BOARD MEMBERS & OFFICERS

Executive-Artistic Director

Margarita Espada

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President                 Vice-President
       Steve Bard       George Siberon                  
Accountant/Treasurer
Martha Reyes

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                     Secretary                        
Lucy Velazquez 

Program Coordinator

Sandy Leach

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Board Members

Anthony Garcia

Vivvian Hart

Hypatia Martinez

Cathy Barbabash 

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By 2008, Yerbabruja had expanded its geographical reach to include Brentwood, North Bay Shore and other Long Island communities, and had incorporated other performing, as well as visual, arts in its efforts to promote constructive social change among Long Island’s increasingly diverse youth and other residents. 

By that time Yerbabruja was widely acclaimed … awards, for example, having been received from the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Islip, and Suffolk County Legislator Ricardo Montano … for its varied means of engaging those residents in a myriad of experiences that help to create social spaces conducive to the development of empowering relationships and a positive, secure sense of community.

From workshops that collaboratively explore theatre production; to programs that provide opportunities for emerging and established artists and audiences to engage one another, using the arts as vehicles for building bridges among its increasingly diversified residents; and to address the glaring lack of parks, libraries and other public space within the communities so necessary for affirming the communities’ future and well-being. 

Also, Yerbabruja had begun initiating some cultural program partnerships with others whose focus was the communities’ economic development, another factor critical to creating and sustaining thriving diverse communities. In 2008, Yerbabruja began developing plans to transition into an organization with the resources to impact its communities on a long-term, and even more significant, basis. Included in such plans was a permanent home where, in addition to administrative space, local performing and visual artists could create and present their work and, together with Yerbabruja, hold classes and workshops to teach and learn from each other. Our staff and volunteers are the real doers in making Yerbabruja a reality.