Marisa Monte Preconcert Event

Jennice is the Founder and Managing Partner of Fuentes Strategies, a boutique government relations firm that provides culturally competent strategic guidance and political access in Congress, Puerto Rico and beyond. Jennice is also the Founder and CEO, of BoricuActivatEd, a 501(c)(3)non-profit organization that seeks to empower, educate, and encourage civic engagement across the Puerto Rican Diaspora. 
 
Jennice retired from the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, after 25 years of legislative and political success. She has a demonstrated track record of advancing legislative and political strategies, from inception to legal enactment. As the long-time Chief of Staff for Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Jennice served as the Congressman’s principal advisor, political strategist and top manager. Jennice advised the Congressman on all issues before the House Financial Services committee, including securities, insurance, banking, housing and the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as well as immigration and community issues. Jennice is a proven strategist on political and legislative issues and has spent her career developing relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, building coalitions with Congressional leaders and motivating Democratic and Republican officials to act on legislation. She began her career in Congress with the Office of the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. 
 
Jennice’s public service work has been recognized by The Imagen Foundation, The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, Fundación Azteca, The John C. Stennis Center for Public Service, The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, the Embassy of Spain and Fundación Carolina. She is a graduate of Clark University (B.A.) and New York University (M.A.) In 2016, she was chosen to participate in the prestigious Stanford Latino Entrepeneurs Leaders Program at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Jennice is multilingual and speaks Spanish, French and Italian fluently and has working knowledge of German and Russian.

Marietta Ulacia is a Cuban-American artist and arts administrator with over 20 years of experience working in the non-profit cultural field. In May 2014 Marietta joined the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance of New York as Executive Director, with the mandate to lead the organization through its next phase of institutional growth. 

Marietta works alongside the Alliance’s artistic director to strengthen the organization’s mission, vision and core values. As Executive Director of a valued jazz institution, she works tirelessly to place the organization at the center of progressive jazz programming, formulating education, performance and conservation programs that prioritize equity and equality.  

Marietta spent over fifteen years in the Washington, DC area performing with various music groups. In 2000 she became Executive Director of the Latin American Folk Institute (LAFI) in Maryland, conducting research on Latin American music and dance and producing performances for numerous venues. As a cultural leader in the Washington Metropolitan area, she spearheaded valuable partnerships among music, theater and dance institutions, working with cultural institutions such as the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, the Smithsonian Institution, The Washington Ballet, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Gala Hispanic Theater, the Washington Performing Arts Society, the InSeries of George Washington University, and many others. She led her own Afro-Cuban dance and music ensemble and spent two years in Brazil researching the connection between Afro Brazilian and Afro Cuban music.  

In New York, Ms. Ulacia has worked as Executive Director of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation and managed institutional fundraising at Dance Theater Workshop (currently LiveArts).  She was Director of Theater and Performing Arts Programs and Director of Development at the Museum for African Art, and served as Director of Development for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet.  

Ms. Ulacia is a graduate of the prestigious Amadeo Roldán Music Conservatory in Havana, Cuba, where she studied classical guitar. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Visual Media and a Master’s Degree in Arts Management from American University in Washington, DC. She is a Board member of EducArte, a Maryland nonprofit dedicated to bring cultural arts education programming to underserved communities in the Maryland/DC/Virginia area. She is a member of the Rolling Stone Culture Council. 

Marietta’s work as an independent artist and producer includes 7 years as a jazz programmer for WPFW radio station in Washington, DC; 2 years of service as advisor to the annual FLIC Dance Festival in Brooklyn, New York, and ongoing work as co-producer of the documentary Fandango at the Wall currently showing on HBO. 

Amy K Bormet is a pianist, vocalist, and composer. Amy was an artist-in-residence for Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead, and a Mary Lou Williams Emerging Artist at the Kennedy Center. Amy is the creator, producer and performer for the Washington Women in Jazz Festival since 2011, collaborating with Fay Victor, Mary Halvorson, Allison Miller, and more than 50 different women musicians from around the globe. Her award-winning project AmyAna, with drummer Ana Barreiro, toured Brazil, and will tour in 2022 with a grant from South Arts. A graduate of Howard University and University of Michigan where she studied with Geri Allen.

Nistha Raj is a creative force who effortlessly wears many hats. She is a business owner, musician, educator, community builder and “FashioNistha” well known in the DC music scene.  As the founder and director of District of Raga, Nistha is passionate about promoting Indian Classical music internationally through her music and development of a diverse community platform. 
 
Born to Punjabi immigrants and raised in Houston, Nistha’s love of music began with the all-night sessions at temples where music was the foundation of worship to hearing her mother’s Bollywood favorites at home.  Nistha developed a desire to always be immersed in the power and beauty of music. After learning Western classical violin as a young child, Nistha’s journey into Indian classical music accelerated by studying Hindustani violin at the renowned Gandharva Maha Vidyalaya in New Delhi with support from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. While in India, Nistha was guided by prominent musicians Sharat Srivastava, Dr N Rajam & Prattyush Banerjee.  Since then, her learning has continued to flourish under mentorship from Master Bansuri player Deepak Ram.  
 
 While Nistha’s first love is Indian classical music, she is drawn to creating original music that is strongly rooted in Indian classical traditions while incorporating elements of various genres to make the music accessible to a wider audience.  Regarded as “Stunningly skilled in western and eastern classical music” by the Washington City Paper, Nistha is emerging as a fresh voice in creative and world music.  Nistha has performed at the United Nations, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Freer Sackler Gallery, and American Embassies around the world. Her self-released debut album, “Exit 1”, has been described as “edgy, innovative, and clearly awe-inspiring…Indian fusion at its best” (Inside World Music).  Some of her collaborators include Jazz trio The Fourth Stream, National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) musicians, The Last Stand Quartet, and Grammy-nominated hip hop artist Christylez Bacon. She is the recipient of multiple grants and was an Artist in Residence at Strathmore in 2013-2014. Nistha holds a BA in music from the University of Houston and an MA in Arts Management from George Mason University. Nistha is also the founder and owner of Soulfege Music Studio, a multi-teacher studio that offers in-home and online private music lessons throughout the DC Metropolitan Area. Find out more at www.nistharaj.com