Supporting Work at the Intersection of Arts, Education,
Healing and Social Justice
Meet Our TIPTA Trainers
Betsaleel (Bets) Charmelus
Bets Charmelus (he/him) is a facilitator, community advocate & an auditory story-teller. Whether in his work as a program director for the anti-violence, music based non-profit Beyond the Bars, facilitating as a music instructor for survivors of sexual trauma with JJPI’s B.O.S.S Program, coordinating men’s mental health support groups or aural story-telling in the nationally acclaimed, all-black rock band ill Fated Natives, Bets is passionate about finding & claiming new spaces, building strong, inter-connected communities & exploring the difference between questioning oneself and asking oneself questions. Bets is a graduate of the Bartol Foundation’s training in Trauma-Informed Practice for Teaching Artists and Trauma-Informed Teaching Artist Practices and Identity. He serves as a member of the Board of the Bartol Foundation.
Candy Alexandra González
Candy Alexandra González (they/them) is a Little Havana-born and raised, NYC and Philadelphia-based, multidisciplinary visual artist, poet, activist and trauma-informed art educator. Candy received their MFA in Book Arts + Printmaking from the University of the Arts in 2017. Since graduating, they have been a 40th Street Artist-in-Residence in West Philadelphia, a West Bay View Fellow at Dieu Donné in Brooklyn, NY, Leeway Art and Change Grant Recipient and the 2021 Linda Lee Alter Fellow for the DaVinci Art Alliance. Candy is currently an Art + Art Education doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University. Candy is a graduate of the Bartol Foundation’s training in Trauma-Informed Practice for Teaching Artists and Trauma-Informed Teaching Artist Practices and Identity. They also completed training with Lakeside Global Institute including Group Facilitation, Enhancing Trauma Awareness, Deepening Trauma Awareness and Applying Trauma Principles.
Mae Early
Mae Early (she/genderfluid) is a writer, theatre artist, and educator who lives and works in Philadelphia. As an arts educator, she believes that we all deserve a safe and supportive environment to explore our voice and identity. In service of this mission, she facilitates arts workshops for all ages and ability levels at schools, community centers, corporations, and nonprofits. For twelve years, she was the Director of Education at Philadelphia Young Playwrights, a theatre education organization which uses playwriting as a vehicle to increase students’ comfort with writing, literacy, and creative expression. Currently she is the Program Manager for Bartol's online trauma-informed training initiative, and she is also the creator and lead facilitator of Bartol's 20-hour trauma-informed training for teaching artists and arts administrators. She is also a co-creator of Whole HeART Teaching, a resource center with curated materials like lesson plans, activities, and other supplementary artifacts that are healing-centered and place student agency at the center of learning. A freelance consultant and facilitator, Mae regularly facilitates professional development across sectors and ages in the areas of trauma-informed and healing-centered teaching, teaching artistry, arts education pedagogy, creative writing, theatre, and workforce development.
Shavon Norris
Shavon Norris is an artist, educator, and facilitator. She uses movement along with text and sound and imagery to reveal and highlight the stories living in our bodies. Her work explores our relationship to our identities, our experiences, and to each other. An examination and celebration of what we feel, think, and believe. She received a BA in Biology from Manhattanville College and an MFA in Dance and Choreography from Temple University. Presently she teaches at Temple University and Thomas Jefferson University. As an artist her work has been presented at venues in New York City and Philadelphia. As a performer, she has worked with Silvana Cardell, Leah Stein, Merian Soto, Jumatatu Poe, David Brick and has toured nationally and internationally with Pig Iron Theatre Company. As an educator and facilitator, Shavon has worked with Headlong Performance Institute, Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Need in Deed, LiveConnections, and Arts and Business Council for Greater Philadelphia. In partnership with these organizations, as well as others, Shavon has offered short and long-term learning to diverse communities on topics of Movement, Intentional Inclusivity, Mindfulness, Wellness, and Healing Centered/Trauma Informed Practices. Shavon is a graduate of the Bartol Foundation’s training in Trauma-Informed Practice for Teaching Artists and the curriculum creator/facilitator of its advanced training in Trauma-Informed Teaching Artist Practices and Identity. Shavon’s artistic and educational philosophies are rooted in the desire to offer herself, learners, performers, and audiences, opportunities to deepen the understanding of self and the collective. To explore ways to light us up, lift us up and shift what needs transforming. She loves all the living and working she gets to do in the world.
Anjoli Santiago
Anjoli Santiago (she/her) has been in the world of theater for 20+ years and in education for 17+ years. She is currently the Manager of Educational Awesomeness at Classroom Champions where she builds curriculum, executes programming, delivers adult professional development, and brings accessible support to her teaching collaborators. A Temple alum, actress, poet, and teaching artist in Philadelphia, Anjoli has collaborated with several companies throughout the city to bring storytelling to audiences of all ages and diverse backgrounds. She received an M.S.Ed. from CUNY City College as a New York Teaching Fellow and is a licensed teacher certified in Students with Disabilities Grades 7-12 for the state of New York. She taught in the South Bronx as a Special Education & Creative Arts teacher for grades 6-12, and then became a Middle School Advisor with Liberty Lead in Harlem. Returning to Philadelphia in 2016, Anjoli was welcomed back to the theater community by Power Street Theater—her love for them still stands strong, “WEPA!”. After attending Bartol’s Trauma-Informed Practice for Arts Education Administrators in 2021, presented by Mae Early and guest artists, she dove head first into learning about these practices and sharing them in her communities. She is universally grateful to be a part of the team where she can live in her passion of educating herself and others by creating shared space for growth and storytelling for healing.