Art for Social Change with the Cast of Alice in Rainbowland

Kay Martinez (they/them/theirs), M.A., is an Afro-Latine Gender-Non Conformer. Kay has over a decade of professional experience directing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) initiatives in higher education at some of the nation’s most selective institutions. As a consultant, they partner with leading media, advertising, technology, and non-profit clients to advance Equity through the development of JEDI strategic plans and ongoing educational workshops. Kay has a M.A. in Higher Education from Boston College, is currently Director, DEI Training, Education, and Development at Lesley University, and a teaching fellow on Critical Race Theory in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. @kaypmartinez

Tina Cavicchio or T (she/her/they/them) is an international dance artist and founder/director of Next Level Fusion Dance Company. T got her start early in life, training in jazz and ballroom. She continued her studies into the Latin dance community with salsa and bachata as well as contemporary, Afro-Cuban, ballet, waacking, and hip hop. T is known for her creative fusion choreography and inspiring story telling through her dance. As a queer female lead, follow, and solo dancer, T has become a major advocate for individual empowerment and expression. T’s goals as a teacher is to challenge her students to walk through fear, helping them to tell their story on stage, and to empower others along the way. Each day inspires her to push the limits of Latin dance in her choreography while also paying respects to the history and roots of those dances.

Gabriel (he/him/his) is proud to identify as a gay, Puerto Rican, dog dad who loves to dance, cook, and enjoy adventures with loved ones. Graduating from Northeastern University in 2014, he has worked for Boston Beer Company for over 8 years. Throughout his time in Boston, Gabriel has been an active member and leader in the Boston Dance Community. Gabriel has had the opportunity to dance with and choreograph for many dance teams, but his favorite had to be QWAM, an all-male dance family in support of promoting inclusivity and self-empowerment in one’s own identity. He co-founded QWAM in 2016 and has led the group’s growth for the past five years.

From El Salvador via Cambridge, MA, it’s Just JP! They use any pronouns, please mix them up! He appreciates it. They love makeup, editing videos, fighting oppression, and eating pupusas. Just JP was the winner of the first cycle of Worcester Drag Wars in 2018, and since then she has been a staple in the New England drag scene. She has performed on the stages of Boston Pride, Worcester Pride, NOHO Pride, and Providence Pride, as well as weekly in-person shows (pre-covid), and currently producing tons of digital content through twitch.tv/TheServeNetwork. Their monthly show “First Impression” is every second Friday at 8PM ET. They are the Assistant Producer of “Full Spin”, every second and fourth Tuesdays at twitch.tv/MajentaWithAJ. Follow Just JP on all social media at @dragqueenjp.

Ana Masacote (she/her/hers) is an award-winning Afro-Latin dance specialist and arts leader who passionately believes that through dance, we can facilitate social change within communities. She has spread the salsa bug to more than 30 countries across five continents as founder of Dance to Power, an online Afro-Latin dance academy, and former partner of internationally-renowned Masacote Entertainment. Through her social impact initiatives, Ana advocates for gender and LGBTQ inclusivity and racial equity in the arts and was most recently named a 2020/21 Kennedy Citizens Fellow, the 2019 YWCA Cambridge Woman of the Year, and a 2019 WBUR Artery 25 honoree. Ana holds a Bachelor’s in Management Science from MIT in Cambridge.

Lilly Rose Valore (she/her/hers) is a Dancer/Model/Trans Activist from Boston, MA. She is a Program Assistant at Futures Without Violence, which is a non-profit organization working to end domestic violence for women and children. Her work for Black Trans Lives has led her to become an artist/activist. Lilly has always had an interest in developing the lives of marginalized groups specifically within the city of Boston and often speaks on LGBTQ+ awareness panels, teaches vogue classes and history, and performs at LGBTQ fundraising events. Lilly weaves queer symbolism into her art and has been telling her story through photo, film, and dance in order to use her social media platforms as a way to reach out to a wider demographic. She touches on topics such as racial injustices, uplifting marginalized groups, and representation for Trans Women of Color.

Lauren Cameron (she/her/hers) is an event planning professional with twelve years of corporate and nightlife hospitality experience. Originally born and raised in Jamaica, Lauren earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Marketing at the Suffolk University Sawyer Business School. Lauren’s love for events started at the tender age of four while accompanying her mother, an events professional, to onsite visits. In 1999, Lauren started Snatched Entertainment (Seeking New Atmospheres To Create Highly Engaging Diverse Entertainment), an events company that focuses on providing a safe space for members of the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities while providing a platform for Womxn artists, performers, DJs, and creatives to showcase their talent.