Scroll down for bios!
Janella Watson – Chair 
Michael Dupuis – Vice Chair 
Kurtis McKenny – Treasurer 
Caroline Mailloux – Secretary 
Savannah DaCruz 
Becci Davis 
Ken Deblois 
Marie Hearn 
Elizabeth (Eli) MacLaren 
Felicia Megginson 
Ashley Paniagua 
Janella Watson is an educational, museum and children’s media consultant, with expertise in creativity, play and experiential learning. Drawing on more than 20 years of work as a researcher and practitioner in children’s museums and science centers, she is renowned for creating curriculum, media content, programs, exhibits and experiences that center equity and spark joy, learning and whole family engagement. Her current clients and partners include Brown University’s Causality and Mind Lab, Nickelodeon, Nucleus Education, Sesame Workshop, MathTalk, and GBH Education. Janella explores and expresses her creativity in all forms of art and making, especially nature photography and dance, and was first drawn to AS220 by the vibrant energy of the dance studio. Janella lives, works and plays on the east side of Providence, RI with her husband and her curious and kind seven-year old.
Michael Dupuis discovered AS220 while going to live shows as an undergraduate student at Brown University. He joined the Board of Directors in 2018 and currently serves as the Vice Chair and as a member of the Finance & Risk Committee. In a world where creativity is increasingly mediated through corporate entities, he values the organization’s role in providing an independent platform for artistic expression.
Michael serves as COO at DockYard, Inc., a digital product consultancy specializing in web applications.
Kurtis McKenney lives in Providence and appreciates art, design, and good food (and beer). He has worked in several operations leadership roles at Amgen in Rhode Island, and serves as the Treasurer of the Board at AS220.
Kurtis holds multiple engineering degrees and a business degree and is drawn to work that requires process design, optimization, competition, and innovation. Kurtis spends his free time hanging with his family, playing sports, or both.
Caroline Mailloux is a people-first business strategist, organization and culture designer, and diversity, equity, and belonging practitioner. Her specialty is transformation-level change initiatives, inclusive of technology, systems, and culture and she serves both nonprofits and corporate entities. She is passionate about convening people to work through hard conversations, whether it be shifting perspectives on death and dying or disability inclusion at work. She is a graduate of Brown University and has completed fellowships at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and Harvard’s Kennedy School. For fun, she enjoys the exploration of places and possibilities; she is currently learning how to sail with the long term dream of working from a sailboat. Caroline is drawn to AS220 because of the bold and employee-driven anti-racism work. Her creative expression is rooted in paper arts: origami, collage, and good ol’ fashioned letter writing.
Savannah DaCruz is an interdisciplinary artist from Providence, RI, and resident of AS220. Her creative practice includes writing poetry, painting, dancing, cooking and more. Her work has been selected by the Poetry Society of America, featured on Rhode Island public transportation buses, and within Rhode Island schools. She possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Creative Writing. Savannah has studied internationally, she loves traveling, herbalism, and watching indie films. Her creative work revolves around processing grief and fostering healing. Savannah is an advocate for racial equity and currently works for Dorcas International. She has goals of becoming a psychotherapist and enhancing accessibility of mental health care in Black, refugee, and immigrant communities.
Becci Davis is a Rhode Island-based visual artist who works across disciplines. Born and raised in Georgia, she finds inspiration in exploring natural and cultural landscapes, studying the past, documenting her family’s stories, and recording her present experiences as a daughter, mother, American, and Southern born and raised, Black woman. Becci earned her MFA from Lesley University College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work nationally and been the recipient of several fellowships and grants. Becci lives with her family in Wakefield, Rhode Island and works as an adjunct lecturer at Brown University. She is a grateful member of the WARP Collective and Dirt Palace Public Projects community. Becci was drawn to the AS220 Board by a desire to serve the community that has been an artistic home to her and countless others.
Ken DeBlois is a native Rhode Islander who has been spending time at AS220 for nearly 20 years. He is passionate about community building and the power of art to do so. Ken brings to the board experience in nonprofit organizations, digital strategy, human-centered design, and product management. He holds degrees in Sociology from Holy Cross and Public Affairs from Brown University. Although Ken experiments in various art forms, cooking for family and friends is his favorite creative outlet.
Marie Hearn is a hairdresser and business owner of a salon in Prov. RI. Throughout the years she has taken advanced classes with Irvine and Rita Rusk, Paul Mitchell, as well as other platform artists in the business.
“My sister had a gallery in NY, and she was instrumental in my love of art going forward. After moving back to Providence I wanted to feel more involved with my community. I volunteered at Amos House, and was a tutor for a reading group at The Messer School in Providence. I’ve always loved the arts…dance, theatre, music! AS220 has brought this to the city along with fair and equitable practices. AS220 is the heartbeat of the city!!” Marie lives in Prov and loves cooking for friends and family.
Elizabeth (Eli) MacLaren is an innovation leader, human centered design strategist, storyteller, and business designer, passionate about using these tools for justice, equity, and a healthier planet. She has launched and scaled social ventures / programs and transformed large institutions – reimaginings things as diverse as banking, healthcare, and international aid. She loves to play with food, business models, and people’s sense of the possible. She is currently serving as Designer-In-Residence at GlobalGiving and an innovation and design expert for the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank). She is always happier outside and enjoys capturing beauty in the world one haiku at a time.
Felicia Megginson is an interdisciplinary artist who uses lens-based media, printmaking and drawing to explore issues related to identity and belonging. She earned an M.A. in studio art from New University, and has a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia. When not focusing on her art, Felicia develops content for web-based experiences. Previous employers and current clients range from Fortune 100 corporations (Nickelodeon, Disney, and Hasbro) to entrepreneurs and small businesses. Felicia’s been an adjunct instructor at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts since 2019 where she teaches foundation courses on visual culture and image-making to freshmen and transfer students in the Art+Design department.
Felicia lives and works on the East Side with her dog Amber. Most weekends you’ll find them exploring the Blackstone Nature Conservancy by the Seekonk River, or hiking the trails around Turner Reservoir in Rumford. Felicia will be pointing her camera up, while Amber will be exploring everything at nose-level.
Ashley Paniagua was born and raised in Providence, RI. She graduated from Wheelock College with a B.A. in Studio Art with a certificate in Community Based Human Services. Ashley is currently the Studio Director at NUA where she pursues her passions in youth development, building community and fostering a lifelong creative practice. Her own creative pursuits include painting, photography and hiking up and down mountains. Ashley strives to live honestly, to create capacity for making mistakes, to forgive others and to forgive herself.
