We always enjoy a good chat.

Abigail (she/her) is the Project Coordinator at CJAMConsulting. She handles organizational and administrative needs, as well as schedule coordination and general assistance across CJAM's network of partners and clients. 

Abigail is a Bronx based arts administrator, interdisciplinary artist, and activist with experience that spans from regional work to off-Broadway at theaters such as Atlantic Theatre Company, Mill Mountain Theatre, The New Group, Clubbed Thumb, and Live & In Color. In addition to being part of the CJAM Team, she is also currently the Development Coordinator and a Line Producer at Musical Theatre Factory (MTF) where she has produced workshops of new musicals and concerts at venues such as Signature Theatre and Joe's Pub.

Artistically, she is a director and dramaturg who is passionate about developing new plays, musicals, and has recently been exploring film.  A favorite project she has been assisting director, Devanand Janki, on over the past few years has been Laiona Michelle’s “LittleGirl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical" which opened to critical acclaim at George Street Playhouse. Abigail is also a professional photographer specializing in portrait and headshot photography, and a visual artist specializing in ceramics, lino-block printing, sewing, and woodworking.

Abigail graduated magna cum laude from Marymount Manhattan College where she earned degrees in Directing and Arts Management. She is also a proud Associate Member of SDC.

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Candace Jackson has worked for over 25 years as an entrepreneur and arts manager guiding numerous theater, dance, film, visual arts and cultural organizations to design new business models, develop sustainable operating systems, and expand institutional capacity.

Candace founded CJAM Consulting in 2006 to create advanced business strategies for arts and cultural institutions, particularly in communities of color. Under Candace’s leadership, CJAM has successfully planned and directed institutional startups and expansions, business model design, managerial and financial capacity building, and capital construction development for projects ranging from $500,000 to $17 million for emerging and high-profile companies and governments.

Before CJAM, Candace held key senior and executive positions within landmark cultural institutions, such as Managing Director of Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) from 2011 to 2014 and Director of Operations for the Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc from 2002 to 2006. In 2013, she expanded her work internationally to support arts, cultural, and microenterprise development initiatives in Central America.

Candace earned a Master of Fine Arts in Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Arts and Business Administration from Howard University and is a former adjunct instructor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies Arts Administration Program.

Genisha Metcalf is a DEI and social impact strategist specializing in diversity and inclusion leadership training and building institutional partnerships.  As a DEI strategist, she has designed immersive solutions for equitable practices, cultural awareness and policies that support underrepresented communities and groups. She also leverages her expertise in social services to help organizations and leaders develop philanthropic initiatives to support high-need communities. She has trained hundreds of corporate, nonprofit and community leaders in fundraising strategies, community engagement and culturally responsive practices. Since 2018, Genisha has raised $10M in funding to launch workforce development, restorative justice, and mental health initiatives for communities in Harlem, Westchester County and the South Bronx.  Among her clients are Big Brothers Big Sisters, Lincoln Hall Boys' Haven, Harlem Grown, and Mental Health Association, Inc.

Prior to transitioning to consulting, Genisha held several nonprofit leadership roles. As the Head of Campaigns for DoSomething.org, she led programmatic strategy for the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change, with a membership of 5M young people in 131 countries.  During her tenure, DoSomething distributed 100k in scholarship funding,  registered 250k voters, and launched a 6-week intensive civic engagement and career training program. As Director of Corporate and Community Relations for the Utica College Accelerated Nursing Program, she led community engagement, alumni relations and institutional partnership strategy for the New York City Metro area. Prior to joining Utica College, she served as the Corporate Partnerships Manager for City Year New York. In this role, she mobilized over 4,000 community and corporate volunteers and generated over $1.5M in corporate sponsorship revenue.

Genisha began her career in child welfare services, with a focus on training, community engagement and behavioral health counseling. She is the founder of Creating Our Own Legacy (COOL) Kids, a nonprofit organization that engages youth and young adults of color in community service. Genisha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Temple University and a Master of Science in Social Work from Fordham University, where she serves as an Adjunct Professor and Course Developer.

Esther Um (she/they) is an Administrative Consultant at CJAMConsulting. They manage meeting scheduling and coordination, general file management and organization, note-taking and editing, and project research.

Esther graduated NYU Tisch School of the Art with a Bachelor of the Fine Arts in Drama and History. At NYU, she trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and Stonestreet Studios. At NYU, have studied method acting and have experience with both theatre and on-camera acting.  Most recently, she wrote and acted in the short film, Roadtrip, which was produced by Invisible Disco Productions. Thanks to her double major, Esther has had experience writing everything from twenty page academic articles and op-eds to full length plays and sketch comedy.

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Leith ter Meulen is a leading development management consultant involved with public private partnerships, aligning clients’ business objectives with their real estate needs. As a consultant to CJAM, she advises in the arts, education, and preservation towards client’s strategic business goals.

Leith is recognized for her participation in highly visible initiatives, like the renewal of Times Square and post 9/11 Lower Manhattan in New York. For the past 25 years she has advised NY cultural organizations including Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, NYC Ballet and NYC Opera, Jazzmobile, National Jazz Museum in Harlem, the American Dance Institute. She is currently serving MoCADA and 651 Arts in Brooklyn and the Downtown Community Television Network (DCTV) in Manhattan.

Leith has served as a trustee on numerous non-profit boards including Weeksville Heritage Center, Snug Harbor and Materials for the Arts. From 2003-2010, she represented Comptroller William C. Thompson as his e-officio representative on the Museum of Modern Art board of trustees.

Leith graduated magna cum laude from City University of New York with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She also completed a two-year internship in Urban Planning and continuing education in capital development financing.

William Bryant Miles (WBM) is a versatile arts professional with over fifteen years’ experience across multiple disciplines. As a consultant with CJAM, WBM has worked with organizations including 651 ARTS, Apollo Theater, August Wilson House, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Dwyer Cultural Center, and Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, among others.

Prior to CJAM, WBM worked on commercial theater productions and at organizations including Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC), Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Old Vic New Voices (London), and the Creative Arts Team in residence at the City University of New York. In addition, WBM was part of the “sunset” team of Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC).

Outside of CJAM, WBM maintains a vibrant creative practice as a writer and producer. He is a performance coach with a focus on career planning, strategy, and holding training workshops for early career professionals, and is a mentor to young Black men in his native Brooklyn, NY.

WBM was an Emerging Arts Management Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop and a FAIR Fellow at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts, from Howard University and a Master of Arts, with honors, in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, from Goldsmiths, University of London.

David Sweeny has dedicated his career to advancing social justice by leveraging real estate to support education- and economic development-focused non-profit organizations. His work has been recognized with a number of awards and honors, including the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Award, Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility, the Union Square Award, and the HUD Urban Excellence Award.

Sweeny founded two first-of-kind non-profit real estate and capital access organizations, Civic Builders and Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center. Civic Builders, where Sweeny continues his involvement as a corporate Director, has built over 30 charter schools and has managed a charter facilities loan portfolio of some $500 million. GMDC developed 680,000 square feet of light industrial and arts/culture property in Brooklyn during Sweeny’s tenure, including five historic buildings with 130 commercial tenants and 210 fine artists and artisans.

After launching Civic and GMDC, Sweeny founded a non-profit finance and real estate planning company, PDS Development, and over ten years, has provided a variety of finance and development services to educational and cultural access organizations. Sweeny is also an Advisory Committee Member for Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and head of the Real Estate Committee for the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BKCM), which recently acquired an adjacent lot using NYC capital grant funds. Sweeny is also a founding Director for Vertex Academy charter school and Pave Academy. David Sweeny teaches at NYU Real Estate Institute, the New School Social Ventures Lab and LaGuardia College.  

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Monica Triplett has over 25 years of experience in designing workable solutions tailored to fit the culture of organizations across the country. Throughout her career, Monica has worked with companies in the healthcare, education, banking, non-profit and government sectors. She has vast experience working with organizations to design and implement business strategy, strategic planning, leadership development, project and program management, community engagement facilitation, and organizational and operational improvement. Monica creates an environment for change, learning and collaboration where clients make progress on organizational vision, mission, and goal achievement. She has an exceptional ability in facilitating and developing innovative ways to engage stakeholders.

Prior to joining CJAM, Monica held positions as Vice President, Project Manager, Vendor Manager and Quality Assurance Manager at JPMorgan Chase. Previously, she has served on the board of Riverside Rotary Club, and on the Advisory Board and Chair of Marketing and Communications Task Force of Jacksonville Women’s Business Center. Monica is the creator and founder of Kateland Consulting Group LLC, a management consulting firm.

Monica earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Howard University and Master of Science in Information Systems from DePaul University.

Michael Unthank is an accomplished arts administrator and executive strategist. He has a more than 30-year track record in shaping arts and funding partnerships through special initiatives for cultural development. Michael joined CJAM Consulting in 2016 as a leader in strategic planning, research, and program design. His CJAM project portfolio includes: Culture and Heritage Strategic Plan for City of Mount Vernon, New York, Strategic Vision Planning for Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Apollo Theater and Victoria project.

Prior to joining CJAM, Michael’s experience in development and arts administration included Executive Director of Harlem Arts Alliance: Director of Public Events at NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; and Program Director at New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

Michael is a proud board member of the Children’s Art Carnival in Harlem; Compagnia de’ Colombari, an international theatre collective; and New Yorkers for Culture and Arts. He is a former trustee of the Oscar Micheaux Film Festival and advisory panelist for the Louisiana Division of the Arts, South Carolina Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Michael earned his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Hampton University. His first love is working with communities pursuing arts and cultural expression in all forms.