2009-10 Administrative Staff

VBB Founding Director Sehba Sarwar is a writer, multidisciplinary artist and activist. She is the visionary for Voices Breaking Boundaries, and has been leading the organizaiton for a decade. Contact: sehba@vbbarts.org

Joshua Turner serves as VBB's Administrative Manager. He has a BA from the University of Houston and also serves part-time as Business Manager for Gulf Coast Literary Magazine. Contact: Joshua@vbbarts.org

Sarah Kerawala, VBB's Spring 2010 intern, is a pre-med / political science major at the University of Houston and will be graduating in December 2010. She is an active member of UH's Student for a Democratic Society and loves to laugh until she cries. Contact: intern@vbbarts.org

2009-10 Artistic Team

Project and Technical Coordinator Eric Hester is a Photographer/ filmmaker, who served on VBB’s very first Board while he was still at high school. Since then, he has earned a bachelor’s degree from Rice University, and has exhibited his work with VBB as well as well as at other spaces around Houston.

Samina Sadaf Mahmood, a graphic designer, and likes to spend her time painting, drawing or photographing. She has done graphic design work and provided support to VBB since she first got involved with the organization in 2005. Samina serves on the Programming Committee for VBB's east end live art shows.

Gunjen Mittal is a community activist and a social worker currently working for the non-profit, Communities In Schools. She has practices yoga therapy/meditation, performs spoken word, and has been a dancer her whole life, but mainly studies the artform of Indian classical dance (Odissi) or is otherwise a freestyle dancer. Gunjen serves on the Programming Committee for VBB's east end live art shows.

Selina Pishori loves to paint, act, travel, and speak two languages--Spanish and Gujarati. She has lived for short periods of time in London, Barcelona, and Sevilla. She currently works as an ESL instructor at the University of Houston-Downtown, and serves on the Programming Committee for VBB's east end live art shows.

VBB Founding Director Sehba Sarwar is a writer, multidisciplinary artist and activist. Her published works include a novel (Black Wings, Alhamra, 2004), and essays, short stories, and poems (in journals, anthologies, and newspapers including The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Callaloo and Asia). She has been visualizing and producing VBB shows for ten years, and she produces VBB's living room art productions. Contact: sehba@vbbarts.org

Project Coordinator, Jacsun Shah, (M.F.A., Ph.D.–Creative Writing, University of Houston), writes poetry and creative non-fiction. She is a founding member of VBB, has received grants from the Houston Arts Alliance, and teaches for Writers In The Schools. Jacsun coordinates VBB's east end live art productions. Contact: jacsun@vbbarts.org

Yunuen Perez Vertti serves as VBB's Production Manager. She is working alongside Sehba Sarwar on VBB's living room art productions. Originally from Mexico City, Vertti is a photographer and filmmaker.

Filmmaker Faroukh Virani created VBB's first documentry in 2006, and is currently working on a second documentary on VBB with more current information about our organization. He has also worked with our afterschool student program at different times.

2009-10 Arts Education Team

Teacher Workshop Faciltators Cathy Boswell and Marcela Descalzi run the Teacher Workshop: Writing for Self-Discovery workshops. Descalzi is a VBB co-founder, educator and performance artist, while Boswell is a visual artist and arts therapist.

Education Coordinator Emily Sketch teaches English at Jefferson Davis High School. She is also a dancer and writer. Her classroom motto reads "Not waiting, working to be heard," and she encourages students to do just that through writing and performing.  Contact: emily@vbbarts.org

2009-10 Arts Consultants

Strategic Planner, Victoria Jones, is a counselor/therapist (LPC, MEd, MA), and has previously served as Executive Director for Writers in the Schools. She has been leading VBB retreats for the past three years.

Website design and maintenence is managed by graphic designer Angela R. Martinez.