Join us for a lively webinar where the panelists will share their expanding arts-based health initiatives that harness the power of the arts to improve health outcomes. Learn about the diverse strategies they use to secure creative funding and form impactful partnerships that are driving meaningful change.
This program series is sponsored in part with support from The Music Man Foundation.
Aly Maier Lokuta, MA (she/her) is the Senior Director of Arts & Well-Being at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and Founder of Arts in Health Consulting. In her role at NJPAC, Aly leads innovative research, evaluation and programming at the intersection of arts and health, serving communities in Newark and New Jersey. She is a co-lead and founder of the NJPAC-Rutgers Arts in Health Research Lab and is leading the first Arts-on-Prescription pilot in New Jersey in collaboration with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Rutgers University–Newark. Prior to this role, Aly was the inaugural Assistant Director of Arts in Medicine and Arts Program Manager for NYC Health + Hospitals where she led the first two years of the Community Mural project, the largest public mural initiative since the WPA. She was also selected for the Advisory Task Force for the first Social Prescribing pilot in the US: CultureRx out of Massachusetts. Aly has taught arts in health undergraduate courses at the University of South Dakota and graduate courses at the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine and developed curriculum for the Foundation for Art and Healing.
Michael J. Bobbitt is a distinguished theater artist. As the Executive Director of Mass Cultural Council, he is the highest-ranking public official in Massachusetts state government focused on arts and culture. Since 2021, he has led the Agency through several initiatives, including the development of its first Racial Equity Plan, d/Deaf & Disability Equity and Access Plan, and Native American & Indigenous Equity Plan; the launch of the nation’s first statewide Social Prescribing Initiative; the securing and distribution of $60.1 million in pandemic relief funding; and the design and implementation of a strategic plan for fiscal years 2024-2026. Recently, Michael was listed as one of the Boston Business Journal’s Power 50 Movement Makers. He has been appointed by Governor Maura Healey to serve on both the Governor’s Advisory Council on Black Empowerment and the newly established Massachusetts Cultural Policy Development Advisory Council, and he recently received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa from Dean College. He is a proud alumnus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Dr. Elizabeth Markle is a licensed psychologist, speaker, writer, researcher, and Professor of Community Mental Health at California Institute of Integral Studies. She is the co-founder of Open Source Wellness, an Oakland-based nonprofit offering experiential behavioral health and wellness via a "Community As Medicine" approach in collaboration with healthcare providers and insurers. Dr. Markle earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University and her M.A. in Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard University, and her postdoctoral training in Primary Care-Mental Health Integration at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Dr. Markle is a thought leader in the field of health and wellness and has been sought-after as a consultant for her unique insights and expertise in clinic-community integration, innovative approaches to mental health, and group facilitation.
Jazlynn (she/they) is a cultural worker and teaching artist dedicated to serving the community through storytelling. She has spent the past decade learning Philippine Dance in the Bay Area and sharing it with communities around the world like California, Hawai'i, and Colombia. Jazlynn has continued her learning journey in Philippine arts and healing arts through the Arts & Healing Initiative (Fall 2020 Online Certificate Program in Social Emotional Arts and September 2022 Dance for All Online Facilitator Training), Transformation Academy (April 2021 Therapeutic Art Life Coach Certification), Luna Dance Institute (2022 Summer Institute Cohort Member), Kularts Inc. (2023 TribuTour Member), and Parangal Dance (2024 Philippines Immersion Member). She is currently in a Master's of Education in Curriculum and Instruction program to learn how to make dance and cultural arts like Philippine dance more accessible in schools and the community. Jazlynn continues to practice art as connection through her LLC “pinaypages” which offers experiences for people to incorporate creativity and wellness into their everyday lives through programs like Wellness Wednesdays. Learn more about Jazlynn's offerings through https://www.pinaypages.com/.
