877.711.MOMS (6667)
Board Of Board of Directors
Martha Joy Rose, Founder, Director, MOM Art Annex
E-mail: INFO@MOMmuseum.org
Phone: 207.504.3001
Address: P.O. Box 210, HOH, NY 10706/ MOM Art Annex 538 28th St. N. St. Pete, Florida 33713
Web: www.MarthaJoyRose.com
Director: Acting Director of day-to-day operations working in concert with Living Board Members, Academic Advisory Board, and the Executive Fundraising Board. Director is charged with seeing to the growth of MOM both internally and within the community. The transition from New York City to St. Petersburg (Florida) has given rise to opportunities. Development is ongoing with International Guest Residency Offerings, Academic Internships, University Alliances, as well as Acquisitions, and Local Involvement.
Bio: Martha Joy Rose, BFA, MALS is an artist, community organizer, and museum founder. Her performance projects have been featured on Good Morning America, CNN, and the Oakland Art & Soul Festival to name a few. She is the NOW-NYC recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Award, her Mamapalooza Festival Series has been recognized as “Best in Girl-Power Events” in New York, and her music has appeared on the Billboard Top 100 Dance Charts. She founded the Museum of Motherhood in 2003, assisted in the creation of the Motherhood Foundation 501c3 non-profit in 2005, and saw the museum flourish in NYC from 2011-2014 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Since that time, Pop Up exhibits have been featured at several academic institutions including Manhattan College (2014 & 2019), and USF, Tampa (2020). In 2016, Rose relocated museum exhibits to the MOM Art Annex in Kenwood St. Petersburg, Florida where Residency Programs, Internships, and Living Museum Initiatives are ongoing . Rose teaches Sociology of Family at Manhattan College and has appeared as a guest speaker at events around the country. Publications include numerous academic articles, blogs, and creative collections, including the Mom Egg Review, the Encyclopedia of Motherhood, and the Music of Motherhood (2018) Demeter Press. She was awarded two individual artist grants from the City of St. Pete and the Arts Alliance (2021), is an active member of AEHK, and is currently engaged in non-profit strategizing activities, overseeing the continued growth of MOM and its activities.
“Unlike traditional art, the ‘Art Of Motherhood’ is formed amidst the chaos of family, between folds of time, directly impacted by the forces of creation itself.”
Zena Rose Marpet, MFI Secretary
E-mail: MuseumofMotherhood@gmail.com
Bio: Zena Marpet is a RN practicing in California and serves as the Social Media Director at JoinLavender.com, an online mental health service for healthcare providers. She has a Masters from USF in public health policy. Her undergraduate work at Eckerd College earned her a BS of psychology and human development 2016 and worked for mental health residency clinic in the San Francisco area (2020). Zena is a certified Emergency Medical Technician nationally registered, with certification in New York and Florida and served as team leader for the Emergency Response Squad at Eckerd College (2012-2015). Internships have included John’s Hopkins, All Children’s Hospital research assistant, and Columbia Medical Center’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, pediatric emergency center, and Carlton Manor, counselor for children in residence. Volunteering abroad has included ESL at VPF Lima Peru (2012), and Ecological permaculture service work, Puerto Rico (2015).
Carl Hovey, MFI Treasurer
E-mail: MuseumofMotherhood@gmail.com
Bio: Carl Hovey has been involved with the Museum of Motherhood since it’s pop-up in New York City at East 84th Street in 2011. Carl is a U.S. Navy veteran, father, and ecologically minded farmer who is invested in seeing to the ongoing success of the Motherhood Foundation Inc. and all its endeavors.
Part-time Volunteer Staff
Kasia Nowacki, Eckerd College Laison (2022)
Jill Pow, Living Museum, Grant writer (2021-)
Executive Fundraising Board
Donna Lewis, Architect, Artist, MOM Supporter and Connector (2022)
Living Museum Advisory Board Members
Zabrina Shkurti, Living Museum, President (2022)
Tracy Sidesinger, Living Museum, Residency Coordinator (2021, 2022)
Nicole Musselman, Living Museum, JourMS editor (2022)
MOM Conference Academic Advisory Committee
Michelle Hughes Miller – PhD. is a Professor in the USF Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Tampa/St. Pete, Florida, USA (Current)
Laura Tropp – PhD. is an Associate Professor and Chair, Communication Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY, USA (Current)
Aurelie Athan – Ph.D. is a full-time lecturer and MA Program Coordinator in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, USA (Current)
Roksana Badruddoja – PhD. Assistant Professor, Sociology, Manhattan College, Riverdale/Bronx, NY, USA (2015-2022)
PAST LIVING BOARD MEMBERS:
Lexy Valdes, Living Museum, President (2021)
Colleen Clements, Journal of Mother Studies (2021)
Past Academic Board Members
Gina Wong – PhD. Athabasca University, CA (2013-2019)
Lynda Ross – PhD. Associate Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Chair, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca University, CA (2011-2019)
Joy Baum – PhD. Adjunct Faculty; Arts In Education Teacher Training (2011-2018) at Queens College, CUNY, NY, USA
Past Associates, Curators, and Founding Members
Christen Clifford, Guest Curator
Mutli-disciplinary artist, New York, scholar, and activist. Recent works include Interiors, Pussy Bow Project, and Buffalo Vs Detroit: Opportunity City Deathmatch #1 is temporary installation of knitted elements and chalk on the exterior of the Buffalo Central Terminal for echo: Art Fair. She holds a BDF from NYS/TSOA and has been a guest teacher at NYU, Playwright Horizons and MIRG.
Her work is strongly influenced by feminist art and the art of mothering. Her solo BabyLove, about maternal sexuality, had its premier in Ljubljana, Slovenia in October 2005 at the Mesto Zensk International Festival of Contemporary Art and has played San Francisco, British Columbia, and New York. In September 2006, BabyLove was produced in association with the 15th Annual San Francisco Fringe Festival, where it sold out and was named “BEST OF FRINGE.” BabyLove was produced as part of the third annual Terra Nova Solo Arts Festival at Center Stage, New York and as part of Hourglass Group’s Real Live Women at the D-Lounge. BabyLove won the “AUDIENCE AWARD” at the Frigid Festival in New York in March of 2007, and toured the US and Canada before a three month Off Broadway run at 45 Bleecker in 2008, where it was named Critic’s Pick by New York Magazine, NBC, and Time Out New York, which gave BabyLove five stars.
Clifford has appeared on panels about maternal sexuality and has been featured in articles about mothering in The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York and on Fox New York News. She was a frequent guest on Metro TV’s Naked New York and has appeared at Mamapalooza! and at The Museum of Sex in New York. She has been on the review board of the SoloNova Festival, appeared on the mainstage of the Moth, Women Center Stage and has received fellowships and residencies from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Vermont Studio and NYFA to name a few.
She is currently a curator at Dixon Place in New York and was the creator and curator of the monthly series HEAT: sexy stories and burlesque at the Culture Project. Clifford appeared at the MOM Art Annex I <3 MOM Conference in 2018.
Motherhood 401 E. 84th St. NYC Location 2011-2014
Lisa Latcholia, Community Program Director
Lisa has been involved in non-profit and community programming on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for the last ten years. She creates programming that benefits Carl Schurz Park and is the Museum of Motherhood’s newest team member. A mother of two children, Lisa looks forward to making her mark on M.O.M.
Mariama Duncan, LCSW
Mariama creates a safe, supportive environment to foster insight by exploring emerging patterns and themes in the context of family well-being and mental health. She encourages clients to meet their life goals. She believes in the importance of supporting change, and that change needs positive practice. Mariama works towards building a collaborative relationship with clients to assist them in implementing self-directed, growth-oriented change.
Special focus on adolescents and their families since 2001 around issues of:
- depression
- anxiety
- trauma
- difficulties separating from family of origin
- bullying and socialization difficulties
Mariama is trained in variety of therapeutic approaches. She received my Master of Social Work from NYU in 2001 and has worked in mental health with ethnically diverse populations since 1998.
Mariama serves as the Director of Internships, overseeing field work evaluations and more at the Museum of Motherhood.
Jill Starishevsky, Prosecutor, Child Abuse/Sex Crime, Author, My Body Belongs to Me
Jill is a mother of three and an Assistant District Attorney in New York City where she has prosecuted hundreds of sex offenders and dedicated her career to seeking justice for victims of child abuse and sex crimes. Outside the courtroom, Jill’s fondness for writing led her to create thepoemlady.com, where she pens personalized pieces for all occasions. In October 2006, Jill launched HowsMyNanny.com, the first online nanny reporting service that works to keep children safe by enabling parents to receive positive and negative feedback on their child’s caregiver. Jill is also the author of “My Body Belongs to Me”, a children’s book intended to prevent child sexual abuse by teaching 3-8 year olds their bodies are private. MyBodyBelongstoMe.co
Lynn Kuechle, MFI Programming
Bio: Lynn Kuechle became interested in Mamapalooza Festivals during research for her thesis in speech communication, which focused on the unattainable social norms of motherhood. She received her MA from the University of Minnesota, Mankato in May 2007 and is currently a full time faculty member at the University in the Speech Communication department. Lynn has been involved in non-profit management in the past. She was the director of Wellspring Faith in Action, a faith-based program that matched volunteers with senior citizens in the community who helped with non-medical tasks, allowing seniors to continue to live independently. Through this experience she has worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as well as state and federal Health and Human Services funding. She has been trained in the holistic approach to grant writing through the Grant Institute. She is the mother of two, a daughter Taylor and son Ryan. Mother Monologues
Dr. Phyllis Chesler, Scholar, Author, Educator and Activist
Bio: Phyllis Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at City University of New York. She is an author, psychotherapist and an expert courtroom witness. She has lectured and organized political, legal, religious and human rights campaigns in the United States and in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. A popular guest on campuses and in national and international print, television, radio and online media, she has been an expert commentator on the major events of our time. She has lived in Kabul, Afghanistan, and in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. She currently resides in Manhattan.
Dr. Chesler is co-founder of the still ongoing Association for Women in Psychology (1969) and the National Women’s Health Network (1974), and is a charter member of the Women’s Forum (1973-74). She is a charter member of the Veteran Feminists of America, a founder and Board member of the International Committee for the Women of the Wall (1989), as well as an affiliated Professor with Haifa and Bar Ilan Universities.
Dr. Chesler’s thirteen books and thousands of articles and speeches have inspired people on many diverse issues. Click here to read more about Dr. Chesler.
Planning Committee, Biennale of Contemporary Jewish Art in Jerusalem, Motherhood Archetypes at Hechal Shlomo, 2015
Academic Committee, 2011, ongoing
Alana Ruben Free, H.B.A., M.A.
Studies and Experience: Business Management, Training and Educational Software, Non-Profit Software, Theatre & Event Promotion and Production, Editor, Literary Journal publishing (Founder of The MOM EGG), Writer, Playwright, Performer, Director, Public Relations (Beginner at Life) Public Speaking, Workshop leader, Writing Teacher, Expert Panelist for Eating Disorder Conferences, Facilitator of Creative Projects, Collaborator on Mamapalooza-NYC 2003-2012, Academic Presenter of original research at Association for Research on Motherhood Conferences, Academic Research on Jewish medieval philosophy, history, modern history, Biblical texts and early Zionism, Jungian Psychology, Poetry, Buddhist-Jewish Spiritual mothers,and assisted in film editing a full-length narrative documentary (The Last Stand), executive producer. Alana has worked with business professionals and theatre artists in Australia, Italy, Israel, Canada, and USA. Alana is a citizen of Canada, USA, and Israel.
Recent Publications & Productions: Smith and Kraus 2013 Best Men’s Stage Monologues, Smith and Kraus 2013 Best Women’s Stage Monologues, 2013 Crisis Art Festival, Arezzo, Italy.
Planning Committee, Biennale of Contemporary Jewish Art in Jerusalem, Motherhood Archetypes at Hechal Shlomo, 2015
Carol Evans, Working Mother Magazine and Media
Bio: Carol serves as President of Working Mother Media and CEO of Diversity Best Practices which are part of Bonnier Corporation. In 2006, Working Mother Media acquired Diversity Best Practices (DBP), the leading corporate membership organization supporting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. DBP’s Best Practice Sessions, conferences, research, and publications allow companies to leap ahead on their diversity journey. At DBP, Carol has launched the Network and Affinity Leadership Congress (NALC), CEO Diversity Leadership Roundtables, the DBP Benchmarking and Assessment Tool and the Global Inclusion initiative.
Carol’s involvement with Working Mother magazine dates back to 1978, when she played a critical role in the launch. She grew Working Mother over the next decade, serving as advertising director and VP publisher. In 1986, she founded the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, still the most important workplace benchmark in the country. Click here for more about Carol Evans. The Museum Of Motherhood welcomed her as its first board member in September 2010.
Galit Ben-Joseph, PhD, M.B.A., MA, BA
Galit Ben-Joseph is an Executive Director and Financial Advisor at J.P. Morgan Securities. Previously, she spent a total of 20 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co., JP Morgan Chase and Neuberger Berman.
Galit is a member of both the Finance and Audit Committees of B’nai Jeshurun, a synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She serves on the Advisory Board and is the Corporate Chair of Agahozo Shalom, a residential community in rural Rwanda, which serves as home to youth who were orphaned during and after the genocide in 1994. Galit is involved with PJ Library and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation as an ambassador supporting the expansion and growth of their philanthropic work. She is also an Advisory Board member of Gesher, whose mission it is to close the gap between different segments of Israeli society.
Galit has been volunteering on a monthly basis with the Olivieri Center for Homeless Adults through the Church of St. Paul St. Andrew for over ten years. She is also active in the New York Road Runners Club. In addition, Galit continues to recruit, mentor and coach new professionals with interest in developing careers in financial services.
Planning Committee, Biennale of Contemporary Jewish Art in Jerusalem, Motherhood Archetypes at Hechal Shlomo, 2015
Motherhood Hall of Fame Planning Committee 14, 15
Janae Seignious- Shields, MSW
Bio- Janae has a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in U.S. history from the State University of New York at Oswego and a Master’s of Social Work from Monmouth University with a concentration in International and Community Development. She is a Class III Green for All Fellow. In 2011, Janae completed the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development Family Development Credential for leaders. Since 2006 she has been working at Goodwill Industries in the Workforce Development Division. Janae cowrote the proposal that secured funding to start a program to help single mothers become self reliant and empowered.
Currently, she facilitates a monthly support group for single mothers. She continues to secure funding and donations to support programming for single mothers at Goodwill. She serves on committees that evaluate Welfare to Work Programs. She is a certified Occupational Safety and Health 10 and 30 hour General Industry Trainer. She also teaches the Roots of Success Environmental Literacy Curriculum to people on and applying for public assistance to introduce them to green career opportunities and environmental justice issues facing people in their communities. She develops training programs and strategic plans to continuously improve quality and efficiency of Goodwill’s Workforce Development programs. She also sits on the Advisory Board for Samuel Gomper’s Career and Technical Education High School in the Bronx, NY. Janae has a commitment to developing programs and services to help strengthen families and address issues of urban poverty, workforce development and environmental justice.
Guest Curators
Charlotte Ghiorse
b. 1965, aka The House of ChoCLeT is a painter, printer, video and performance artist; and has exhibited continuously since 1991. She holds a BFA in Fine Art Painting, cum laude1992, from the State University of New York at Albany, and also holds an Emergency Medical Technician Certification from John Jay College 2005 (EMT Basic). She sold her first collection of work one week after graduating college in 1992 eerily on the 90th floor of World Trade Center Tower 1 to an investment banker. Years later after becoming involved with the Fire Department NY, she created a series of work about WTC debris. Subsequently becoming part of the Permanent collection of Lisa De Kooning and the NY State Museum’s Permanent Collection, both 2003, this work is also on view at the 911 Memorial Museum. With 20 years of solo show experience, in 2010 she hosted a successful group show called American Garbage, and in 2011 the Anti-Narcissists and the Very Mundane. Ghiorse is happily working with the Museum of Motherhood as a guest curator since July 2012, and has been creating work, around being a mother and caregiver since 2001. Her most recent solo exhibits include The Family Jewels (September 2012), which was on view as a part of the Brooklyn Museum’s GO Brooklyn Competition, as well The Modern Mother showed at the Museum of Motherhood (April 2012). Ghiorse lives in NYC with her husband, two sons, and daughter; she is an active environmentalist. www.charlotteg.com
Ronnie Komarow
Adjunct professor at the Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University. She is also creator of the ‘The Maternal Instincts Art Project’ and acting guest curator at M.O.M.
Her ‘Maternal Instincts’ project offers a forum for dialogue about motherhood-related themes and content in contemporary visual art. Once considered a “blind spot of modernism,” the project’s intent is to provide inspiration and validation for artists engaged in working with these themes and to generally open this topic for discussion and commentary. http://maternalinstinctsproject.shutterfly.com
2011 – Academic Committee & Conference Advisor Coordinators
Lisa Reagan
Lisa has been a free-lance journalist, ghostwriter, and book editor for the past 21 years. She is the current Associate Editor for Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine, the former East Coast Editor-at-Large for Mothering Magazine, and the former US Contributing Editor to Kindred Magazine, a global magazine on conscious parenting out of Australia. In 2007, she served as a judge for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence college journalism awards for online, in-depth reporting.
As an activist for holistic parenting, she co-founded and was president of Families for Conscious Living, a 501C3 national educational nonprofit, for 10 years. She wrote and developed The Gathering Guide for parents who wish to create their own support groups for conscious parenting, which is now the foundation for the eduational, outreach project Pathways Connect.. She still serves on the board of directors for FCL and is currently writing a book about her adventures in conscious living. Lisa serves as the parent representative on the national board of directors for the Holistic Pediatric Association.
Jocelyn Fenton Stitt
Assistant professor Gender & Women’s Studies, Minnesota State U., Mankato, MN
Bio: Jocelyn is a global student: Los Angeles, Scotland, Michigan, San Francisco; Innovator: created an educational outreach program about women’s lives internationally for underserved communities as a Fellow the International Museum of Women in San Francisco; Researcher: intertwining of the familial and the imperial in the British Caribbean from the nineteenth-century to the present and feminist mothering; Teacher: graduate and undergraduate courses on Global Feminism and international issues; Specialty: global feminist theory and analysis; Essayist: topics include contemporary Caribbean culture and mothering; Co-editor: Before Windrush: Recovering an Asian and Black Literary Heritage Within Britain (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008); Mothers Who Deliver: Feminist Interventions in Public and Interpersonal Discourse (SUNY Press, 2009).
Mother Studies Conference Planning Committee 2011
Suzanne Dawson, Director of Strategic Partnerships
E-mail: Suzanne.Dawson@mamapalooza.com
Phone: 917.282.6742
Bio: Suzanne has worked professionally in the marketing and advertising world for most of her very successful career. She has been coordinating sponsor/partnerships with Mamapalooza, Inc., since 2008 and helped to organize the Silent Auction with Working Mother WorkLife Congress in Fall 2010. Contact Suzanne directly regarding your corporate, individual or community involvement, donations and sponsor/partnerships.
since 2008
Amy Andrews, MamaBlogger365, Mamapalooza Inc., and Logistical Coordinator
Thank you 2009-2014
In Appreciation
The MFI Board also notes special attention and gratitude to:
Gillian Crane for her ideas and the concept in creating a Museum Of Motherhood; Terry Platz and Bob Bickford for assistance in creating the mission statement and filing legal documents for the Motherhood Foundation’s 501c3 status; Jennifer Edwards, who served as President of MFI from 2006-2009; and Joy Rose for creating the first ever exhibit of mom-orabilia in Dobbs Ferry, NY in 2003, filing of trademarks, legal, financial support and for steady and constant steering of the Motherhood Foundation towards the fruition of M.O.M. since 2002; and Camille Faila Murphy, Executive Director, Westchester County Of Women, recognized as a national leader in the movement to improve the status of women.
We are currently accepting applications to sit on M.O.M. board. The board will require approximately 2 hours of meetings per month (email/conference call). The position is a two year term, with a possible renewal. We are seeking scholars from a wide range of disciplines such as history, literature, sociology and so on. We ask that you submit your name or that of another ONLY if you are able to commit the above time to the project.