Manuela Arciniegas

Manuela Arciniegas is the Senior Program Associate for the Andrus Family Fund and brings over 14 years of experience in youth organizing, community outreach, and cultural arts education.  She is currently a Next Generation Fellow with Hispanics in Philanthropy, a member of the Steering Committee of the New York City Chapter of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, a Public Humanities Fellow at the National Council of the Humanities and a Magnet Presidential Fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center where she obtained a masters in Ethnomusicology and is currently conducting dissertation research on the music and culture of Afro-Caribbean religious communities. Her research interests lie in the intersection between empowerment, low-income people of color communities, and Caribbean drum music. Manuela has worked as an adjunct professor of Caribbean music at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and has been working as an educator in cultural arts and environmental justice with organizations like Sustainable South Bronx, the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Mothers on the Move, BronxWorks, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, The Caribbean Cultural Center/African Diaspora Institute, CityLore, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and others.