Staff & Service Artists
Chris "Kiff" Gallagher, Jr. – CEO & Founder
Kiff Gallagher has led a creative and dedicated career of service, business and music. Soon after graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, he joined the White House legislative team that created AmeriCorps while moonlighting with his funk band and volunteering as a youth mentor. Kiff later directed pro-social and communications strategies at Odwalla Inc. and was appointed President of Social Venture Network – a national association of CEOs and investors in sustainable business.
In 2003, Kiff merged his life’s passions by launching Peacelabs Music, Inc.—a micro-indie record label— where he wrote and produced two independent albums and toured with his band. San Francisco Weekly called his debut album “pretty stunning” and his follow up, You Can't Keep it Down was named a “Top-10 Indie Pick of 2006” by Music Connection magazine. Kiff’s music has been licensed to MTV, Fox, the Travel Channel and other networks and films. Peacelabs also incubated the Center for Music National Service (MNS), which he founded in 2007 to launch “a musical Peace Corps” and promote music as a public-service strategy. The following year, MNS was named “1 of 10 socially innovative ideas that will strengthen U.S. communities” by the Aspen Institute. In order to promote a federal Artist Corps, Kiff served on Barack Obama's National Arts Policy Committee and as an advisor to the Presidential Transition. He also helped launch the bipartisan Congressional Musicians Caucus to develop “innovative policy strategies that incorporate music in the fields of education, health and social policy.” After nearly two years of self-financing and volunteering for MNS, in December of 2008, Kiff was awarded a $500,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to put his vision into action.
Throughout his career, Kiff’s ideas and work have been featured in national news media and industry journals; MNS is no exception. He has guest lectured on social innovation, corporate responsibility, branding and crisis communications at universities, and other institutions nationwide. In his spare time, Kiff enjoys following global current affairs, politics and the stock market. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Hahva, a social worker and therapist in public schools.
Laura Page - Deputy Director
Laura Page is a lifelong musician with a passion for public service. Prior to joining MNS, she served as Policy Advisor to the Illinois State Treasurer, where her work focused on providing social and financial services to Illinois families. In that role, she developed and implemented Bank On Illinois, a state-wide economic development partnership based on the successful Bank On San Francisco program. Laura also served as a strategy associate for ShoreBank Corporation, the nation’s first community development bank, and worked in public policy at CISAC, a think tank at Stanford University. She has master’s degrees in public policy and social sciences from the University of Chicago, and her undergraduate studies were at Stanford, where she majored in music composition (instruments: piano and contrabass) and French studies. Her primary pastimes include re-learning piano, blogging about cultural happenings and spending as much time as possible outdoors.
David Watterson – Senior Manager
David Watterson is an energetic and passionate advocate for national service and music’s role as a social resource for youth and communities. Watterson has engaged citizens in service through his past work as a consultant to McDonald’s USA, Arkansas Community Foundation, and the Kenyan based nonprofit Kijana Educational Empowerment Initiative. A lifelong musician, Watterson studied contemporary piano performance and music business at Berklee College of Music. He holds a master’s degree in public service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and is an alumnus of City Year, where he served in Chicago Public Schools for two years as an AmeriCorps team leader.
Alaia Zeno - MusicianCorps Program Manager
Alaia Zeno has served as an AmeriCorps Member with Jumpstart for Young Children, a national early literacy non-profit. Alaia graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in American Studies and concentrations in Ethnomusicology and Music. She has studied a wide variety of genres as a percussionist.
CONSULTANTS
Legal (Pro bono counsel) - William Needle, Special Counsel, Business Department, Howard Rice
Financial - Michael J. Hassid, Founder and CEO, OrgAmi Inc; Joe DiGiacomo, CPA, Former Chief Financial Officer, Common Sense media; Former CFO, Bay Area Video Coalition; Audit manager, Burr, Pilger and Mayer
Evaluation - Cynthia Gibson, Ph.D., Cynthesis Consulting; Jonthan Zaff, Ph. D., Former Vice President of Research, America’s Promise; Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University; and Corey Newhouse, M.P.P., Public Profit
Service Artists
Hernando Buitrago – MusicianCorps
Service Sites: Buena Vista Horace Mann (6-8), MetWest H.S.
Hernando Buitrago is a guitarist, song-writer and educator. Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Hernando discovered the magic of guitar while listening to 60's Rock. He later moved to Boston, MA where he received a B.A. in Professional Music from Berklee College of Music. In Boston, he worked as the Music Clubhouse Coordinator in a youth development organization where, with the support of the Music and Youth Initiative, he helped develop and run a program that gave inner city youth access to musical instruments and a recording studio. Hernando's focus is to develop and implement music learning opportunities with emphasis on guitar, including group and individual lessons, ensemble work and community performances.
Jennifer Hastings – MusicianCorps
Service Site: San Francisco VA Medical Center
Jen Hastings is a Board-Certified music therapist of thirteen years and hails most recently from Seattle. In 2011, she completed her master's degree at the University of the Pacific, where she studied the effect of drumming on arm hemiparesis for survivors of stroke. Jen has worked musically with all kinds of people, from very small children with developmental disabilities to the elderly. She plays the flute, piano, and guitar, and is working on the ukulele. Jen has also spent most of her summers leading wilderness trips for Outward Bound. Jen's service mission is to implement music therapy programs at the VA and to show veterans that we all deserve to be musicians.
Meagan Hughes – MusicianCorps
Service Site: UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital
Meagan Hughes is a Board Certified Music Therapist and Teaching Artist, specializing in voice, guitar, piano and West African percussion. Meagan has shared the joy and comfort of music with a wide variety of marginalized populations, including homeless families, terminally ill patients, and children with autism. Meagan has a BA in Music Therapy from the University of Minnesota, and trained at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institutes and Hospital in San Francisco, CA. Meagan's service mission is to expand Music Therapy services at UCSF Children’s Hospital for chronically/terminally ill patients (1:1 and small group) and implement community service projects with bay area youth serving UCSF.
Kate Fiano – MusicianCorps
Service Site: Buena Vista Horace Mann (K-3), Think College Now
Kate Fiano is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and music educator from New England. She studied Music Education at the University of Vermont and holds a California State Single Subject Teaching Credential in Music K-12. Kate fell in love with the blues while in high school and has not stopped creating music since. After her college graduation, Kate joined the Developmental Services Department of Northwestern Counseling. Being an Associate of Adaptive and Expressive Arts, Kate continued her service mission of using music to facilitate collaboration, communication, and expression among people of all abilities.
Chris Howarth - AmeriCorps*VISTA, Social Media & Communications
Chris Howarth is a musician, filmmaker, graphic artist and web designer. Chris has been involved in a number of musical activities, including giving lessons and performing in several bands. Majoring in Music Industry Management, Chris received his BS in Business from Ferris State University in Michigan.
Roger Kim - AmeriCorps*VISTA, Social Media & Communications
Roger Kim is jazz guitarist and composer playing in several groups around the Bay Area. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2011 with degrees in music and business administration. He comes to the Center for Music National Service following his experience launching a mobile application at a tech startup.
Beth Montroy - AmeriCorps*VISTA, Development
Beth Montroy recently completed a year of service with the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) in Mississippi. Her work included disaster response, infrastructure improvement, and urban and rural development. She received her BA in Arts Administration from Ithaca College, NY, with a minor in both trombone performance and anthropology, and has worked in a variety of arts organizations.
Meredith Storton - AmeriCorps*VISTA, Development & Communications
Meredith Storton served as an AmeriCorps member with the American Red Cross helping people prepare and recover from disasters before joining the Center for Music National Service. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Economics and History. Meredith is a classically trained violinist who enjoys dabbling in fiddle.
