Meet the Jury for Making Policy Public!
Meet the incredible jurors who will be helping us review applications to our Making Policy Public open call! We’re so grateful to be working with (clockwise from top left): Ariana Faye Allensworth, Eugenia Mello, Daniel Chu, and Mayra Aldas Deckert.
Ariana Faye Allensworth is a cultural worker who helps people organize to create change in their communities. Working across a range of disciplines including research, design, photography, and oral history, her work often focuses on stories of urban life. She leverages participatory and collaborative methods to mobilize and build belonging in place. Ariana’s creative practice is deeply informed by her decade-long experience as an arts administrator, social worker, educator, and strategist, supporting organizations working to transform culture. She currently leads DE&I strategy at global design and innovation firm IDEO and helps run the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project’s NYC chapter.
Eugenia Mello is an award-winning illustrator and art director from Buenos Aires, Argentina based in Brooklyn, NY. Her illustrations have been commissioned for projects with renowned companies and organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Apple, UPS, Chase, Nike, Patagonia, the NYT, and the Guggenheim Museum. Her rhythmic and colorful artwork has garnered recognition from prestigious institutions including the Society of Illustrators of New York, Communications Arts, American Illustration, and The Art Director's Club (ADC) of New York. Awards include Gold and Silver medals from the NY Society of Illustrators, as well as a Silver Cube from the ADC which she won for 'Moving' a Picture Book she authored and illustrated. She has also illustrated several other picture books. Eugenia is a regular collaborator at Enchanted Lion Books, serving in various capacities, primarily as a Designer and Associate Art Director. Additionally, she holds a position on the Board of the Society of Illustrators and teaches illustration at the School of Visual Arts and Queens College.
Daniel Chu is a geographer and climate organizer. As the Senior Energy Planner for the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Daniel coordinates various campaigns designed to inform city, state, and federal policies for building energy democracy and achieve a just transition, such as his work to phase out New York’s peaker power plants in the PEAK Coalition. Daniel received an M.S. in Design & Urban Ecologies from The New School and is pursuing doctoral studies at the City University of New York, where his research focuses on the political economy of climate and energy infrastructure in New York State.
Mayra Aldás-Deckert leads the campaign work and coalition building at Riders Alliance. She has been a strong advocate for immigrant communities for years. Before joining Riders Alliance, Mayra was the Director of Community Engagement at the New York Immigration Coalition, where she managed numerous initiatives, implemented outreach strategies to engage New York City’s diverse communities, and served as the main coordinator of the NYIC’s Key to the City Initiative. She is a graduate of Brooklyn College with a B.S. in Business Management and Finance. In Ambato, she completed three years of Commercial Engineering with a focus in Management and Business Planning at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. A native of Ecuador, she moved to New York City with her family in 2005. Mayra serves on the Board of Directors of Mixteca. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.