Field Leadership Fund: Meet Goussy Célestin & Azure D. Osborne-Lee

Yesterday the Fellows began the workshop phase of Field Leadership Fund. For the next eight weeks they will be hard at work learning important entrepreneurial and equity leadership skills that will inform their work for the rest of the Fellowship, pairing process and beyond.

During this phase, we will post the bios and photos of two randomly selected Fellows each week so that you can get to know them, in their own words. Please stay tuned here and on Twitter via the hashtag #FieldLeadershipFund to learn more about the Fellows and the program.

Artist Fellow, Goussy Célestin's personal mission has long been about stirring up all her musical influences into a moving experience, incorporating both her music and dance background.

Goussy's versatility has received favorable reviews in the NEW YORK TIMES, where she was called a "renaissance woman ". A longtime member of Retumba and Ase Dance Theatre Collective alum, Goussy currently performs throughout the NYC-Tri state area as a musician and dancer.  She has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Del Terzo Studio at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, SOB's, the Knitting Factory, NJPAC, Tilles Center, Newark Symphony Space, Joe's Pub, to name a few. Her performance travels include Cuba, England,

Wales, Japan, Haiti, and the U.S.

Currently, Goussy is a faculty member for the Middle School Jazz Academy and WeBop programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She is also mother to two young boys, ages 2 and 5 - what she calls her "greatest creative compositions".

"While I have already been doing leadership [teaching] work in my communities, FLF is not only a good fit, but the catalyst/fuel to sharpen my leadership skills.My voice, as a mother/artist/member of Haitian diaspora and my experience as a multi-tasking artist/ dancer/ teacher/ musician/ mom, is one unique perspective I bring to the table."
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Manager Fellow, Azure D. Osborne-Lee is a writer, director, and performer from South of the Mason-Dixon Line. He holds an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice from Royal Central School of Speech & Drama as well as an MA in Women's & Gender Studies and a BA in English & Spanish from The University of Texas at Austin.

Azure currently serves as Grants Coordinator for Brooklyn Arts Council, where he has worked since July 2014. Over the past couple of years, Azure has also worked for Cherry Lane Theatre, The Billie Holiday Theatre, and The Foundry Theatre in a variety of capacities.

Azure is a Lambda Literary Fellow in Playwriting (2015 & 2016) as well as an alumnus of both Rising Circle Theater Collective's INKtank (2014) and EMERGENYC, the Hemispheric New York Emerging Performers Program (2014). 

Azure has held playwriting residences with Brooklyn Community Pride Center (2015), New Shoes Theatre (2011), and Freedom Train Productions (2010), and he was recently awarded the 2015 Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Award for his first full-length play, “Mirrors.”

This past October, Azure presented new writing at Fire & Ink IV: Witness in Detroit, Michigan. On January 25, 2016 he'll receive a reading of his newest full-length play, “Glass,” as part of The Fire This Time Festival. You can keep up with Azure's work at http://azureosbornelee.com.

"I love art and I fold it into my life every chance I get.  I'm a natural administrator. When I'm not making work of my own, I want to be supporting other artists in the creation of new work -- after all, somebody's gotta be the details guy!"

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.