner as a role model in music education, instill a love for music in children and inspire students to reach appropriately high musical standards.”

Eugene graduated from Concord College in Athens, WV. In addition to his music and teaching practices, Eugene is a published photographer with his photos appearing in North Carolina galleries. He also loves golf…more than it loves him back.

Hayley Krichels

Hayley Krichels is an artist and educator. She received her BA in Photography from Bard College, and has been working in art education for the past seven years– first in the non-profit realm at RedLine Contemporary Art Center and the Clyfford Still Museum, then as a teacher with Denver Public Schools. As an artist, she is primarily interested in humor and play, which she explores through photography and sculpture.

Janelle Saint-Eloi

Janelle Saint-Eloi is a filmmaker, writer, and creative entrepreneur. As Recruitment and Alumni Engagement Coordinator she is responsible for recruiting artists of various and unique artistic disciplines to serve as Resident Teaching Artists throughout ArtistYear’s service regions. Janelle is also responsible for keeping ArtistYear’s network of alumni connected to each other and engaged with the National Cohort for support towards creative learning. 

Prior to joining the leadership team, she served as a Resident Teaching Artist (RTA) in the Queens cohort. During her service Janelle used film and television to help students develop critical writing and analysis skills. She also used creative storytelling through board games, comic books and poetry to highlight the importance of personal story through different artistic mediums. Inspired by her year of service, Janelle is passionate about creating a network of mindful, easily accessible children’s media content backed by child psychology.

As a filmmaker and writer, the theme of Janelle’s work highlights unique coming of age stories. She is connected to the Philadelphia film scene through her alma mater Temple University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Media Arts. 

When she is not working Janelle can be found on the tennis court, on a hiking trail or visiting family in Boston. Janelle has been teaching herself coding and programming in her spare time, and is in the process of developing a life-planning and organization app. 

Julia Durkin

As ArtistYear’s Chief Financial Officer and Director of Human Resources, Julia Durkin provides strategic leadership for the organization’s financial, compliance, and human resources planning and implementation, in addition to supporting ArtistYear’s operations, program, and realization. Julia brings almost 20 years of financial and operational experience in the public and nonprofit sectors, with a focus on start-up organizations, developing policies and procedures to increase impact and efficiency.

Prior to ArtistYear Julia served as Operations Director for Play On Philly, where she created the Human Resources department, guided the organization through six years of successful financial audits, and managed the budget growth from $1.2 million in 2013 to $2.4 million in 2018.

She has also served as Operations Director and Director of Compliance for Senator Bob Casey’s successful 2012 reelection campaign.

Julia serves on the board of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, serving on the Finance & Audit, as well as the Strategic Planning Committee.

Julia received a Bachelor of the Arts with a double major in Performance Studies and Political Science at Northwestern University. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania, and a certification in Human Resources from the Society for Human Resources.

As a lifelong musician, she studied bassoon with Shirley Curtiss, performed in chamber ensembles at Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School, performed in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Orchestra under the direction of Rossen Milanov, and participated in numerous musical theatre productions over the years.

Maggie Phillips

Maggie Phillips is an educator and movement artist who uses performance, digital media, and experimentation to explore connection and storytelling. She has extensive training in contemporary dance, circus aerials, and dance improvisation. As Philadelphia Lead, Maggie mentors a large cohort of Resident Teaching Artists (RTAs) and through that hopes to cultivate courageous, thoughtful, and innovative leaders in the teaching artistry field.

Maggie previously supported our onboarding and program coordination, and served as ArtistYear’s ACCESS (Artists Connecting Creatively to Enrich and Support Schools) Lead. Maggie managed RTAs as they served in Philadelphia schools and as content creators in partnership with YouTube Kids. Maggie also served for two years as an ArtistYear AmeriCorps RTA — as a member of the Class of 2020 at F. Amedee Bregy School in Philadelphia, and as a Senior member of the Class of 2021 with ArtistYear ACCESS.

Maggie Phillips is originally from Eau Claire, WI and grew up immersed in dance, music, and competitive figure skating. Maggie is a graduate of Middlebury College where she received a dual bachelor’s degree in chemistry and dance.

Stephanie Markman Mayén

As ArtistYear’s Chief Partnership Officer & Director of Communications, Stephanie Mayen is responsible for the full range of funding development activities for ArtistYear, ensuring stability and responsible growth for the organization over the short- and long-term.

Stephanie has been committed to public education since the beginning of her career, spending the first portion of her professional life in the classroom. She taught middle school English as a Teach For America Corps Member in St. Louis and went on to teach in a high-performing charter school. She parlayed her experience in the classroom into her work with the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI).

Stephanie joined NMSI in 2014 as Grants Manager and held a number of positions during her seven years with the organization, rising to Director of Fundraising and Operations by the end of her tenure. During her time at NMSI, she developed and supported NMSI’s strategic growth strategy, led NMSI’s federal fundraising efforts, raised over $30 million dollars from public and private sources, developed processes and procedures for the organization, and developed fundraising strategies to diversify funding for the organization, all with the goal of maximizing impact and student success.

Stephanie earned a Master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and Bachelors’ degrees in English and communications from Southern Methodist University.

Margo Drakos

Committed to a life of service that harnesses the innovative power of technology and the transformative potential of the arts, Founder and Trustee Chair of ArtistYear, Margo Drakos is a concert cellist, founder of tech companies, impact investor, and proud active duty Military spouse. Margo served as CEO of ArtistYear from its inception in 2016 to 2021.

 Margo is Managing Director of Draper Richards Kaplan Fdt. (DRK), a global venture philanthropy firm supporting early stage, high-impact social enterprises. In this role, she serves on the Boards of Ameelio, Citizen Data, Entryway, North Carolina Education Corps, Citizen Data, Public Rights Project,  Intelehealth, Rocket Learning, and Tarjimly. Margo has spent the past decade working with private and public sector institutions leveraging technology and strategic alignment to realize scale, revenue generation, and sustainability. In this capacity, Margo served as Partner and Chief Technology Officer at McChrystal Group LLC.

Margo has spent the past decade working with private and public sector institutions leveraging technology and strategic alignment to realize scale, revenue generation, and sustainability. She has recruited, led, and motivated matrix and dispersed organizations of engineering, product, marketing, and growth teams in the non-profit and commercial spaces while maintaining high-quality standards.  Until 2017, Margo spent four years as Chief Technology Officer and at McChrystal Group LLC, a software and service company designed to optimize organizational performance.

Margo began working as a professional musician at age four, performing on national radio and television commercials.  Over the course of her career as a cellist she performed as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician on the world’s preeminent stages on five continents. Margo entered music conservatory at fifteen as a double major in cello and composition and graduated from Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1999. She served as Artist-in-Residence and Cello and Chamber Music faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and Manhattan School of Music from 2002-2008. Margo’s positions included cellist of the American String Quartet, Principal Cellist of the Oregon, San Diego, and Seattle Symphonies, and Associate Principal of Pittsburgh Symphony.  She toured regularly with “Musicians from Marlboro” and has recorded and produced for Sony Classical, Naxos, Arabesque, and Longhorn Records.

In 2007, embracing the power of technology to democratize access to the arts, Margo co-founded and led her first start-up, InstantEncore.com, the world’s leading provider of web and mobile technology to the performing arts. In that role, Margo executed strategic partnerships to enable some of the first live web and mobile concert streaming and download events from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House.  In 2011, she was made a Partner at the SwitchCase Group, the lead investor in InstantEncore.

In 2010, Margo was honored as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a community of extraordinary global leaders under forty. Margo has been invited to speak on technology, entrepreneurship, and the arts at institutions and events including Americans for the Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, the Global Competitiveness Forum of Saudi Arabia, TechVenture in Singapore and the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Margo received a Masters in Human Rights from Columbia University and holds Executive Degrees in Global Leadership and Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Her publications have appeared in the Aspen Institute Magazine, The International Affairs Review, The Stanford Social Innovation Review, and The Cornell International Law Journal. Margo is a Trustee of Marlboro Music Festival and the National Humanities Center.

ArtistYear Trustees

Margo Drakos, ArtistYear Founder & Chair of the Board

Eric Booth

Robert Carpenter, PhD.

Rosa Moreno