We are motivated to help students combat loneliness.

Loneliness is not new a problem for children and adolescents. In one study from before the pandemic, time trends of eight-year-olds’ loneliness across 24 years showed that up to 20% of children consistently reported feeling lonely. - National Library of Medicine

We know that the antidote to our most complex social challenges is connection - an essential human experience that appears to be simple, but is increasingly challenging to cultivate.

Using the foundations of social emotional learning and Emotional Intelligence, The Brainchild Collective designs and curates thoughtful educational experiences designed to empower connection, mental well-being, creativity and purpose.

You can find us delivering youth programs and teacher professional development in schools across our home city of Chicago, hosting local, national and international events on EQ in the workplace, and reaching families throughout Chicago through our TBC at home workshops.

Interested in bringing TBC to your school or community space? Drop us a line at info@brainchildcollective.co.

The Brainchild Collective is committed to social impact at every level. For us, this means we support artists and educators with sustainable employment, invest in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training and HR practices, and practice transparent compensation across all levels of our organization.


  • Debra Giunta is a purpose-driven Founder, CEO and Advisor whose life’s work is centered around Social-Emotional Learning (SEL).

    As a TEDx speaker, recipient of the 2016 Goodcity Women’s InnovationFund Award, Crain's Chicago 2020 Notable Entrepreneur, Founding Board Member of the Illinois Dance Education Organization, and active mentor for growing organizations, Debra is driven by a lifetime of learning and development for herself and others.

    Informed by her creative and visionary approach to social entrepreneurship, Debra is on a mission to create spaces and experiences where individuals feel supported and empowered in order for them to reach their greatest potential.

    In 2008, Debra founded Design Dance, a dance education company inspired by the positive impact dance had on her own social and emotional development during her time as a competitive performer and teacher.

    Continuing to infuse social and emotional learning into personal and professional development, Debra expanded her focus to include teenagers and young adults. In 2016, she founded Prismatic, a 501(c)(3) non-profit bringing holistic career readiness learning to Chicago students in 6th-12th grades.

    Debra credits healthy, supportive environments to her own personal and professional development. She is committed to creating the spaces and experiences that empower each of us to lean into our vulnerabilities in order to unlock our authentic selves and positively contribute to our community and world.

    In support of continuing to expand her impact to all ages, in 2019, Debra founded The Brainchild Collective, a platform to expand the reach of social emotional learning organizations in her home city of Chicago.


  • GiGi Hernández (she/her/ella) is an abstract and movement painter who is using all of her arts knowledge to teach and create SEL programming within and for The Brainchild Collective (TBC) in Chicago. Before getting involved with TBC, GiGi was in Hartford, CT studying Educational Studies and Theater & Dance at Trinity College. She worked closely with the Queer Resource Center (QRC), the Women's and Gender Resource Action Center (WGRAC), Diversity Equity and Inclusion Office (DEI), as well as other cultural organizations. Pursing organizations that really sparked her interested, when looking for the perfect job she stumbled upon TBC and immediately became and contract educator teaching for Design Dance, Knuckleball Comedy, and The Simple Good. After a year of being a contractor, she was hired to be a Program Coordinator and is now working behind the scenes AND in the classes. GiGi is now very excited to see what this new role will bring!


  • Sandy Tran is a compassionate leader, bold entrepreneur, and freedom fighter. Through the Posse Scholarship, she was given the opportunity to attend DePauw University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Conflict Studies. During her senior year, she won the Walker Cup, which gave her the honor of being the commencement speaker for her graduating class. After college, Sandy joined Teach for America (TFA) and completed her 2-year term on the Big Island of Hawai’i as a middle school English teacher. After TFA, she moved back home to Chicago and joined the development team at the Noble Network of Charter Schools, a nonprofit organization that runs 17 high schools and one middle school. She started as a coordinator and eventually became a Director of Development. Her role included raising ~$7MM annually, managing the grant writing team, stewarding high-stakes donor relationships, and monitoring federal grants. After 5+ years at Noble, Sandy launched Bold & Write LLC, a fundraising consulting firm serving small and mid-sized nonprofits that are ready to scale their impact.


  • Alexis A Tornez Martinez (he/him) is a Chicago - based educator, actor, collaborator, and writer who uses storytelling elements to confront issues within the Latinx communities. He has a Bachelor in Arts in Theatre and Performance from UIC. His education career began when he became a teaching artist for Steppenwolf and Northlight Theatre. From that, he has had the opportunity to work with multiple different theater education cohorts in Chicago. He is thrilled to join The Brainchild Collective team where he is able to continue to implement and learn on how to improve SEL capacities in the classrooms. Outside of work, he is writing and developing a play that confronts the issues, struggles, and experience of immigration through the Mexico/US Border. Outside of the arts, he does interior construction and has a passion in learning more about videography/photography. He collaborates with different artists in Chicago to bring their stories to life, whether it be performance, music videos, and/or photography.


  • Admira is a dynamic financial professional with over 10 years of experience in accounting and financial analysis. Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, she developed an interest in understanding the why’s. She decided to pursue her degree in Business Economics at Oakland University, combined with Masters in Accounting at CUNY. In her free time, Admira loves to be outdoors exploring nature, capturing its beauty with her camera.


  • Camila Rivero Pooley, is a latin american performance artist living in Chicago, IL.

    After graduating from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, and two minors in Arts Management and Marketing. They worked professionally, as a dancer, for Chicago, IL based artists Erin Kilmurray, Loud Bodies, Synapse Arts, and Otobongo Nkanga. At the same time, they worked at educational institutions such as Design Dance and Hubbard Dance Street Chicago.

    Within her independent practice, she founded a collaborative dance platform called ZINFORMA, where she initiated her amateur dance-film career with short films such as iORGAN (supported by the Albert P. Weisman Award, awarded Honorable Mention at the Experimental Forum NYC 2020 & as the Official Selection of Blow Up Film Festival in Chicago 2020), ARRIBA (miniseries on Instagram) and Sábanas (Scenic Video Selection for FAE 2021 in Lima, PE and exhibited at the SPACES gallery in Cleveland, OH 2021).

    While living in Lima, Peru she created and directed Frondoso, an immersive dance-theater show for early childhood for Teatro La Plaza, taught drama at Markham College and studied with the Physical Theater Company.

    Camila continues to study and expand her performative skills and works independently as a dancer, movement consultant, movement director, choreographer and pedagogue.


  • Originally from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Riley attended Western Michigan University majoring in dance. While at Western, she performed repertory of Antony Tudor, Frank Chaves, Monique Haley, among others. Riley has had the privilege of interning with Nunart in Barcelona, Spain. During her time there, she was assisting with dance classes and the production of their dance festival Nunoff. In 2019, she moved to Chicago and began her career with a contemporary jazz dance company, Cirque Rivera Dance Theatre. She currently works at VIP dance competition as the backstage manager and is in Grad school for Mental Health Counseling specializing in Dance Movement Therapy. Combining her passion for dance and fitness Riley also teaches at Studio Lagree Chicago, she instantly fell in love and hasn’t stopped since!


  • Sabrena Lopez (she/her) received a B.A. in Anthropology with a concentration in Socio-Cultural Studies and Political Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2014. She continued her studies at Northeastern Illinois University receiving her M.B.A. in 2020. She has dedicated her career to education through education policy and student programming. As a first-generation college student, she was impacted by the high school and college leadership programs she experienced. She was able to learn invaluable professional skills like people management, event planning, and public speaking. Even more important she grew her confidence and found her voice. Because of that impact, she has constantly looked for ways to provide access to similar impactful tools and experiences for underrepresented groups. Working at The Brainchild Collective Sabrena looks forward to combining her love of student programs and operations management.


  • Julia Schaeffer, originally from California, began dancing at age 13. She received her BFA in Dance

    Performance from Chapman University where she studied ballet, jazz, modern, and contemporary. After graduation, Julia danced with the Lineage dance company for four years where she had the privilege of performing and teaching community outreach classes. She relocated to Chicago in summer 2019 and has enjoyed getting to know the wonderful Chicago dance community.

    Since moving to Chicago, Julia has danced for South Chicago Dance Theatre at ‘Night Out in the Parks’, Joel Hall Dancers and Center in ‘Dances in the Hall’, Kaela Norwood in ‘Fused’, Mariah Eastman in ‘Patternalia’, Contretemps Contemporary Ballet in “Heat Lightning”, and is currently a company dancer with Winifred Haun and Dancers. She teaches various ages and styles at local studios such as Dance on Broadway, Design Dance, and Chicago Ballet Arts. Additionally, she had the opportunity to present her choreography at Trifecta’s Emerging Choreographer Showcase and The Chi Dance Fest. Julia is very grateful to be involved in the vibrant Chicago dance community.

Jaime Raglow

  • Jaime is originally from a small town in Akron, OH and moved to Chicago to attend Loyola University Chicago. She studied theatre and dance there and performed in many musicals and dance shows before she graduated in 2015.

    Since graduating, she has performed in shows around Chicago with Matter dance company, taught theatre camps and classes with several Chicago theaters including Music Theatre Works, Raven Theatre, and DePaul University. She has been teaching dance classes in schools and studios around Chicago since 2016, and, as if that's not enough, she started painting in 2020 and now sells her art at festivals in Chicago and more!

    Jaime loves bringing her passion for all arts to kiddos around the city and sharing the skills that dance and art bring, including socialization, emotional intelligence, communication skills, and more!

Hera Shakir

  • Hera brings her creativity and passion to teaching at Design Dance where she had been working as a contractor since 2019 before becoming a lead educator at 2021. After earning her AFA from Oakton Community College, she became a teaching artist for many organizations.

    Hera enjoyed giving her time teaching to organizations who helped the lives of kids in a unique way where they could foster their SEL muscles. One company she enjoyed working for is S Olive Tree Arts Network as a teaching artist where she helped kids from different faith groups come together and learn the ways of friendship.

    She also worked as a music teacher since 2019 where she worked in studios and in her own private music lessons business. In May of 2020, Hera graduated from Columbia College Chicago.

Lindsey Cocom


  • Hello my name is Ms.Blaze I’m a versatile dance teacher. I’ve been dancing for the past 13yrs and started my dance teaching journey 3yrs ago. I have fallen in love with teaching dance to students of all ages and backgrounds. Seeing the growth and passion of this generation of dancers inspires me to keep dancing and teaching.

Rebecca Hurd


  • Rebecca has been acting professionally for the last 12 years, working with companies such as the Guthrie Theater, Goodman Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Writers Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and American Players Theatre, among others.

    As a teaching artist and private acting coach, she has worked with students of all ages, teaching anything from Shakespeare to musical theatre. She cares deeply about empowering young people to discover their creative authenticity while bringing a spirit of curiosity and play into the classroom!

Kenya Fulton

  • Kenya Fulton, (who writes and performs under the name Kao Ra Zen), hails from Chicago, Illinois. Much of Kenya's art practice involves creative writing, spoken word, music, video directing, and performance art. He has also been involved in projects involving drawing, painting, acting, modeling, and dance. He has curated events and performed at many prominent venues throughout Chicago including Symphony Center, Links Hall, Dank Haus (German American Cultural Center), Subterranean, Alhambra Palace, and Elastic Arts. In his travels, he has performed and exhibited artwork in Germany, performed at an Open Mic in Guatemala, and helped to install solar panels in El Salvador.

    Kenya's poetry (credited as Kao Ra Zen) has appeared in 'Not My President-The Anthology of Dissent' from Thoughtcrime Press, 'Illinois's Best Emerging Poets' and 'America's Best Emerging Poets’ from Z Publishing, 'A Love Supreme’ (an oral history of Chicago Hip Hop collective, the legendary Nacrobats), Fnewsmagazine, Tuck Magazine, Highland Park Poetry, and 'Gut Check digest' from Shady Pines Radio.

    Starting in February 2020, Kao Ra Zen has directed and released multiple music videos, including "Morning in America", "F.T.A.", "Advent", and "Fight Forever".. Kao would direct the debut music video, "Killing in the Name of Love" for longtime friend and creative collaborator, Dodo Mafioso, released in April 2020. Following the murder of George Floyd, Kao would team up with another Chicago Hip-Hop stalwart, Ness The God, to release the single and music video, "I'm Tired", on the 4th of July, 2020.

    In 2015, Kenya would earn an Associate in Fine Arts degree from Harold Washington College. A recipient of a Presidential Merit Scholarship, Kenya would earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in December 2020. He has plans to eventually earn a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.

    He is currently recording material for his solo debut album, 'TIME of the SIGNS', as well as working on music with his performance art/music troupe, The Ungovernables, for an EP tentatively titled: "SUMMER of LOVE".

    Kenya works as a substitute teacher and a teaching artist at multiple schools in Chicago.

Maggi Hastings


  • Hi there! My name is Maggi, I am an experienced theatre, improv and communications educator in Chicago with a passion for accessible arts education. I’m dedicated to breaking down barriers and ensuring the wonder of theatre is inclusive for all students.

    My teaching philosophy centers on creativity, collaboration and self-expression - I strive to empower others to embrace the stage and the world with confidence, kindness and leadership. I so look forward to connecting with you!

Miranda Mc Govern

  • Miranda McGovern is 24 years old and is a recent graduate of The Ohio State University. She is originally from Henderson, Nevada where she trained and danced competitively with The Dance Zone for fourteen years. Dance has been a significant part of her life since she was three years old. Throughout the years, she has participated in various dance performances and competitions.

    As passionate that she is about performing, she also has a strong interest for teaching in the dance world. Before she left for college, she had the opportunity to teach and assist her dance teachers with children of varying ages. Additionally, she was chosen as an ACE assistant for the dance competitions Adrenaline and Revive. During her senior year in high school, she worked the competitions, gaining first-hand experience of behind the scenes dance competition production. In the immersive position, she worked backstage and assisted the faculty during convention classes.

    During her time at Ohio State she participated in numerous shows as a performer, choreographer, and backstage help. She has performed and trained in works and practices ranging from Cunningham to African techniques. She has performed in pieces choreographed by Daniel Roberts, Crystal Perkins and Countess Winfrey. In addition to faculty work, she has also performed in and choreographed student run concerts. While at OSU, participating in numerous composition classes inspired her to perform a self-choreographed work to share her story and life experiences. Improvisation has been a seminal concept of her dance career and continues to serve as inspiration behind aspirations to be a performer in company works and works of her own.

    In addition to training at OSU, she has trained with companies Ate9, Deeply Rooted Dance, Groundworks Dance Theater Cultivate Dance Project and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. She is currently training in Chicago, IL

    To further cultivate her interest in teaching, she is currently starting to do research on how movement and improvisation can benefit people with disabilities. She wants to start teaching people with disabilities about improvisation and contact improvisation and how it can open up a creative outlet for the disabled especially those who are nonverbal.

Abbi Bryson


  • Hello! I am Abbi Bryson a new(ish) Chicago transplant by way of Orlando, Fl. I am a performer and educator who believes arts education is the most priceless preservation of our craft. I have been teaching for over 5 years, teaching everything from 3 year old ballet to middle school improv.

    Since moving to Chicago in 2020, I worked in Edgewater as a JK Teaching Assistant and a K-8 Permanent Substitute. I am excited to share my passion for theatre and comedy with students across Chicago, making memories and having fun along the way!

KiEra Banks


  • Ki’Era is a self starting teaching artist and community activist who focuses most of her work in low-income communities of color in an effort to create and maintain resources. After 10 years as a teaching artist and professional dancer, Ki’ Era offers unique skills and perspectives that would be valuable to any organization looking to incorporate socio-emotional and cultural learning to its curriculum.

Ramon Munoz


  • Ramón Muñoz was born in México with the passion for dance. He was in every school dance, until at the age of 12 when he moved to Maryland, USA and started seeing Dance as a profession. He began choreographing on his Senior year of High School, for their Theatrical productions.

    Since then he has dance for number of Dance Companies in Maryland, Washington DC and Chicago. When Ramón moved to Chicago in 2017, he had the chance to start his journey as a teacher for PreK- 8th graders. He has been very fortunate to continue in the Dance field for this long.

Jake Schwingshakl


  • Jake has been involved in theatre for over 30 years. He's been an actor, director, writer, set designer, and stage manager.

Katherine Schwartz

  • Katherine is a professional actor in Chicago and is very excited to be teaching with Brainchild Collective! She has been in the city for 17 years and can't wait to share her performing arts knowledge. Some favorite credits include productions with The Artistic Home, Irish Theatre of Chicago, Promethean Theatre, Shattered Globe, and Signal Ensemble.

    Katherine is a Jeff nominee for Best Ensemble for The Drowning Girls in 2016 with Signal Ensemble and a 2017 Broadway World nominee for Best Ensemble for The Liar with Promethean Theatre.

    In her spare time, Katherine can be found writing in coffee shops, exploring the city, doting on her two kitties Camille and Elsie, and volunteering at PAWS!

Jake Ziman

  • Jake is a stage, film, television, and commercial actor based here in Chicago with years of teaching and childcare experience. He just recently came off of Paramount Theatre's Next To Normal and Mercury Theater's Big River. He can also be seen soon in some feature films. Can't wait to have an awesome year with TBC!

Natalia Rivera

  • Natalia Rivera is a Puerto Rican artists born and raised in Chicago and a BA Graduate at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She hopes to continue to grow in her teaching artistry career and to continue spreading the love and hope of theatre across Chicagoland Public Schools.

    Natalia was a recent Education Intern at Steppenwolf Theatre, learning the inside works of being an Arts Education Admin. Her theatre work includes contemporary performances such as; The Hunchback of Seville, Magnet, The Strangers, and Descent.

    Natalia has also written and directed a show case presentation called Dear Love and Loss, as well as her play Leaves. As an actor, director and playwright, Natalia centers her work that brings people together universally and culturally, to have conversations that challenge and inspire change. To immerse the audience into the storytelling and allow them to see themselves within the characters; to see themselves on stage.

Sarah Pietlicki


  • Chicago-based Creative Wellness Educator and Consultant with 7+ years of experience working in program design and management, arts education, social emotional learning, and professional development serving youth and adults.

Del Marie Nelson

  • Del Marie also known as Ms Del, is a Teaching Artist for Design Dance Company and also a Performing Artist throughout Chicago. She loves working with youth and using her gift is dance and music to inspire. Get to know her!

    Fun Fact:

    Del Marie has been on national television a few times: in Black Girls Rock B.E.T. National Commercial with Taraji P Henson, "Love"; Windy City Live, and in Chance the rapper and Joey Purps music video "Girls@". Keep an eye out for Del Marie!

Chih-Jou Cheng

  • Chih-Jou Cheng is an educator, dancer, choreographer, and physical theatre artist from Taiwan, where she got her theatre in education and application degree. She has created several devised physical theatre works, including Arriving at Dawn, Above the Water, and Hold your Hand.

    Chih-Jou is dedicated to creating artworks that illuminate the challenges and joys of the human experience through collaborative physical theatre. Chih-Jou has been teaching theatre and dance for 5+ years locally and internationally. She choreographed, Night Sky, for Bartelt Dancers youth company in Ohio and received two 1st places, Best Judge choice of Choreography, and 5 other Awards in the 2018 competition season.

    Other of her most recent credits include the King and I (Drury Lane), Newsies as co-choreographer (Music House), and A Chorus Line as Connie Wong (Metropolis PAC). You can check out more of her work at: chihjou-cheng.com

Alexandria Neil-Sevier


  • Alex Neil-Sevier (she/her/hers) is a dance educator and artist based in Chicago, IL. Originally from West Michigan, Alex spent her early years competing in regional competitions, attending theatre workshops in New York and London as well as completing Cecchetti Ballet Method student exams I-IV. Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with concentrations in Dancemaking and Pedagogy from Columbia College Chicago, and a Masters of Public Policy from DePaul University.

    Alex is a YPAD (Youth Protection Advocates in Dance) certified educator and served on their Advisory Panel from 2018-2022. She is a member of the National Dance Education Organization and has attended trainings through Discover Dance and Building Blocks of Dance.

    Alex is a performer and guest facilitator with Inclusive Dance Chicago/Unfolding Disability’s Futures. Alex’s passion is working with young dancers, helping them experience movement and foster artistry early in their dance education in a safe and healthy way. She is proud to have worked with movers of all ages and abilities in both traditional and non traditional dance settings.

Vicky Bolanos

  • Hello, my name is Vicky Bolanos! I am a Special Education teacher with a love for fine arts, especially dance. I hope to bring an inclusive and exciting program to your school!

Darrell Roberts


  • Creative design professional with production work experience holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Visual Communications & Graphic Design. Graduated from the International Academy of Design & Technology with specialties in document layouts, illustrations, prepress, type design, digital imaging, and concept development. Currently work as the business owner and designer of Citsitra Designs & Printing but always looking for new ventures in the world of creativity to become apart of.

Hannah Mary Simpson


  • Hannah Mary Simpson (she/her) is an actor, singer, improviser, and teaching artist based in the great city of Chicago. She has taught in a variety of settings– from music class in summer camp to 1:1 Shakespeare coaching with professional actors! In addition to her teaching work, Hannah has been seen on multiple stages across Chicagoland, including Black Ensemble Theater, Music Theater Works, and The Shakespeare Project of Chicago.

    She holds degrees in Theatre and English Literature from Ohio Wesleyan University, and she’s a graduate of the Music Program at Second City. Hannah approaches her work from a place of joy, empathy, scholarship, and wonder, and her goal is to help her students embody that same mirth and enthusiasm she feels when performing!

Kenneth Reed

  • Dancer and choreographer for 12 year’s experienced in hip hop jazz majorette specializes in dance teams and choreography.

Viktoria Cruz


  • Viktoria Cruz is a Chicago native, dancer, actor, and overall artist. She attended Columbia College for Dance and Art Therapy. Before that she has been dancing since she could learn to walk. Viktoria has been a part of multiple performances at Columbia College and had the opportunity to work with KuumbaLynx Performance Ensemble, helping lead workshops and performances throughout Chicago.

    She is currently working with Albany Park Theater Project, in a show called Port of Entry, helping teach movement work shops and performances on the weekend. She has always been a teacher at heart and enjoy learning from and working with the youth.

Megan Itagaki

  • Megan Itagaki believes movement expression and multimodal learning are crucial in our exploration of ourselves, others, and the space we share as a community. Her passion for dance and creative movement began when she was 3 years old and continued through college and graduate school, allowing her to explore a wide range of styles including ballet, contemporary, lyrical, modern, jazz, and hip-hop. During this time, she also studied psychology and education, receiving her B.A. in Psychology & Dance, and a Master’s in Human Development & Education. In addition to her work with TBC, Megan works as a virtual wellness coach, executive function coach, and educational tutor.

    Megan prioritizes the cultivation of an inclusive and supportive learning environment where dance is a means of creative self-expression and a place for community, rather than competition. She has worked in a vast number of school settings, from a special education preschool summer program to K-8 school counselor’s office. In addition, her knowledge of best educational practices allows her to utilize applicable child development theories, universal design for learning concepts, and various teaching methodologies to support the learning and growth of all students. Megan hopes to empower her students through self-explorative movement and looks forward to meeting them!

Vicky Bolanos

  • Hello, my name is Vicky Bolanos! I am a Special Education teacher with a love for fine arts, especially dance. I hope to bring an inclusive and exciting program to your school!

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