Amy Shimshon-Santo is a writer and educator who believes that the arts and culture are powerful tools for personal and social transformation. Her interdisciplinary work bridges the arts, education, and urban planning. Born into an arts family, she has been making art and involved in arts management and programming throughout her life. Earlier in her career, she co-founded the Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, a transnational performing arts company. She taught at UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture where she directed the ArtsBridge Program and initiated the first visual and performing arts education degree in the UC system. Shimshon-Santo represented the State of California to the National Endowment of the Art’s Education Leadership Institute and was a founding member of Create California. She has professional experience in development and has served on grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the CA Arts Council, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and various foundations. Shimshon-Santo founded CREO Worldwide to promote a just society by investing in diverse leadership and bringing great ideas into action. She has earned a number of fellowships, and consulted for agencies including Community Partners and Arts for LA. Shimshon-Santo has performed internationally at venues including the Kennedy Center for the Arts, and her writing has been published by UC Press, SUNY Press, the Teaching Artist’s Journal, Public, Tiferet Journal, Zócalo Public Square, Critical Planning, and others. She serves on the Southern California regional cluster for Imagining America, and was honored on the President of the United States’ Honor Roll for Service Learning.