YEA! BOARD

Our board is diverse, trained, and capable of providing expertise in given fields such as art education, public relations, community organizing, fundraising, accounting, marketing, grant writing and graphic design. We are a highly engaged group with strong ties to the Evanston Art, Education, and Non-Profit Communities. Present members most of whom are parents of children in District 65, 202 and private schools, are uniquely qualified to bring this event to fruition and to help position it to grow in the future.

HOPE WASHINUSHI, Executive Director, has a Bachelor in Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago. She is the owner of Yasuko Design Company in Evanston. She creates custom murals, mosaics, graphic design and textiles with over 20 years of experience leading projects for schools and organizations throughout the Chicagoland area. She has been the Artist-in-Residence at Martin Luther King Literary and Fine Arts school, creating three different large scale art projects all in different mediums, coordinating and facilitating the project with art teachers, students and volunteers. Hope has also served as co-chair for the school’s large fundraiser for 2015-2106. Hope served 2 years on the Public Art SubCommittee and 3 years on the Evanston Arts CounciI. In addition she has volunteered with Tellin’ Tales Theatre in Chicago as co-chair for silent auction for their annual gala for the past three years. She currently is an arts facilitator for Opens Studio Project in Evanston.

AARTI DESAI - Board President, Aarti is a VP of Business Development at AlphaSense, a financial technology solution, focused on AI-search technology for Corporations and Financial Service clients. She graduated from University of California, San Diego with a B.S. in Management Science and a minor in US History. With over 18 years of experience across a variety of environments (start-ups and corporations) and across a broad range of Industries, she has a natural ability to connect, build, and maintain strategic relationships. Additionally, she has event planning experience both personally and professionally through a company she co-founded with her husband, Amish, called Momentous Studio. Aarti also coaches AYSO Evanston soccer teams, and is an avid sports fan. Originally from Southern California, she has found her home here in Evanston, with her husband, and two girls (8) and (4), who are avid young artists.

DARIA VAN ENGELEN, Treasurer, has a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Netherlands and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Skidmore College in New York. She is an executive in the transportation industry focusing on improving mobility and economic development for all. In her professional career, she has managed mega infrastructure projects for state and local government agencies nationally and currently works with the Chicago Transportation Authority, Pace and Metra in bringing mobility to life through special projects and technology. Privately, Daria resumed the Treasurer position at the King Arts School PTA in D65 and also ran their Fine HeARTs fundraiser. She is an active volunteer in the community with endeavors in school art projects, volunteering at ESCCA and organizations that support women in public service. She is an avid supporter of the arts and has a long history of music in her life having participated in many musical conferences and concerts for piano including Avery Fisher Hall (David Geffen Hall today), NY All State and Tang Museum events.

EVAN FINAMORE, Community Relations,  Evan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Art History. She worked for several years as both an exhibit developer and exhibit and program consultant for Chicago Children’s Museum. She also worked as an exhibit and program evaluator for two independent evaluation firms in Chicago conducting qualitative data analysis in a variety of museums around the country.  She has recently completed a certification in arts management and dedicates much of her free time to volunteering in the community, particularly when there is an opportunity to lend her creative or artistic skills to a good cause. She has served on the board of Parent Day Out and Cherry Preschool and the SpringBoard of Evanston Arts Center. She is currently on the board of Foundation 65 having served as chair of the Marketing Committee, as a member of the Programs Committee, and as lead for the foundation’s arts task force.

WALKER LAWRENCE, General Counsel, graduated from the University of Denver with a Bachelor in Music in Trombone Performance and got his JD from John Marshall Law School. Walker’s legal practice focuses on advising his clients in general business transactions, such as leasing, loan documents, and entity formations. He helps businesses and their owners manage, run and operate their companies through proactive counseling in wide range of issues including Title VII, ADEA, ADA, FLSA, FMLA, ERISA the Illinois Human Rights Act and Illinois Whistleblower Act, among other statutes and common law employment disputes. Walker also represents business executives in employment matters including executive compensation and separation negotiations, as well as non-competition and non-solicitation disputes. At home Walker enjoys spending time with his wife, two boys (8) and (5) and cooking whatever is in season. He also helps run the Evanston Spring Baseball program that serves over 1000 kids in Evanston. 

AMISH DESAI - Website & Design Consultant, As the VP of Design & Experiences at Moonshot by Pactera, a global digital product and innovation studio, Amish Desai oversees the delivery of experiences for people, products, and clients across their studio network. Amish leads cross-functional teams across product, design, and engineering that use design thinking and lean innovation to discover, design, and deliver experiences that are lovable, valuable, and feasible for brands . With 16 years of designing at the intersection of customer behaviors, emotions, and emerging technologies, Amish possess expertise to solve critical business challenges with a human-first mindset. His experiences includes supporting B2C, B2B, B2B2C organizations on a domestic and global scale, across a range of industries, including Financial Services, Insurance, Social Analytics, CPG, Logistics, and Retail. As a result, his work has been featured in CMO.com, Fast Company and Venture Beat for designing digital and physical experiences for business growth. Amish holds a B.S in Cognitive Science and Human Computer Interaction from the University of California, San Diego and a M.S. in Human Computer Interaction from San Jose State University. Outside of work, Amish gives back by mentoring entrepreneurs within 1871 & TechStars incubators. He teaches UX Certification at WeWork’s Flatiron School and previously Interaction Design at Northwestern University. Amish indulges in all things experiential and brings his superpowers of pragmatic vision and energy to bear in his collaborations with others every day.

OFFICERS

Hope Washinushi, Executive Director

Aarti Desai, Board President

Daria van Engelen, Treasurer

BOARD MEMBERS

Evan Finamore, Community Relations

Walker Lawrence, General Counsel

Sherri Kushner, Teacher Liason

Amish Desai, Website & Design Consultant

ADVISORY BOARD

Harvey Pranian

Nan Stein

Darin Walsh