Letia Larok / Executive Director
Artist, activist and educator Letia Larok brings her passion for storytelling and healing through music onto the stage, into the classroom and into our community as TCP’s Executive Director.
Her lifelong love for the arts has driven her to use the power of music as a tool for purpose and change. She has collaborated on music therapy projects like What is Beautiful Never Dies, which connected families who lost loved ones to violence with hip-hop artists, transforming their stories into songs.
Since 2008, Letia Larok has been deeply involved in cultural healing and community building, collaborating with inmates through the African Heritage Coalition program. As a returning guest and performer, she has visited multiple prisons over the years, participating in events led by inmates. Her personal experiences with having loved ones behind the wall gave her an up-close understanding of systemic oppression and recurring injustices that plague communities—fueling her motivation to ‘give a voice to the voiceless.’
Larok views her presence in these spaces as a representation of those she holds dear and remains committed to strengthening and rebuilding community reunification. She currently serves on the boards of the Peter Tosh Foundation and AccessMA, a charity organization dedicated to expanding access to health and human resources for incarcerated individuals, their families, and impacted communities.
Prior to joining TCP, Letia has had an extensive history working with Boston youths and organizations serving as a mentor and facilitating workshops focused on arts activism, community building, and restoration. Some of that history includes working as a tutor and teaching assistant for the B.E.L.L Foundation, a “Generation Next” mentor for the National Black College Alliance, completing 28 hours of youth development training at the B.E.S.T Initiative Training Institute, leading Hip Hop workshops for Diploma Plus “Arts week” at Charlestown High, poetry workshops for Oxfam’s Change week and serving as an artistic advisor mentoring youth at the “Hip Hop Transformation’s” summer program.
In 2015 Larok was hired by the Transformative Culture Project as a teaching artist leading “Art of Hip Hop” classes in Boston Public Schools promoting art as a powerful outlet for expression and social change. Letia went on to became TCP’s Education Director for the Creative Classrooms program allowing her to enhance arts education in Boston Public schools and connecting other artists with the opportunity to share their gifts with the next generation. Since November 2021 Letia has served as TCP’s Executive Director continuing her dedication to change and healing through music and the arts!
Brandon Washington/ Board Chair
Brandon is a resilient brand and marketing professional who values the power of relationships and curiosity in business. While many may settle for maintaining the status quo, Brandon continually pushes forward to discover what’s next. With an innate agility and a strong drive to innovate, he consistently evolves—growing both his own capabilities and creating new opportunities for his team and clients.
Stanley Dominique/ Vice Chair
Stanley Dominique is an artist, educator, former youth worker, and longtime community advocate. With over 20 years of experience in the non profit sector, He has designed and led multiple community based programs that utilize the arts as a tool for social change, personal development, and collective empowerment. Through partnerships with local organizations, schools, and advocacy groups, He has facilitated various programs that encourage collaboration, promote cultural exchange, and create pathways for personal and professional growth.
Aziza Robinson-Goodnight an avid artist, activist, entrepreneur and community organizer, Aziza is a woman committed to shaping, reenergizing and creating systemic, sustainable changes in her native Boston and beyond. According to Aziza, communities need artists and could not survive without a creative perspective. “Creative individuals are the essence of a thriving community. It always takes the artist to see the beauty and endless possibilities of a neighborhood.”
The daughter of Paul Goodnight, famed painter and entrepreneur best known for his vibrant depictions of Black culture around the world, and employee of the family owned business Color Circle Art Publishing Inc. that was founded 25 years ago. Aziza was literally born into the arts, having grown up in the Piano Factory, a historical art-space well noted for its artist living spaces arts advocacy.
Sitting on multiple boards and advisory committees for several of the developments that are happening throughout the city, she’s privy to how difficult and beautiful change can be, and believes that true community is possible only when the people of the community are included in the development process. “I have committed myself to community years ago and will continue to serve my community as long as I’m able, because of the elders before me that paved the way for me to excel.”
Collin Knight/Board Member
Collin Knight is the Founder and CEO of Live Like A Local Tours Boston, a community-centered tour company rooted in Roxbury’s Nubian Square. Born and raised in Roxbury, Collin is deeply committed to giving back to the neighborhood that shaped him. Live Like A Local Tours Boston offers private tours for institutions, companies, and universities, providing an authentic exploration of Roxbury’s food, history, and culture from a resident’s perspective.
Collin attended a predominantly white private school, where he often heard the institution described as “our community.” Early on, he realized that this sense of “we” did not fully include him—an insight that inspired him to reclaim and redefine community on his own terms by reinvesting in Roxbury.
He began his career as a paraprofessional in the Boston Public Schools, teaching theater and improvisation, and later became an actor-educator with a theater nonprofit using improvisation to address issues such as peer pressure, bullying, friendship, and self-expression. This work emphasized creating safe, supportive spaces where young people could speak openly about the topics that matter most to them.
In 2019, Collin transitioned fully into community entrepreneurship, driven by a lifelong mission to create immediate and sustainable impact. Live Like A Local Tours Boston operates on a model that intentionally circulates revenue back into the neighborhood while building long-term relationships with local, Black- and Brown-owned businesses.
In addition to his community work, Collin published his first children’s book in 2022, The Adventures of Izara Ide, AKA Pet Girl: Operation Golden Retriever, inspired by his daughter’s love of animals.
Chris Harris/ Treasurer
In his role as a client portfolio manager, Chris manages relationships primarily with individual clients for whom he delivers investment portfolio solutions and financial planning services. Chris is passionate about helping his clients align their financial decisions and resources with their most deeply held values. He strongly believes in Zevin Asset Management’s proven approach to SRI investing to deliver competitive returns for clients in order to achieve their goals, while also enabling them to contribute to positive social and environmental impact in the world.
Chris has nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Zevin Asset Management, he worked as a Wealth Management Advisor at TIAA after beginning his career as an advisor with Morgan Stanley. In both roles, he provided personalized financial planning and investment advice to high net worth clients. In addition to his career in finance, Chris also worked as a philanthropic advisor at the Boston Foundation for five years. Chris earned his BA from Wesleyan University.
Outside of his time at Zevin Asset Management, Chris enjoys staying active through weight training, playing tennis, bicycling, and occasionally hiking in the Blue Hills. He also loves international travel, music, photography, movies, and reading. Chris serves on the board of the Transformative Culture Project in Boston as Treasurer, and also on the board of Boston Explorers.
Amanda Schaefer/ Clerk
Three-time Boston Music Award-winning Spoken Word artist Amanda Shea is a Black, queer creative at the intersection of poetry, music, social justice, and culture. WBUR lauds her EP God, Again as “bridging the gap between poetry and music,” seamlessly blending spoken word with genres like hip-hop, rap, rock, opera, jazz, R&B, and contemporary sounds. With work featured in the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, The Boston Globe, TEDx, Netflix, Prime Video, BBC News, and GBH, Shea’s voice honors African and Puerto Rican oral traditions, while pushing the boundaries of what poetry can be—and who can access it. Her art reflects her personal life, explores social justice issues, and serves as a tool for healing through trauma.
Described by Boston Globe culture columnist Jeneé Osterheldt as a “connector of creativity and community,” Shea co-founded and curates Activating ARTivism, a community festival that amplifies artists of color, harnessing art as a vehicle for resistance, healing, and empowerment. Shea curates and hosts GBH’s Outspoken Saturdays, a platform that elevates local poets.
A recipient of The Boston Foundation LAB Grant in 2024, Shea is the producer of the award-winning documentary BLACK: Narratives in Boston’s Black Queer & Trans History. Premiering at the Roxbury International Film Festival in June 2023, the film delves into the complex, rich stories of Boston’s Black LGBTQ+ community. In 2024, Shea curated HELLABLACK VOL. 6: SACRED at the Boston Center for the Arts, a powerful celebration of Blackness through dance, art, spoken word, and music, and she will curate HELLABLACK VOL. 7: SHIFT in 2025. Shea is currently the Arts & Culture Director at 617PEAK and is a contractor educator at various Boston Public Schools. Shea is set to release her first poetry collection, Pieces of Shea, in 2025 with Balboa Publishing.