BUSY GRAHAM
Founder & Executive Director

Busy Graham has devoted most of her life to the arts and education, from music teacher to artist representative to nonprofit administrator and arts advocate. In 1995, while serving as the director of the Institute of Musical Traditions, Busy founded Class Acts Arts (now Artivate) with the goal of bringing high-quality and culturally diverse traditions of music, dance, storytelling and theater to schools and under-resourced communities throughout the National Capital Region. In 1999, she launched Project Youth ArtReach, serving youth and women in corrections.

After leaving Class Acts/Artivate in 2005, Busy founded Carpe Diem Arts with a focus on community building through the arts, creating cross-cultural, multi-generational opportunities to participate in the visual, literary and performing arts. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her work on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, including Maryland’s Sue Hess Award as "Arts Advocate of the Year," and the “Lifetime Impact Award” from Montgomery County. She believes that the arts matter – in our towns, our schools, our communities, in the life of every citizen -- and that through creative partnerships, we can make the power of the arts accessible and beneficial to all.

DIANE DOWLING
Chief Financial Officer

Diane Dowling brings over 20 years of experience in finance, accounting, and strategy to Carpe Diem Arts as she shifts to the nonprofit sector to make a positive contribution to the lives of others. 

Diane currently also serves as Performance Coordinator for Harmony Express, a barbershop style mixed a cappella chorus out of Germantown, MD. She has previously served as troop leader for a Girl Scout troop as they progressed from 2nd through 8th grades and for 12 years as Catechist at her church working with 3rd graders.  

Diane says she got her love for music from her father and her appreciation for art from her mother. She enjoys dabbling in drawing and painting, while her husband sings with Harmony Express and her daughter is studying theatre.

Diane is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and earned her M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Her career has taken her to many locales around the U.S., including Florida, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, and Nevada.

BINTA COULIBALY
Program Manager, ArtVentures: Artists for Social Change

Binta Coulibaly is a life-long Carpe Diem Arts fanatic. She's been involved with Busy's various projects since 2014 as a teaching artist, counselor, and camp director. Since graduating from Columbia University in May 2020, Binta has been working as a UX designer for startups and non-profits. Binta uses innovative design to address issues related to sustainability, public health, community empowerment, and equity.

RAINA GREIFER
Administrative Intern (Summers)

Raina Greifer is an undergraduate at Bath Spa University in the UK, studying Drama and Philosophy.  She is interested in all things art-related, specializing in poetry, playwriting, and live performance.  She is a co-founder of the local theatre company Purple Crayon Productions and Dog Eat Dog Theatre, a student company based in Bath.  Working with the mission to open up accessibility in the arts and provide more opportunities for emerging artists, Raina soon hopes to build up and expand her own art collective, Sleepwalkers Art Collective.  In the past, she has worked with Lumina Studio Theatre as an assistant director and ensemble member, and with ArtStream as a costume designer.  She joined Carpe Diem Arts in June 2019 and can’t wait to contribute to their ongoing work supporting local artists and creating accessible spaces to get creative.  

WILEY WHITE
Administrative Intern (Summers)

Wiley White is a senior at Sidwell Friends School, where she has taken advanced courses in photography and acting, and has acted in 5 productions, along with assisting in costume design. She started working with Carpe Diem in the spring of 2020, and helped virtualize Carpe Diem ArtVentures, where she led her own photography course. Wiley has a passion for communication, be it through acting, debate, photography or creative writing, and looks forward to discovering the intersections of those passions with Carpe Diem Arts. 

DENISE M. JONES
Community Engagement Director

Denise Jones is a meeting facilitator, instructional designer, teaching artist, and facilitator of K12 education and workforce development support training for parents and students. She has been an ardent supporter for parent advocacy and student achievement, especially targeting families of color, and parents in particular to encourage them to walk the school journey with their children.

Denise is also a passionate advocate for arts integration in education and in positive youth development programs, and has developed several artist residency projects that combine the visual arts with history, math and social studies.

In her work for community, youth and adult capacity building, she has been a member of the Montgomery County NAACP Parents Council, served as the NAACP Parents Council Representative on the PTA leadership team of two schools as well as their School Improvement Teams; and served four years on the Deputy Superintendent’s Minority Achievement Advisory Council of Montgomery County Public Schools. Denise’s commitment to parents and adult empowerment has been further fostered as a teacher of adult learners in Prince Georges County Public Schools and Prince Georges Community College; a facilitator for the Safe Silver Spring Summit conference; a training facilitator for Juvenile Justice Family Advocacy Initiative Resource; and as a consultant for the Impact in the Schools Initiative of Impact Silver Spring a capacity building community organizing non-profit in Montgomery County, MD.

Denise has designed and delivered trainings in MCPS schools, for the National Council of Negro Women, Community Preservation and Development Corporation, Takoma Park Youth Collaborative, ACE (African Arts, Culture and Education) Academy c/o Montgomery County Collaboration Council and Carpe Diem Arts, the League of Women Voters, and other community serving organizations. Her College Prep Seminar, Begin with the End in Mind is a celebrated community event.

MUNIT MESFIN
Project Director, Jump Start with the Arts
Host-Emcee of Family Fun Night and Teaching Artist with Youth ArtBeat @ African Arts, Culture & Education (ACE) Academy

Munit Mesfin is an Ethiopian singer and songwriter, teaching and international touring and recording artist, entrepreneur, arts advocate, and a celebrated cultural ambassador.  She believes in the power of culture to unite and build bridges.  She is the Music Creative Director for Yegna, an innovative radio drama turned TV series that addresses difficult social issues surrounding girls in Ethiopia and uses the arts (storytelling and music) for positive social change.  She currently splits her time between Ethiopia and the US. 

Alongside music performances, Munit works as a teaching artist at the Wolf Trap Center for Performing Arts, a Youth Programs Coordinator at the Ethiopian Community Center in Washington DC and consults with other organizations working on out of school and library programming. She also works extensively as an emcee and moderator for conferences, workshops, festivals, fundraisers, launches and more. Munit is currently working on her third album slated for release in 2020. 

Munit is a teaching artist with Carpe Diem's "Youth ArtBeat" at the African Arts, Culture and Education (ACE) afterschool program, and a performing artist with Carpe Diem Arts and Washington Revels, regularly featured in the Daily Antidote of Song (which has reached an audience of over 65,000 since the pandemic began), the Community Family Sing, and Family Fun Night c/o Carpe Diem's Jump Start with the Arts.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munit_Mesfin /

TSION TEKLE

Program Manager, Youth ArtBeat ACE Academy at Park Montgomery

Tsion Tekle is a native of the DMV and born to an Eritrean father and Guyanese mother. Growing up for her was very vibrant, fun, loud, cultural and somewhat strict. She left the DMV after High School to pursue a college degree at Florida International University, where she attended for 3 years. In her last year she decided to take a hiatus for 2 years to travel, teach and explore abroad, living in places like Italy, France, Greece and Russia. She then completed her degree in Communications with a focus in Nutrition.

After graduating, Tsion moved from Florida to New York City to attend an acting conservatory where she pursued acting, journalism and stage theater for two years.  She then moved back to the DMV where she entered her life as a teacher, educator, coach and entrepreneur. She is now the mom of a beautiful, funny and strong-willed little boy named Chase. Her plethora of training and experience over the past 15 years has prepared her for this role.

She has taught for 10 years and is fluent in Tigrinya and proficient in Amharic.