Staff
Alan Steckler
Founder & President
Alan founded Creative Connections in 1992. During his 24-year tenure, he created programs that grew from serving 300 students in its first year to over 10,000 students annually. He serves as the International Young Performers’ Tour Program Director. Alan has been a full-time volunteer staff member, donating his services and expertise.
Prior to founding CC, he was an elementary and secondary school teacher in both the U.S. and England. Alan has a B.A. from Principia College in St. Louis, MO, an M.A. in Educational Theater from New York University and has done coursework at the Bank Street College of Education. He teaches ESL (English as a Second Language) classes and, along with his wife Debbie, mentors newly arrived refugees IICONN (International Institute of Connecticut.)
Miguel Barreto
Rainforest ArtLink Program Director
Miguel has 15 years of experience managing environmental and multicultural programs in the US and Latin America. He has a B.A. in Industrial Design from Pontific University in Colombia, an M.S. in Internet Business Systems from Mercy College in NY and a course in Social and Environmental Conflict Management from the University of Peace (UN) in Costa Rica.
Polly C. Loughran
ArtLink Program Director
Polly joined Creative Connections in 2008. Polly manages the program in the United States and in over 20 countries around the world supporting every teacher and every classroom. She also manages the organization’s social media outreach. Polly’s broad experience includes project management, event planning and volunteer coordination. Polly previously worked for Save the Children and has a B.F.A. from New York University.
Olivia Jennings
Program and Communications Associate
Olivia joined Creative Connections in September 2019 and serves as a support for Creative Connections’ ArtLink programs. She also works on social media messaging, website enhancements and graphic design. Olivia has a background in communications and worked previously for AIA Virginia and the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. She has a B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Barbarajean Segall
Grants Consultant
Barbarajean Segall, MSW, a seasoned grant writer for many years will be working with us as a fund developer to further our mission and vision. Last year she aided us in our first year working on the Cornelia T. Bailey program with Stepping Stones Museum for Children entitled “Art from Around the World.” This resulted in the charming “Celebrate Art from Around the World Sketchbook,” located on the Student Break Activities page under Sketch and Coloring Books.
Tim Steckler
CHW Program Manager
Tim Steckler is a Brooklyn-based Applied Theatre Educator and Facilitator, currently working with us as the Project Manager for our Cultural Heritage Workshops. He has worked with students from the USA and around the world to put together interactive performances on social justice issues ranging from refugee resettlement, countering systemic racism, and preserving cultural heritage.
Tim holds a Master’s of Education degree in International Education Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Principia College.
Board of Directors
David Pritchard
Board Chair
David is the Co-founder/Principal of Aequitas Advisors, providing consulting services for corporations seeking capital raising, securities exchange or restructuring initiatives. Former journalist and project director at AmeriCares Foundation. Affiliations: Recent Board member at Montessori Middle School, Norwalk.
Monroe Fried
Secretary
Monroe has been a dancer, choreographer and teacher for the past 30 years. She has been a member of local dance and theatre companies and has studied with Charles Kelley and Frank Hatchett at the Broadway Dance Center in New York. She also served as an Executive Administrator at IBM for ten years.
Kimberly Beck
Board Member
Kimberly is the Lower School Principal at Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC. She was formerly the Assistant Superintendent of the Ridgefield Public Schools in CT. And she has also served as the Principal of Cos Cob Elementary School in Greenwich and the Assistant Principal at Silvermine School in Norwalk, CT.
As a teacher for the first decade of her career, Kim taught 4th – 8th grade, as well as graduate students at the University of Bridgeport. Kim holds a BS in Elementary Education, an MS in Reading and Language Arts. Additionally, Kimberly has received two university certificates for extensive coursework in educational leadership.
Dr. Cheryl Iozzo
Board Member
Cheryl has been an art educator for the Greenwich Connecticut Public Schools since 1994. She strives to teach from a transdisciplinary approach where student learning is accelerated through the visual arts within interdisciplinary lessons. In February of 2017, Cheryl was invited to Guatemala to meet ArtLink partner teachers.
She co-led multiple workshops based on her experiences to over 40 educators in the rain forest region of Guatemala. Dr. Iozzo was the 2014 Greenwich Teacher of the Year and a 2015 CT Teacher of the Year Semifinalist. She holds a BFA from UMass Lowell, a MAT from the Rhode Island School of Design, an Ed.M from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an Ed.D from TC, Columbia University.
Tania Kelley
Board Member
Tania is a retired educator of 34 years in the Bridgeport Public School system. Her professional career included music teacher, principal of Roosevelt Elementary School, and Director of Performing and Visual Arts. She also was the Local Program Director of Turnaround Arts for Bridgeport.
Turnaround Arts, a signature program of the Obama Administration, leverages the arts as a learning tool For students in low-income districts. Post retirement, she is consulting with Turnaround Arts and Crayola.
Bob Woods
Treasurer
Bob started at Citigroup in 1971 and worked there for 27 years. He was Head of Debt Capital Markets, Head of Real Estate Investment Banking and Global Head of Corporate Loan Portfolio Management. After leaving Citi, he worked at Societe Generale bank as Head of Debt Capital Markets, Natixis bank as Head of Leveraged Finance, and the private equity firm, GarMark Partners, as an advisor.
Since leaving the corporate world, Bob has spent time doing social impact investing with New Reality Solutions and on the Boards of The Darien Historical Society (serving as Treasurer). He has a passion for traveling and loves hiking and exploring the diverse cultures of the world.
Brad Kerner
Board Member
Brad has worked in the international development space his whole career. Formerly a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gabon, Africa and now with Save the Children for 17 years, directing a program portfolio in 21 countries.
Brad also owns www.EcoEvolution.co which he uses as a platform to help people do right by the environment. Brad volunteers as a mentor with locally resettled refugees. Brad holds a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University
Alan Steckler
CC FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Alan’s background is in elementary and secondary education, with an expertise in educational theatre. Affiliations: Current Board Chair of his local church. Past Board member of CORO, and youth leadership program in NYC.