Joanie Calem (Chair) *

Joanie is a musician, singer/songwriter, storyteller, disability awareness activist, community-builder, cross-cultural worker and teacher.  She has been teaching music and performing since 1983.  Joanie uses music to break down stereotypes, build community and foster connection.

Chair, Steering Committee/PMN. 

Interim Chair, Program Committee.

Term Start 2020.  Not seeking re-election.

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Joanne Tuller (Treasurer) 

I grew up attending 1960s protests with my activist mom, so I learned early how singing strengthens political movements.  I’ve helped organize numerous PMN events, primarily in logistical roles such as coordinating registration.  To the Steering Committee I bring my organizational skills along with experience in data management, copy-editing for clarity and brevity, and group process and facilitation.

Treasurer, Steering Committee / PMN.

Interim Management Team:  Administrator of Operations.

Term Start 2025.

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Angie Whitehurst (Secretary)  

Active inclusion and strong productive relationships  … capacity and infrastructure building are my priorities.  Opportunity for all, mentoring and sharing are key to creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship and to growing and maintaining an already vibrant organization. 

I have skills to offer, coming from my experience as a community advocate, a DC Peace team board member, a member of One DC, a 500 hour certified yoga instructor, a life coach, a writer, a poet and artist, and as a vendor and contributor to www.streetsensemedia.org. 

I have previous experience as an employee, consultant, contractor with local, state and federal government domestically and internationally - with extensive training in dance, exhibit management and proposal writing.  I am eager to serve on the PMN Steering Committee. 

Secretary, Steering Committee/PMN.

Term Start 2022.  Seeking re-election.

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Gary Allard

Gary Allard is a soulful contemporary singer-songwriter.  He continues to build his unique sound by extracting inspiration from a plethora of genres including pop, folk, gospel, R&B, and Caribbean music.  He composes his lyrics from his own personal and social experiences, striving to connect with his audience through tender yet powerful emotional singing.

Interim Management Team:  Administrator of Fundraising.

Term Start 2022.  Seeking re-election.

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Ben Bath

Term Start 2024.  Seeking re-election.

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Huayra Forster

Huayra is a Quechua name for wind.  Born in from Huancayo, Peru, but raised primarily in Yellow Springs, Ohio, she plays a blend of unknown genres of music from youth hood, that were learned in orchestra, summer camps and children’s theater spaces, and choirs. 

The value of intergenerational and multicultural spaces within tight-knit communities has helped her acquire knowledge for sharing while busking in towns and city streets.  When asked about if she is considers herself an Urban Native, she responded that she might just be a “nomadic village Native.”

While her music can be found through online streaming platforms, and a CD.  Her role in the steering committee has primarily been to stay active in the efforts of the outreach/social media committee, although she is interested in seeing through the creation of a collectively owned PMN songbook for 2025.  She is also active in PMN-DC chapter.

Chair, Social Media Committee.

Term Start 2022.  Seeking re-election.

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Eric Law *

Ever since I started writing songs about my Chinese American experience in the 1970s, I never stopped writing.  Over the years, I was involved in Anti-Nuclear Arms protests, GLBTQ+ justice, and racial justice movements with my music.  In the 2000s, I founded a not-for-profit organization to create sustainable and diverse communities across the U.S. and Canada. 

I retired last year and am now focusing my time on songwriting.  I am thankful to have found PMN which has provided a musical community I never imagined I could have during the pandemic.  I hope to give back to PMN by offering my perspectives and skills to further the mission of PMN relevant to our present context.

Term Start 2020.  Not seeking re-election.

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Chris "Oledude" Owens  ***

(New York, New York, USA)

Interim Management Team:  Administrator of Governance.

SELECTED 10/2025 TO FILL VACANCY EXPIRING 1/26.

What is your involvement in using music for progressive social change? (Focus on broad themes rather than specific projects.)

I have been writing and performing music “for causes” since I was in college.  My themes have included peace/opposition to war, equality/opposition to socio-economic inequality and inequities, human and civil rights.

What is your history with Peoples Music Network so far – your experience at gatherings, collaborations, volunteer efforts, etc?

I joined PMN in 1984 and attended every gathering through 1991.  I was married in 1990 and went on a PMN hiatus until after my second son was born, when I started to attend NY-based gatherings on an intermittent basis.  I re-connected more fully with PMN in 2019 and have been active since then.  During this past calendar year I was involved to a much greater degree and volunteered to join the Interim Management Team and fill a Steering Committee vacancy.

Do you have any experience serving in other organizations, especially as a member of a Steering Committee or a Board of Directors?

I served as a Trustee and then Chair of the Trustees for the non-profit Weeksville Heritage Foundation (Brooklyn, NY) during a difficult transition covering 1993 to 2003.  I was an officer of the non-profit Central Brooklyn Martin Luther King Commission (Brooklyn, NY) from 2013 through 2018.  I was a founding Board member of the Brooklyn Scholars Charter School, serving for four years (and as Board Treasurer).   

I was the Executive Director of Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) from 2007 through 2010 and Interim Executive Director for the non-profit Advocates for Justice (NY, NY) from 2011 to 2013.  Most recently, I managed a 14-month leadership transition as Interim Executive Director for the Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub in Putnam County, NY and am a member of Interim Executive Solutions.

Why do you want to serve on the PMN Steering Committee?

PMN is a special and important non-profit organization in a particularly difficult position during these wild times:  we provide a very intangible set of benefits to a very small number of people.  The competition for attention and resources that we always faced have only intensified during Trumpocracy 2. 

As PMN’s leadership, SC members need to be more than well-meaning and committed; we need to be pushing changes and working harder to excite and mobilize current members while engaging new ones.  This was hard enough when we had a paid staff person.  As an all-volunteer organization, the challenge is even greater.

While we know that we can overcome and outlast the craziness of today, we must also embrace the reality that more experience with organizational management and technology is essential.  I want to help PMN make it through the storms. I have some relevant experience and I believe I can be of assistance through membership on the SC.

What are your concrete goals in serving as a member of the PMN Steering Committee?

1.   To contribute to a meaningful Strategic Plan covering the next three to five years.

2.   To improve PMN membership engagement with PMN year-round.

3.   To improve PMN membership retention.

4.   To recruit at least 100 first-time PMN members within 24 months.

5.   To increase the ethnic, racial and age diversity of PMN’s membership.

6.   To increase PMN’s public profile as a “go to” organization for cultural connections and resources.

7.   To increase PMN’s industry profile as a “go to” organization for quality music pertaining to peace and social justice matters.

What connections with activists and musicians will you bring that can help PMN expand?

This is not my area of strength, though I do know some activists within the New York City area.  My network of non-PMN musicians is small, unfortunately.  I am working on changing that.  My life since 2019 has been more isolated in many ways (and not just because of COVID.)

The PMN Steering Committee is especially seeking members with skills in the following areas. Below are the standing committees that Steering Committee members choose to take part in. Please note which committee would be your preference and what experience you have in these areas. “None” is a perfectly acceptable answer, but please consider mentioning areas where you have even moderate levels of skill.

Membership Engagement: Developing new ways for PMN to support our members in between gatherings, particularly online and through local events.

As an IMT member, I am currently involved in this area primarily through my stewardship of the newsletter and work on the website (along with others).  I have proposed and will continue to propose ideas for increasing membership engagement through online events, in particular, as well as warm-weather outdoor events.

Finance: Advising on how funds are allocated, how money is managed, and how budgets are set in order to accomplish PMN’s mission. May involve applying past experience and/or curiosity to learn.

I am already involved with this area, to some extent, through IMT work.  I do not intend to sit on the relevant Standing Committee, however.

Social Media: Strengthening PMN’s networking and outreach capacity on social media platforms.

I am already involved with this area, to some extent, through IMT work.  I also have more direct (and painful) experience as someone who operated a “business” involved with social media work on behalf of singer-songwriters (including myself and Judy Gorman, amongst others).  I do not in any way present myself as an expert in this area.

Fundraising: Writing grants, organizing benefit concerts and/or helping to inspire major gifts to support PMN’s work.

I am not a grant writer, but I am a good grant proposal editor.  I am not a great “nuts and bolts” event organizer, but I ask good questions during the planning phases of events.  I am good at meeting with individuals and/or organizations with “major gift” potential; I did that sort of work with my other non-profits.

Legal: Advising the SC on legal concerns from setting contracts to navigating nonprofit tax law.

I am not an attorney.  I have, however, been exposed to business circumstances requiring input and I have worked with attorneys on non-profit matters.  Our current contracted attorney is someone I know and used to work with.

Other: Please tell us about other skills .

I am a quick study on many things technical.  I have experience building and operating databases.  I have done work on websites, some rudimentary graphics work for the Peoples’ Voice Cafe (NY), music production work on my own pieces as well as others, and very basic video production.

Please write a candidate statement about why PMN members should vote for you to serve on the steering committee. Feel free to excerpt from the responses above.  Candidate statements must be 150 words or less.

PMN is both a haven for peace-loving and socially-conscious artists like you and a launching pad for action.  Our Steering Committee is the heart.  Passion and the practical are chambers and PMN’s mission is being pumped to all.

No casual here!  Attending meetings and raising/giving money are the minimum responsibilities of an SC member.  If one can’t do those, then a better fit is serious volunteer – a critical artery.  PMN can make powerful changes over the next few years, but change must start today or our appeal to others – our health -- will diminish.  

I have organizational experience.  Others will verify that I am someone who is present and active.  I will continue to be so and push my SC colleagues accordingly.  We can work better than we do now, love better than we do now, share more than we do now -- and we can make a greater impact.

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Jane Sapp *

I am a cultural worker - a performer, songwriter, recording artist and educator who engages with disenfranchised urban and rural communities in the United States and around the world.  My music is rooted in the spiritual, religious and historical experiences of the African American world. 

As an educator, I help the silenced find their voices through the arts (See Someone Sang for Me   https://www.janesapp.org/documentary). 

I  founded and developed the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival in 1975, in Greene County, Alabama, and the festival of Low Country Life in 1972, in South Carolina, both of which continue today.  It would be an honor for me to serve the community of the People’s Network as a member of the Steering Committee.

Term Start 2022.  Not seeking re-election.

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Sarah Underhill

I am a folk music performer and song collector who has a great love for PMN which has nurtured me through many decades as a supportive, musical community.  I want to give my all to developing strategies to sustain the organization economically and to support young, diverse musician/activists.

I served as an Administrative Assistant for PMN years ago and have experience on numerous boards.  I want to give my all to PMN as a member of the Steering Committee.

Term Start 2025.

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