Staff Board of Directors

Staff

Leslie Neal
Founder, Artistic Director, Artist Facilitator Inside Out and Breaking Free

Leslie Neal has been an active member of the Miami dance community since 1981. She received a B.S.Ed. in Dance from the University of Georgia and a M.F.A. in Dance from Florida State University. Ms. Neal's choreography has been commissioned throughout Florida and the Southeast, and was presented at a special tribute to creative southern women at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996.

In 1994, Ms. Neal initiated a multi-disciplined creative arts program at Broward Correctional Institution, and since that time has implemented arts programs at five other correctional facilities for women and female juveniles in Florida and taught at facilities for women in California and Michigan. In 1997, Ms. Neal was chosen to serve as an artist-in-residence for the National Endowment of the Arts at the Federal Correctional Institution for Women in Tallahassee, Florida.

Ms. Neal is published in The Citizen Artist by Linda Burnham and Steve Durland, Twelve Secrets of Highly Creative Women – A Portable Memoir by Gail McKeegin, The Performer’s Guide to the Creative Process by Sheila Kerrigan, and Teaching the Arts Behind Bars, by Rachel Williams.

Nicole K. Bible
Executive Director, Artist Facilitator Inside Out

Nicole Bible (formerly, Thomas) is a Florida-licensed CPA and a Miami native. Nicole has worked with Leslie Neal since 1989 and was one of the original company members of ArtSpring when it was founded in 1992 as Leslie Neal Dance. Ms. Bible currently holds ArtSpring’s Executive Director position, formerly serving as treasurer and member of the organization’s board of directors. Nicole began to assist in the Inside Out program in January of 1995 at Broward Correctional Institution and since then has facilitated classes at Broward and Homestead Correctional Institutions and the Broward Outreach Center.

Ms. Bible graduated cum laude from Florida International University (FIU) with Bachelor degrees in Accounting and Dance as well as a Master of Science in Taxation. Ms. Bible also holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from FANO/Barry University. She began her professional career with a sole practitioner CPA, working part-time for nine years while completing her studies. She then spent over seven years with a multinational Big 4 accounting firm, where she specialized primarily in tax services for nonprofit exempt organizations. Nicole left corporate America in 2005 when she was appointed by ArtSpring’s board as the organization's first fulltime executive director.

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Board of Directors

Leslie Sternlieb – President

Miami native Leslie Sternlieb has overseen the communications programs and editorial operations of nonprofit organizations throughout South Florida, including those of the Concert Association of Florida and Miami City Ballet, for the past twenty years. She also served as senior editor of The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, a scholarly journal published by The Wolfsonian–FIU and distributed by MIT Press. As a freelance writer, she contributes to several regional and national magazines. Leslie was a co-facilitator with the Bridging the Gap writing workshop at Homestead Correctional Institution and has co-facilitated the Inside Out program there. She also serves as co-vice president for communications for the Greater Miami Section of National Council of Jewish Women.

Jill Ecklund – Treasurer

Jill Ecklund is a certified public accountant and independent financial consultant through her own corporation, Jill Ecklund, Inc. She served as assistant statewide director of the Girls Advocacy Project (GAP), Inc. and has worked as an advocate for and mentor of girls serving time in juvenile detention for several years. She is an active member of the Junior League of the Palm Beaches, the Miami-Dade County Regional Juvenile Detention Center’s Community Advisory Board, and the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County. Jill holds a B.S. in accountancy from Northern Illinois University and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. She served as a volunteer co-facilitator in the Bridging the Gap writing workshop at Broward Correctional Institution in 2006 and at Homestead Correctional in 2006-2007 and has also served as co-facilitator for the Inside Out program at Broward Correctional.

Arthur Christian Hilmer, III – Secretary

Arthur Christian Hilmer, III is an entrepreneur engaged primarily in the introduction of new medical technologies: Fournier Healthcare, CEO – a company developing a feminine Self Testing device and program that provides Pap testing for medically underserved women; AutoSafe Medical, VP Marketing & Sales – novel safety needles to protect healthcare workers from needlestick injuries; CVAC, South Florida Evangelist – an altitude conditioning chamber currently being studied as a means to improve insulin resistance, fitness / stamina, and as an alternative to hormone replacement therapies.

Sophie Michael – Board Member

Sophie Michael is a florist by trade and a retired executive secretary. Now a fulltime community volunteer, she has served on the board of ArtSpring for many years and is the current president of the Ladies Philoptochos Society at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Sophie is a member of the St. Sophia Choir and the Hellenic Papanicolaou Corps for Cancer Research / University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. She was a founding member and currently serves as membership chairman of the Biscayne Bay Sailing Club, which was established in 1986.

Janice Billie – Board Member

Janice Billie is a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, one of two federally recognized Native American tribes in Florida. She was incarcerated for twelve years at Broward Correctional and three years at Jefferson Correctional and is a former participant of the Inside Out workshop at both institutions. Since her release from prison, Janice has committed to keeping her life on a positive journey. Janice worked as the editor for the Seminole Tribune until she ventured into her own business. She is currently a manager at Big Cypress Landing and continues to serve as a representative for the women ArtSpring serves.

Beatriz Llorente – Board Member

Beatriz A. Llorente received her B.B.A. in International Finance in 1998 and Marketing from the University of Miami and her J.D. degree from St. Thomas University School of Law in 2001. She started her career at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office in 2001 as a Certified Legal Intern and then became and Assistant Public Defender. She currently has her own firm, Law Offices of Beatriz A. Llorente, P.A. She is a member of the Florida Bar, Florida Bar Juvenile Rules Committee , Florida Association of Women Lawyers, Cuban American Bar Association, Junior League of Miami, Zeta Tau Alpha Alumnae Association, Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade, University of Miami Alumni Association, and Dade County Bar Association where she serves as a Board Member.

Amanda Chestnutt – Board Member

Amanda Chestnutt recently moved to Miami, Florida from Fresno, California in May of 2007. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago; Amanda has also lived in Tortola, British Virgin Islands as well as many places in the United States. Amanda graduated in 2001 earning degrees in Accounting and Dance from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She worked with several wonderful instructors and choreographers in dance and after graduation completed a month long internship with the Shapiro and Smith Dance Company. She was then inspired to move to New York to pursue dance professionally. A year later she married and moved back to Florida. She then joined a small CPA firm to begin gaining experience in the public accounting field. She continued to take classes to stay involved in dance and eventually moved to Fresno, CA with her husband, joining a medium sized firm there. She is currently a full-time accountant at Kaufman Rossin & Co. located in Coconut Grove in Miami. She continues to take different types of dance classes when she can.

 

 

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Ruth, Homestead Correctional Institution,
Inside Out Participant 2002
(Click on image to enlarge)

“During the four years that I was actively involved in this program as an inmate participant, I was afforded the opportunity and means by which to delve into my innermost being, thereby being able to begin to “patch up” the broken woman that I was and blossomed into the vital, courageous woman I am today.”

Isabelle 6/8/01, former Inside Out Participant, now released

“Inside Out has given me a healthy sense of body awareness and creativity through self-expression, which has resulted in an improved self image and higher self-esteem”

Joyce, Broward Correctional Institution, Inside Out participant 1996

Marilyn, Homestead Correctional Institution, Inside Out participant 2001

“ Since I have been incarcerated for a number of years, I noticed myself withdrawing and closing down with regard to interacting with others. The program with its creative cultural abilities has allowed me to learn how to work through unhealthy issue and become an active part of social group. The class has also taught me different ways to deal and cope with my emotions whether it is through writing or movement. It also gives me the opportunity to explore the inner me and constructively work through my emotions in a healthy manner.”

Patricia, Homestead Correctional Institution, Inside Out participant 2001