Denise Davis-Cotton, EdD, the Director of the Florida Center for PAInT. She is an esteemed professional and educator and author of Losing My Mind over Education (Finding My Way Back to Me), in which she shows the discord between the preparations of her educational journey along life’s landscape, what she discovers, and what needs to happen to reignite the educational spirit.

She is a Milken Foundation internationally recognized educator, Michiganian of the Year, and Past President of Arts Schools Network in which she made historic contributions to education and the cultural renaissance. She is the founder and served as the First Principal of Detroit School of Arts (DSA). She also received two Keys to the City of Montgomery (Alabama), as well as the Congressional Record Recognition by the 106th Congress, and she is recognized as a Distinguished Alumni – Alabama State University.

Frances Bradley-Vilier is a multidisciplinary artist, community activist, entrepreneur and educator. She earned a BFA in Illustration from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Shortly after graduating, Bradley-Vilier worked for the Murals Arts Program and as Exhibition Coordinator at The African American Museum in Philadelphia. Her talents have been recognized by the National Conference of Artists in Philadelphia; where she received the Artist Legacy Award and 40th Street Artist in Residence (AIR Program). Her artwork has been featured in publications such as Ghubar Magazine of Paris, France; The Guardian, Black Art in America and has exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally.

Her strong passion for social change through the arts, inspired her to create The Murals for Flint Project - a curriculum dedicated to teaching diverse forms of public art to youth in the city of Flint, Michigan.

2010, she created the art series, Womanhood or Woman’s-Hurt: The Art of Healing, an autobiographical, visual testimony of surviving sexual assault. #WHWH has gained the attention of LaGuardia Community College’s Women’s Center where she was invited as a lecturer; New York City’s renowned organization, Connect: Safe Families, Peaceful Communities where Frances was appointed as an Advisory Board Member and also partnered with the YWCA-Brooklyn exhibiting #WHWH.

2014, Frances served as a delegation member to attend the Conference of Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) with Brooklyn based, civil and human rights organization, Black Women’s Blueprint at the United Nations of Geneva, Switzerland. She was requested to present one of her pieces from her WHWH series as the visual representation of what sexual violence looks like in America.

2016 Frances exhibited her work at Ani Art Academy in Anguilla, Corridor Gallery and RushArts Gallery in NYC. She has taught at schools and organizations such as: The University of Michigan-Flint’s Theater and Dance Department, The American Tap Dance Foundation, The Brooklyn Waldorf School, Mark Morris Dance Group, Black Girls Rock!: Year Round Program, Black Girls Rock! Queen’s Camp of Leadership and Excellence; Carol Morgan School of Santo Domingo, Dunyah Zaidam Dance School of Brazil, Charlotte Brookson Academy of the Performing Arts (SXM), Sister Magda Primary School (SXM), St. Maarten Montessori, Art Saves Lives Foundation and the National Institute of Arts (SXM). She now serves as the Artistic Director of Tapology, Inc., Michigan’s nationwide arts organization, and is thrilled to serve as the R.E.A.C.H. Learning and Development Facilitator at The University of South Florida’s Center for PAInT.

John-Michael brings over 5 years of relevant experience in finance, accounting and student organizations.  He graduated from Stetson University, with a double major in Corporate Finance and Management. In his previous roles, John-Michael oversaw million-dollar budgets and operations. As Director of Finance for Stetson’s Student Government Association, he managed $1.1 and 1.2 million-dollar budgets. At CINC Systems, he handled $1.9 million-dollars in annual collections, and over $2 million-dollars in customer assets.

John-Michael’s expertise in finance, accounting, reconciliations, student government, and student organizations make him an ideal fit to support the REACH Grant’s goal of strengthening arts educational programming as a catalyst for increasing student achievement and student engagement across our nation’s schools serving 4,000 students, 150 teacher leaders, and 100 arts educators, annually.

Aimee’ Irlanda Colon, Office manager who reports to the associate director of Academic Affairs at the University of South Florida. She analyzes and calculates account carry forward balances for the REACH Grant. She also manages Educational and General (E&G) salary rate, positions and benefit, reconciles and balances E&G budget, and prepares transfers to ensure that matching dollars are made available for the financial staff to make appropriate draw downs. She also monitors all budget transfer activity through the year to ensure compliance. She works in close collaboration with the REACH grant team to ensure that REACH project and accounts are managed cost-effectively to maintain adherence to grant financial objectives.

Chrishanthi DeSilva, is an associate director who reports to the regional vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at the University of South Florida. She serves as the unit business and finance administrative officer, who ensures that the operations and processes used to report financial data maintains the highest level of integrity. She also oversees data validity and quality to ensure that transactions are appropriately executed and recorded, including segregation of duties, to maintain appropriate checks and balances; sets and monitors data integrity  controls; maintains effective accountability structures; and upholds financial policies. She will process the REACH grant’s contract in accordance with various rules and regulations (university and federal), review and sign off on reconciliation reports to make sure expenditures are valid within the grant budget and all expenses are followed by the federal grant guidelines, develop and prepare financial/budget reports that are requested by the grant administration; and assist and advise PAInT leadership with budget and administrative issues.