The Rising Youth Theatre Board

Michelle is a mother of three, sister, auntie. She is daughter and granddaughter to women who toiled in fields and understood how to feed their family by gleaning fields, catching rabbits, and canning vegetables and meats. She takes this nurturing spirit into all aspects of her life, looking for ways to empower and uplift those around her. She thrives via creative thinking and open collaborations aimed at building a healing community.

Julia is a  Board Member for Rising Youth Theatre, serving as the Treasurer.  Julia has worked in the Financial Services Industry for over twenty years.  She learned about Rising Youth Theatre through authentic relationships built since moving to Arizona from the East Coast in 2011.  Julia is a multi-racial, cat Mom, that enjoys spending her free time with family and friends and trying new things.  Her hope for the future of Rising Youth Theatre, is to continued growth in order to provide opportunities for artistic expression for tomorrow's Leaders. 

Quianna Brown has served her community in various ways for more than 2 decades. Including working in Title I schools as an elementary school teacher. After law school, she became a “Legal advocate” at Community Legal Services. There she helped clients who were victims of domestic abuse leave their abusive situations by way of divorce and/or resolving child custody disputes through the Arizona Court system.
Quianna began her academic career in Buffalo New York, obtaining her Bachelor’s in Childhood Education from Buffalo State Collage in 2006. She later graduated from law school 2012 with her Juris Doctorate from Arizona Summit Law School (formally Phoenix School of Law) AZ.  Lastly, she completed her Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Grand Canyon University, graduating in 2015.
Today, she is a Traditional Instructor at Grand Canyon University teaching in both the Government and Justice Studies departments. She is also the proud mom of 3 daughters. 

 I am a new board member for Rising Youth Theater this year. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Ayesha received her BA in Psychology from Temple University. I moved to Phoenix in 2005 to pursue my graduate education and ultimately earned an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from The American School of Professional Psychology (formerly Argosy University). I currently work in private practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor serving clients age 15+ throughout the state of Arizona. I am bilingual in English/Spanish.  I am an aspiring world traveler, an animal lover, and a deeply spiritual being. When I am not working, I can often be found in my car transporting my children to/from various activities or commitments. In my "downtime" I enjoy meditation, impromptu concerts or dance parties, reading or listening to books on Audible, and podcasts.

Adrian “AWER” Garcia is a Phoenix, AZ born street artist and curator who specializes in graffiti and large-scale mural painting. His style is influenced by his love for both realism, and abstract art.

Garcia was first introduced to the creative process at the age of nine through a family member who gave him a drawing. Then at the age of 17, he discovered the vast world of street art. He has been motivated to continue his art journey through the love and support of his daughter and is continually inspired by his two young grandsons.

When either working from his studio on a canvas painting or out in the field on a monumental size wall, he prefers spray paint, paint markers, and acrylic as his mediums of choice. His murals can be seen all over the Valley of the Sun, and he has been commissioned by Amazon, Walmart, and the US Military for murals in their facilities. He also spends his time curating a rotation of artists painting live, himself included, at a local Phoenix coffee shop, Tres Leches Café and activates artists at the Almeria Mural Alley in conjunction with the Oak Street Mural Alley in the historic Coronado District in Phoenix.

“As an artist, I see the world differently than most people. I am inspired by
even the simplest daily routine. I feel like I have so many ideas but there is
never enough time to get them down on canvas.”

IG: @adrian_grrcya
Email: Unitedartistsaz@gmail

Jonathan Valdez better known as DJ Akshen is a Veteran, husband, Dad, DJ and champion of all things positive. He is one of Arizona’s premier talents. His creative mixing and crowd-pleasing selection is one of the many reasons why he was crowned Phoenix Regional Red Bull 3Style Champion and Phoenix NewTimes winner best Turntablist in 2015. Akshen went on to represent the South West and compete for the National title. As a member of the International Hip Hop Collective Furious Styles Crew, Akshen has had the pleasure of performing in countries like Spain, the Bahamas, Romania, Mexico and England.
When Akshen is not behind the turntables you can find him hosting a monthly open turntable, scratch event, called Fader Manners that he co-founded in 2014. In addition to that he organizes an annual DJ Networking event for the DJ Community called the AZ DJ Summit. Akshen is also an artist-educator and global Hip Hop Ambassador for the U.S. State department program; Next Level. He has shared his knowledge of DJing overseas in places like Timisoara and Bucharest Romania. As well as organizations like the YMCA, numerous after school programs, Scottsdale Community College, Arizona State University, Mesa Community College and Grand Canyon University’s Hip-Hop Club.
Some of his clients include Red Bull, UnidosUS formerly known as the National Council of La Raza, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Disney and the Mayor of Tempe to name a few.