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ACK Staff and Board Members
MICHAEL MILLAR, Executive Director
Executive Director Michael Millar brings extensive experience in the performing arts, arts administration, education, and arts advocacy to his new position at the Arts Council of Kern. He has held nonprofit management positions with Southwest Chamber Music, the Entrepreneurship Center for Music at the University of Colorado, as executive director of the Santa Clarita Symphony, and as Commissioner and founding Chair of the Santa Clarita Arts Commission. He is a member of the music faculty at Cal Poly Pomona. In addition to earning degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder and California State University Los Angeles, Michael holds the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, with concentrations in Performance and Arts Administration, from Claremont Graduate University, where he studied management and leadership with Peter F. Drucker. A freelance bass trombonist, Dr. Millar's credits include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Harry James, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Barry Manilow, Artie Shaw, and Ray Charles. He performed with Southwest Chamber Music on the 2004 Grammy-winning CD, Carlos Chávez: Complete Chamber Works, Vol. 2. Dr. Millar is a Certified Facilitator in Peter F. Drucker's The Five Most Important Questions Self-Assessment Tool and is a Certified Practitioner in Connective Leadership.
LAURA WOLFE, Development Officer
Laura Lollar Wolfe, is the Development Officer for the Arts Council of Kern (ACK). She previously served as part-time development officer for ACK and as a fund raising consultant. Prior to joining the ACK, she served as Assistant Vice President for Development at California State University, Bakersfield from 2006 to 2009. Other positions at the university included, interim vice president for university advancement, campaign director of the successful $11 million Cornerstone Campaign, Director of Development for Major Gifts, and Assistant Director of Development. Prior to joining CSUB she was the Director of Development for Loyola Law School. She was Director of the Annual Fund at UC Irvine and began her career in the development office at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Laura earned distinction as a certified fund raising executive (CFRE) and a certified specialist in planned giving (CSPG).A native of Wasco, Laura graduated from Wasco High School. She earned her bachelor of arts in communications with honors from UC Santa Barbara. Volunteer activities include: member of the Vision Committee and a Founder of the Women's and Girl's Fund of Kern County, president of Temple Beth El, secretary of the Haberfelde Foundation, and past president of PEO Chapter JT. She previously served as an executive board member for Richland PTA, the UCSB Alumni Association and the Wasco Community Scholarship Association. She is a past board and current advisory board member for MARE.
Laura and her husband Bill, a Taft High School teacher and AVID advisor, live in Shafter. They have two sons, Matthew (19) and Daniel (14).
JILL EGLAND, Director of Special Projects
Jill regularly employs both sides of her brain, being both a musician with the bands Banshee in the Kitchen and Mama's MidLife Crisis as well as a research and evaluation program specialist. Post college (University of Redlands, Communications emphasis), Jill travelled and worked overseas as a community development consultant. She re-entered the States a decade later via NYC, lived in the Lower East Side, studied photography at the New College and Pratt Institute, worked at the UNDP, travelled to Africa evaluating community-based health systems, had a baby, and came home to Bakersfield. Go figure. At the Arts Council, she's who you talk to when you just know you've got a great idea for an arts project in your neck of the woods. Or desert. She's also responsible for developing pilot arts projects with partner organizations and agencies, like the Kern Regional Center, the California Bluegrass Association, the Writers of Kern, and the Highway 178 Initiative. Then, she figures out how to implement them and evaluate their efficacy. She loves her job.
NICOLE SAINT-JOHN, Director of Visual Arts Programs
Nicole was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. In 2000 she came to the United States to persue a career as an artist. Since 2000, She has received local, national and international awards for her art. Nicole owned and operated a gallery and subsequently worked as a curator for the Bakersfield Museum of Art. She joined the Arts Council of Kern in 2009 and in 2010 she was honored at the International Women's Day event as the International Woman of the year for contributions to the arts. In her current position at the Arts Council she develops and supervises programs for artists in our community.
CARLIN A. JONES, Social Media Manager
Carlin Jones is the social media manager for the Arts Council of Kern (ACK), responsible for the management of all websites, Facebook pages, twitter, youtube and other forms of communication on the internet. He has 12 years of experience in web design, content management and web marketing. Jones, has a credential in Advanced Social Media from the University of San Francisco. He is the administrator and one of the founders/instructors of the ACK Tech Arts Academy. Tech Arts Academy trains artists and professional through weekly workshops, how to use the internet to promote their art forms, non profit or business. Some comments about Jones and Tech Arts Academy from students:
Carlin is a social media expert and shares his knowledge and passion. As a teacher, he makes sure each student is progressing and understanding the concepts he teaches -- an invaluable skill! Carlin is dedicated, reliable and progressive. He has the great ability to be a creative writer and a critical thinker -- skills not often displayed by the same person. I highly recommend Carlin. He is a consumate professional and a person who genuinely cares -- he mixes those character traits beautifully. -- DCR November 18, 2010
~Diana Campbell Rice
Artist, Writer, Nonprofit Consultant, Marketing/PR Consultant, Editor, DCRdesign
In addition to his work with the ACK Jones is a consultant in social media for California State University Bakersfield - Small Business Development Center and he manages five local websites and facilitates 16 Facebook fan pages for business and community groups, including: Arvin Green Arts, Taft Oil orker Monument, Kern Veterans Memorial Foundation, Bakersfield Green Expo, Save Arts & Culture in Kern County, and others. He is a sought after speaker and workshop leader on social media for non profits, and chambers of commerce.
Before coming to work for the Arts Council of Kern, he worked as the marketing director for the Downtown Business Association, owned a pizza restaurant, was a National Kitchen and Bath Association - kitchen and bath designer and served as an engineer in the U.S. Army.
KARI HUNTER, Program Coordinator / Executive Assistant
Kari was born in Bakersfield, California and spent most of her youth in Sumatra, Indonesia, with her globetrotting family. After Indonesia, her family moved to Aurora Colorado where they resided for four years. Then, it was back to Bakersfield where she finished high school. She earned her BA in Sociology at Cal State University, Northridge. After graduation, Kari landed a job with a documentary television production company in Los Angeles. A few years in Hollywood was enough to bring her back to Bakersfield where she is having a much better time advocating for the arts and artists in Kern County.
Consultants
SUE DEININGER, Communications
HOLLY BIKAKIS, Graphic DesignerHolly comes to us with over 15 years experience in graphic design. She graduated from San Diego State with a bachelors degree in graphic design. She started at The Bakersfield Californian in the Marketing Department doing in-house promotional work and special projects. Then she went on to become a partner at a design firm, Design Garden doing design work for a variety of advertising agencies and clients. After that and the birth of three boys, a freelance design career followed. As her hobby, a passion for mosaics was pursued. She trained at the Institute for Mosaics Arts in the bay area allowing her the technical advantage over the weekend crafter. She has designed several pieces over the years from classical to whimsical.
BOARD OFFICERS
David Coffey - President
Jan Fulton - Treasurer
Lynne Hall - Secretary
BOARD MEMBERS
Denise Amigh
Chela Brehmer
Nancy Clark
Pamela Clement
David Coffey
Carole Cohen
Jim Davis
Eileen Ettinger
Andrew Fishkin
Christine Goedhart-Humphrey
Anthony Goss
Jorge Guillen
Margaret Lemucchi
Lili Marsh
Anthony Nuno
John Peltier
Betty Younger
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