GREEN STREET STAFF BIOS

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.

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.

SARAH-JANE RIPA, Artistic & Education Coordinator, has long been an advocate of social and personal change.  Actively engaged in the fields of arts administration and development for more than ten years, she brings to Green Street Arts Center a passion for innovative curriculum and program design.  A graduate of Wesleyan University and resident of Middletown's North End, Sarah-Jane is invested in creating dynamic opportunities for collaboration within the community.  Ms. Ripa oversees both the After School Arts and Science Program as well as Green Street's evening, weekend and daytime programming, including classes, workshops, performances and community events.  She attended the School for Performing Arts in Mannheim and University of Heidelberg while in Germany, and is currently a student in Wesleyan University's Graduate Liberal Studies Program.  Ms. Ripa serves on the board of the New Haven Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and represents Green Street as a member of the Greater Middlesex Community Collaborative and the CT After School Network.

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.

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.

COOKIE QUINONES, After School Arts Supervisor, has been a member of the Green Street Arts Center community since its very inception.  Believing in the power of the arts and education to help children create achievable ambitions for themselves, Cookie is a powerful advocate for the After School program.  Her own artistic passions include jewelry making, craft projects, and interior decorating.  Her responsibilities at Green Street include classroom management, primary contact for parents, group arts activities planning and implementation, and arts effectiveness review.  She is a past president of the community-organizing group NEAT (North End Action Team), and has also served as a member of the Middletown Adult Education Student Advisory Board.  She was previously an eighteen-year employee of Lake Grove Juvenile Behavioral and Handicap Facility.  Mrs. Quinones brings to Green Street a rare combination of behavioral management, community outreach and artistic skills.

CHRISTOPHER ACETO, After School Education Supervisor, taught high school history and social studies for 10 years at the Collaborative Alternative Magnet School in Northford, Conn., where he sought to empower his students to engage the richness of the world around them.  He earned his B.A. in political science from the University of Connecticut and studied abroad at the City University of London in England.  He recently earned his Masters of Liberal Studies degree in the social sciences from Wesleyan.  Mr. Aceto is CT certified to teach History and Social Studies, Grades 7-12.  His responsibilities include overseeing the Academic Enrichment Program, behavior management, outreach to schools and educators, and pedagogy review.

LISA BRUNO, Development Assistant, is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College who holds a BA in Spanish with a minor in Gender Studies.  While at Mount Holyoke, she traveled to Seville, Spain, where she lived and studied for a year.  Since starting at Green Street, Lisa has been working on strengthening community ties via Green Street's membership and partnership programs.  She thoroughly enjoys working at Green Street as it a combination of her passions: arts, community, and youth.  Using her fluency in Spanish and love of adventure, Lisa enjoys traveling around the world and learning about other cultures; her favorite destination is Spain.

Click here to return to the Staff page.

Click here to return to People of Green Street.