our team
Almeta Whitis
Co-Artist & Community Story Archivist
Mama Almeta Whitis is a storyteller, writer, poet, performance teaching artist, and Story Doula whose life work encompasses exploring, presenting and honoring story's power of cultural connection.
Nada Odeh
Lead Artist & Project Manager
Nada Odeh is a Syrian artist, activist, humanitarian, and a modern-day poet. She was born and raised in Damascus and lived in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates before coming to the U.S. in 2013 due to the conflict and revolution in her country.
Brandon Granby
Videographer
Graduated from RIT studying cinematography and filmmaking, Brandon uses his skills to help document and record events happening in the community. Involved in local and national activism, he creates engaging video pieces of, demonstrations, celebrations, and art of the community.
Rajesh Barnabas
Videographer
Rajesh Barnabas is a digital media teacher and artist, with a background in documentary and experimental media. His collaborations with local artists in Rochester include Mara Ahmed, Carvin Eison, Olivia Kim, Athesia Benjamin, Natasha Alford, FuturPointe Dance and Daystar Dance. Rajesh's particular passion is teaching animation, game design, and sound production.
Kate Mariner
Project Consultant
Kate Mariner is a cultural anthropologist, licensed social worker, printmaker, placemaker, space invader, and Rochesterian since 2015. She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and thinks, talks, and writes about race, space, place, inequality, embodiment, kinship, and intimacy in U.S. cities. Her work and play bring together theories of Black feminism, participatory research, and artistic production in the service of social change and collective flourishing.
Katie Hardin
Assistant Project Coordinator
Katie Hardin is a socio-cultural anthropologist, and recent graduate from the University of Rochester. She is currently serving as a VISTA Fellow and Assistant Director of the Local Ethnography and Archiving Fellowship (LEAF) alongside Director, Dr. Kate Mariner. Katie was a cohort 1 fellow in LEAF.
Eshmeron Subba
Story Collector
Currently part of the third LEAF fellows cohort, Eshmeron is a third year undergraduate student at the University of Rochester, majoring in Environmental Science. Native to Rochester, she feels excited to be more involved with her community through the program. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and playing with her cats.
Faith Garrett
Story Collector
Faith (she/they) is a third-year student at the University of Rochester majoring in Physics and minoring in Anthropology. She is also a member of the third LEAF cohort. When she's not studying, Faith enjoys traveling, crocheting, gaming, and reading.
Mandela Gonzales-Palmer
Story Collector
Mandela is a sophomore at the University of Rochester, she grew up in Los Angeles, and she is double majoring in Anthropology and Digital Media Studies. She is in the third cohort of LEAF fellows and is eager to help uplift the community’s experiences in NE Rochester. Mandela enjoys playing instruments and lacrosse with her three sisters in her spare time.
Max-Yamil Cabezudo-Brown
Story Collector
Max-Yamil, is also apart of the LEAF cohort. He is a second year at the university of rochester who is excited to continue summer research in his native town of Rochester. Max-Yamil loves reading, learning, and sharpening his perspective on how the city he grew up in came to be.
Noura Charaf
Architectural Consultant
Noura Charaf is a Syrian Swedish architect and lighting designer. She was born and raised in Damascus, Syria, and in 2019, she immigrated to Sweden. Currently, she is pursuing her master's degree at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Her research focuses on social sustainability, using social research to create an urban environment that is inclusive for everyone.