Meet the Staff
Amy Rosenbluth
Executive Director / arosenbluth@lakeerieink.org
Reaching out, stepping back; letting go
Amy Rosenbluth has worked with youth during both in-school and out-of- school time programs since 1991. She created the Youth Leadership group and mentoring program for the Shaker Heights Youth Center and has been facilitating Teen Poetry Slams in the Heights area for over 18 years. A credentialed 7-12 English teacher and prevention certified youth advocate, Amy is co-founder and oversees all operations of Lake Erie Ink. She still works directly with youth, primarily teen poets, facilitating writing and spoken word workshops, both on site and off. Amy also designs and facilitates professional development workshops for teachers and other youth serving professionals. Amy has been teaching as adjunct English faculty at Lakeland Community College since 1998. She received her BA in English from Hiram College and her teaching certification and graduate work from San Francisco State University. Her training in Bay Area Writers’ Project has given her a passion for and strategies in incorporating writing throughout the curriculum. She believes that all youth have stories that deserve to be heard and uses creative writing as a way to make that happen.
Jill Levin
Program Director / jlevin@lakeerieink.org
Full of wonder, continuing to learn
Jill Levin is a career arts educator with a range of experience working with students of all ages. Most recently she taught and directed theater at Montessori High School at University Circle. She is a former director of education for Cleveland Public Theatre and has taught acting at a number of area theaters and colleges. As a writer, Jill is especially interested in personal narrative as a form of creative expression and is very pleased to be part of an organization that works with young people on finding their own form of creativity.
Cynthia Larsen
Curriculum Director & Lead Teacher / clarsen@lakeerieink.org
My home-work: working with writing, kids
Cynthia Larsen is Lake Erie Ink’s co-founder and Curriculum Director and Lead Teacher. She holds a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing from Stanford University and a single subject teaching credential in English and Language Arts from San Francisco State University. Ms. Larsen taught secondary English in Jersey City, New Jersey; Oakland, California; and Cleveland, Ohio before attending graduate school at the University of Arizona, where she received her MFA in creative writing. Ms. Larsen has facilitated project-based creative writing in collaboration with teachers for over ten years, combining her training in education with her passion for writing. Ms. Larsen continues to stay abreast of new standards, methods and technology that helps Lake Erie Ink best meet the needs of youth and educators. At Lake Erie Ink, Ms. Larsen develops and implements creative writing curriculum that supports and meets the educational state standards for English and Language Arts.
Cordelia Eddy
Teen Program Coordinator / cordelia@lakeerieink.org
Using empathy to cultivate good humans
Cordelia has guided youth in many cities to develop and magnify their voices and build community through writing. She is particularly drawn to sharing the truths found in fiction, the poetic in prose, and the magical dialogue between words and images in comics and zines. Cordelia is left-handed, and often takes notes backwards in cursive like Leonardo da Vinci (mostly to avoid smearing her words). She believes that creative writing is a powerful tool for growth and understanding that helps us to think critically about the world and better understand our place within it.
Barbie Estrada
Development + Administrative Manager / bestrada@lakeerieink.org
Raise and educate kids who create
Barbie is the development and administrative guru at Lake Erie Ink. With a BA in Creative Writing and a Masters in Nonprofit Management, she has been working for youth and literacy initiatives since 2008 through the Americorps as well as for various organizations and schools. Barbie supports bucket lists, clementines over oranges, and descriptive grammar. She writes to remember the magical little moments in life and to make sense of the grand ones.
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Naazneen Diwan
Creative Arts Teacher
Naaz is a Creative Arts Teacher here at Lake Erie Ink. She is a poet, social justice educator and healing arts and meditation facilitator. Her tent literally blew away and I had to chase it down, while camping in Zion National Forest in Utah. Naaz writes because when she’s writing she loses track of time and space and constraints and its a beautiful thing.
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Kisha Nicole Foster
Creative Arts Teacher
I am a mother, artist, healer
Kisha Nicole Foster is a mother, nationally performing poet, and teaching artist. The author of Poems: 1999-2014 and Blood Work, Foster is the recipient of the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize for Literature. Foster is also three time Ohio for the Center for the Book fellow, Regional Coordinator for Poetry OutLoud/ Ohio Arts Council, and a two time Pink Door Fellow. She is currently the Literary Cleveland Fellow/ Cleveland Stories program Coordinator, teaching artist with Lake Erie Ink and crafted the poem for the Justice Center Mural Project. Foster uses her locution as a conduit towards healing and fostering truth within language; allowing mistakes and humility to guide her craft.
Catherine Madison
Program Operations Coordinator /staff@lakeerieink.org
Love, smile, create
Catherine graduated from the University of Toledo in 2017 with a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice. Catherine has been actively engaged with youth and community since the age of 15 where she was apart of the Youth Advocacy Network for Mt. Pleasant Community Zone. Catherine also worked as a Peer Leader for MyCom and through the work done with MyCom she was able to go to Washington, D.C. to lobby on Capitol Hill for youth rights. She is also an AmeriCorps alumni, in the summer of 2017 she was a Summer VISTA who worked with youth to develop their reading and vocabulary skills. Catherine is currently apart of the Youth Workforce Advisory Board which helps understand why youth may not be engaging in workforce activities or trainings. Catherine enjoys hanging with friends, reading, writing, candles, and creating sweet treats in mason jars.
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Damien McClendon
Creative Arts Teacher
Liberate through art, surviving in love
Damien recently began a two year tenure as Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate and is the co-director and reigning grand Slam champion of The People Poetry Slam on Cleveland’s University Circle. In 2017, Damien placed 7th in the Individual World Poetry Slam and self published his debut chapbook ‘Soft’. Damien has completed the Baldwin House fellowship with Twelve Literary Arts and works as a teaching artist in various public schools in Cleveland.
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Jarod “Od” Perry-Richardson
Program Assistant
Sitting down sketching, away like always
Jarod “Od” Perry-Richardson is a Program Assistant at Lake Erie Ink. Beginning his time at LEI as a volunteer, Od eventually joined the LEI family as a teacher. As a current student at the Cleveland Institute of Art majoring in Illustration, Od brings his artistic experience and love of the arts to the table. When he isn’t busy teaching or drawing, Od can be found at one of Cleveland’s many concert venues. He believes that visual arts and creative writing are invaluable expressive outlets for which the youth can channel their creativity and let it burst out in all directions.
Nicole Rossa
Creative Arts Teacher / nicole@lakeerieink.org
Anxiety, emails read but not responded
Randee Stroud
Ink Spot Coordinator / randee@lakeerieink.org
Restless in spirit. Searching for inspiration.
Cliff SweeneyCreative Arts Teacher
Artistic melodies changes time of king
Vivian Vail
Creative Arts Teacher
Give a boost; reveal fresh promise
Vivian Vail became a certified elementary teacher with a reading endorsement many years after earning a Master’s degree in dance. Her experience teaching in various academic and community settings has taught Vivian that we all do better when we find our voice. She loves to garden and makes a mean guacamole.
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Raquel Wilbon
Creative Arts Teacher
A true safe place for love
Raquel Joy Wilbon is a teaching artist, an award- winning published poet, a playwright instructor, and hasjudged poetry for America Scores slam poetry. Her work was selected more than once for inclusion in the Literary Magazine Breakwall (2018), Vindicator magazine (2017) and Eber & Wein poetry Anthology (2015). Raquel has earned a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. Her role is to inspire as many youth to safely imagine and create written work in multiple ways. . She writes to breathe life into and inspire individuals, and the youth who do not feel safe to express through the language of penmanship.
Eli Millette
Marketing and Communications Manager / eli@lakeerieink.org
Writing is the action of believing
Eli has been writing plays since high school and has been published three times. He believes in the power of editing, revising, and discipline when it comes to his work. Eli has a BA in psychology and is working toward a masters degree in library science. He sees his role as ensuring the work Lake Erie Ink does behind the scenes doesn’t go unnoticed and unappreciated by the general public. He believes that writing is as therapeutic as it is artistic and hopes that through creative writing workshops kids find the power in their own words. Eli also is an avid coffee drinker and could use all the help he could get to cut back. Contact Eli with marketing and communication concerns as well as advice on how to quit drinking coffee.
Patrick Warner
Creative Arts Teacher
I Find Freedom in Writing
Patrick, a musician/actor/poet from Cleveland, Ohio, has been a staple in the Cleveland creative scene for years. He is most proud of his word as an artist mentor for the hip hop group Refresh Collective. He began at Lake Erie Ink as a regular in their programs and when he got old enough Patrick was happy to come on as a staff member. Patrick believes it is inspiring to work with kids, teenagers, and adults and help them improve their writing. Patrick is also only interested in sports when he’s playing and doesn’t like to simply watch. His favorite sport is Ultimate Frisbee.
