Dear Friends,

We’re thrilled to be able to share with you today the next chapter in ARTogether’s story.

When we announced Sarah McClean as Co-Executive Director this summer, we began actively searching for a second Co-Executive Director to complete this new shared leadership model. Today, we’re pleased to announce that the search has come to a close.

Please join us in welcoming Zeenna Stapper as ARTogether’s new Co-Executive Director.

Born in the Philippines, raised in Germany, and now rooted in California, Zeenna deeply understands the beauty and complexity of navigating multiple identities. Her path to this work is anything but ordinary. She began her career in neuroscience research at Stanford University School of Medicine and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), before shifting her focus to community-centered leadership. As Program Director at the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) and through her governance work with the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network SF Bay Area, she has spent years shaping a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive nonprofit sector, with a particular focus on immigrant, refugee, and youth communities across the Bay Area. Her earlier work as a Health Educator and Youth Development Specialist at the Southeast Asian Development Center deepened her commitment to community health and youth empowerment.

Zeenna brings both analytical clarity and deep empathy to her leadership. She believes in the power of art-based, science-informed frameworks to build spaces that offer genuine belonging and collective healing – a natural fit for ARTogether’s mission.

Alongside her is Sarah McClean, who joined ARTogether in 2022 as an intern while completing her degree at UC Berkeley. Prior to that, she ran a successful visual communications business for over 20 years. During her time with us, she has grown into one of ARTogether’s most essential leaders, building the organization’s public voice, deepening community and donor relationships, and expanding our presence across Oakland and the Bay Area. She has been a steady, trusted presence through one of the most challenging periods in ARTogether’s history, and she has shown up for this community with consistency, care, and genuine love for this mission.

In this shared leadership model, they will hold individual responsibilities as well as partner on the overall management of the organization and its programs portfolio. Together, they complete the vision that ARTogether’s founder championed: a resilient, sustainable, and collaborative leadership structure built to carry ARTogether’s mission forward for years to come.

Please join us in congratulating Zeenna and Sarah as they begin this next chapter together.

ARTogether was born from the belief that art builds belonging. Nine years later, that belief is stronger than ever, and so are we. This moment marks the full transition of ARTogether’s leadership, from a single Executive Director to a shared model rooted in collective care and shared accountability.

With gratitude,
The ARTogether Board of Directors