GREEN STREET STAFF BIOS

JESSICA CARSO, Managing Director, holds a BA in theatre from Marymount Manhattan College. While living in New York, Carso staged managed and directed several theatre projects, while also studying and working in arts administration. After graduating, she returned to Connecticut to pursue a career in the non-profit arts sector, working at Greater Hartford Arts Council and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art before becoming Green Street's first Director of Development and Marketing in August 2006. Currently, Carso is responsible for fundraising, facility operations, customer service management, budget supervision, and marketing for the Center. Carso serves on the board of the CT Chapter of the Association for Fundraising Professionals and is the Scholarship Chair for the chapter as well. She is also a member of the Middlesex County Community Foundation's Women and Girls Fund Committee and its grants committee. Currently, Carso is a student in Wesleyan's Graduate Liberal Studies Program.

CLAUDIA FOERSTEL, Financial Coordinator/Registrar, was born in Germany and immigrated to Connecticut in 1990. She is the proud parent of two boys. She graduated in 1982 from Ursulinen Gymnasium in Mannheim, Germany and went on to pursue a degree in administration with a financial focus at Berufsschule Lampertheim. Claudia takes pleasure in spending time with her family, sewing, knitting, reading, stained glass work and many other things. She enjoys working in Middletown's diverse community.

LINDA HATHWAY, Receptionist, holds a B.S. in Education from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. She has worked for 13 years with children and adults with disabilities in New York and Connecticut. Linda has provided speech therapy services at a child and family center in Queensbury New York and at Boces in Massena, New York.

FRANK KUAN, Center for Community Partnerships, Executive Director, has worked at Wesleyan University since 1998 and has served in a number of different positions including director of community relations, interim director of the Green Street Arts Center, and director of community services. The Center for Community Partnerships is seen as a portal for individuals interested in developing community-university initiatives and includes the Green Street Arts Center, the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism, the Office of Community Relations and the Service-Learning Center.

At present, Kuan volunteers as a board member for the Friends of Long Hill Estate, Middlesex United Way, and the North End Action Team. He also is a member of Middletown's Youth Services Bureau and the Middletown Commission on the Arts. Kuan received his bachelor's degree in biology with minors in chemistry and Asian-American studies and a master's degree in counseling with emphasis in career development at California State University, Fresno.

EDGARDO (Eggie) QUINONES, Technical and Maintenance Coordinator, is a former graffiti artist from Spanish Harlem NY and has been a Middletown and the North End resident for more than 25 years. Edgardo began volunteering, then working part-time at Green Street for five years, before becoming its full-time Technical and Maintenance Coordinator in February 2009. Before coming to Green Street, he worked as a shipping and receiving warehouse supervisor in Cromwell for 10 years. He is the proud parent of four children and has six grandchildren who all reside in the Middletown's North End.

SARAH-JANE RIPA, Artistic & Education Coordinator, is an advocate of social and personal change through creative communication and has been actively engaged in fields of arts administration and development for more than ten years. A graduate of Wesleyan University and resident of Middletown's North End, Sarah-Jane attended the University of Heidelberg and the School for Performing Arts in Mannheim while in Germany, and worked with numerous international and local artists at various venues in New York City.

SYLVIA RIVERA, Receptionist, is originally from the Bronx, New York. She has worked as a first grade reading tutor at Parkville Community School in Hartford, CT. She has also worked at Valley View Children’s Center which was a part of Connecticut Valley Hospital. Sylvia is the mother of three children, including one student in the AfterSchool Program. She is also the grandmother of four. Sylvia enjoys being involved with the community and working with children.

RACHEL L. ROCCOBERTON, Administrative Assistant, teaches at Arts at the Capitol Theater in Willimantic, directs for EO Smith High School and the Windham Theatre Guild and choreographs any number of shows that come her way. She holds a BA in Dance and Theater from Muhlenberg College in Allentown PA and has enjoyed sharing her love of dance with students of all ages for the past two years. Her training includes the study of ballet, modern, jazz, tap, swing, improvisation, West African and Baroque dance techniques.