Leaders from Haverhill and Methuen are among those named Monday by Essex County Community Foundation as the next cohort of “Creative County ChangeMakers.”
Local members include Noah Greenstein and Hailey Moschella of Haverhill and Loida Dominguez of Methuen. Since 2021, Creative County ChangeMakers program has graduated 33 cross-sector creatives who, the Foundation says, have “inspired their communities to think differently about the role arts and culture plays.”
“We have an incredible group of participants this year,” says Creative County Program Director Karen Ristuben, who leads the ChangeMakers program with Lisa Miller-Gillespie and Danielle Coates-Connor. “They are innovative, energetic and eager to begin their journey with ChangeMakers and we can’t wait to see where they take it.”
Greenstein is an actor, director and theatre arts teacher at Urban Bridges, a nonprofit empowering women and youth through a variety of services, Haverhill, and Moschella is co-head of Wisteria Montessori School and director of the Haverhill Art Walk. Dominguez is a singer-songwriter and founder of InPower Love Coaching, which helps to empower women.
ChangeMakers receive a small grant to start community-based projects, which in past years have included an art exhibit curated by and featuring black, indigenous and other people of color in Lawrence, a community gathering focused on public art in Lynn and trainings in Haverhill to educate municipal leaders about the importance of art and culture in city planning.
From March through October, the 2024 ChangeMakers participate in project-based learning, peer networking and leadership trainings.
“ChangeMakers is really focused on building trusted relationships,” adds Ristuben. “At the end of the eight-month program, these leaders from across the county are connected in ways that they weren’t before. These new connections lead to partnerships, collaborations, idea-sharing and a stronger, more impactful ecosystem for arts and culture.”