Staff

Contact: 860.937.6648 | dbarcellos-allen@cthumanities.org

Dana Barcellos-Allen joined CT Humanities as communications manager in 2023. She’s spent nearly three decades in communications, primarily at non-profits.  

A storyteller at heart, she began her career as a journalist, writing at locations like the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas and the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, one of the country’s largest rallies. She coordinated American Red Cross media relations, communicating from places of incredible chaos: the dusty shadow of the rubble of Ground Zero, the throng of thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees in the Astrodome, side by side with soldiers helping war-torn Kosovo refugees resettle into America.  

Dana has a Master of Arts in creative writing from Sam Houston State University and earned Girl Scout’s highest honor, the Gold Award. She, her wife, young son, and four rescue pets spend their free time seeking out their next adventure to the tune of one of Dana’s obsessively curated playlists. 

Contact: 860.937.6510 | dberube@cthumanities.org

Diane Berube joined CT Humanities in 2008.  Diane is responsible for all general accounting as well as purchasing and administrative duties.  She also oversees all financial aspects of the re-granting program and grant compliance.  Diane brings several years of accounting and bookkeeping experience and was employed for over 20 years by Coca-Cola New York and Coca-Cola Enterprises, where she held several positions, including Senior Administrative Assistant and Route Settlement Analyst.  For several years, Diane had sole responsibility for the financial management of a contract between Coca-Cola Enterprises and the State of CT Board of Education Services for the Blind.

Contact: 860.937.6609 | achesnut@cthumanities.org

Adrianna Chesnut joined CT Humanities in 2021. At CTH, she provides support in the areas of grant making and finance. Adrianna graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and Human Rights and a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Connecticut. She grew up in Southeastern CT, where she spent six years at the Groton Public Library, working to provide efficient and ample access to public resources. During her time at UConn, Adrianna interned with the Human Rights and Alternative Press Collections of the university library archives, cataloging historical documents from 1960s Connecticut. Through these experiences, she developed a passion for furthering access to education and the humanities as they are essential to human rights.

Adrianna is excited to be a part of the CTH team as she is dedicated to the mission of the organization to strengthen the communities of the state she grew up in through informed engagement with the humanities and the world around us. Adrianna is an avid lover of cats and growing up, her family always had five or more!

Contact: 860.937.6582 | lcomstock@cthumanities.org

Lisa Comstock joined CT Humanities in 1990 and has worn many, many hats since that time, from administrative assistant to the executive director in her early days to deputy director of operations now. Due to her long-term employment with CTH, Lisa is its institutional memory. In her time, she became well-versed in in many areas of operations, starting with ITS by becoming the hands-on go-to tech support person and branching out to hand-coding the earliest website that CTH ever had in 1999. Aside from ITS, she has done one of each in her time with CTH including event planning, media outreach and development, office management, graphic design, and literacy and literary programming, to name only a few. Lisa holds a dual B.A. in History and English from the University of Tampa and an M.A. from Wesleyan University. In her free time, Lisa can be found reading into the wee hours draped in cats.

Contact: 860.937.6516 | rgonzalez@cthumanities.org

Rachel Gonzalez joined CT Humanities in 2024 as America 250 | CT Administrative Assistant, supporting CTH’s efforts around the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Prior to joining CTH, Rachel was the Director of Graduate Admissions at American International College, where she communicated with prospective students, internal and external contacts regarding college business on a daily basis. She has extensive experience with customer relationship management (CRM) systems and event coordination. Rachel is a former high school social studies teacher and is excited to combine her skills and experience with her affinity for US History.

Contact: 860.969.4331 | bguzzardi@cthumanities.org

Bridget Guzzardi joined CT Humanities in 2023 as accounting assistant, where she assists with general accounting, payroll, and administrative duties. Bridget brings several years of accounting, payroll, and labor relations experience and has been employed at organizations such as Seasons Federal Credit Union as general accountant, the Connecticut Humane Society as finance assistant, and a 10-year career as office manager for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 26. As office manager, Bridget was solely responsible for managing the district office, as well as assisting with union contract negotiations with employers throughout the state of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Bridget held office as secretary treasurer for the Guide Dogs of America CT, Western MA and RI chapter during her tenure with the Machinists Union. In Bridget’s free time, she volunteers with rescue equines and sighthounds.

Contact: 860.937.6633 | mkemezis@cthumanities.org

As the Director of Digital Humanities, Mike aims to advance the impact of the humanities through strengthening and expanding relationships with all CTH’s Funded Partners and creating new ways to make Connecticut’s cultural heritage content more accessible.

Prior to CT Humanities, Mike was the Repository Manager for the Connecticut Digital Archive, a program of the University of Connecticut. He received his Master of Library Science, with a concentration in archives, from the University of Long Island and has worked in a variety of cultural heritage, academic and corporate libraries, and archives in and around New York City and New England.

He lives with his wife and son, along with their cats in Massachusetts and he enjoys getting on the ice to play hockey whenever he gets the opportunity.

Contact: 860.937.6636 | jmancini@cthumanities.org

Akomawt Educational Initiative – Co-founder
Brown University – Mellon Visiting Fellow in Slavery and Justice
Everyday Democracy – Civic Health Advisory Committee
Mystic Aquarium – Scientist-in-Residence
State Education Resource Center (SERC) – African American Curriculum Development Committee

Dr. Jason Mancini joined CT Humanities as Executive Director in 2018. At CTH, he is focused on strengthening organizational partnerships, engaging diverse audiences, and anchoring Connecticut’s placemaking, public history, and integrative digital initiatives.

Jason is also co-founder of Akomawt Educational Initiative and the former Executive Director of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center.  During the past 30 years, he has worked with tribes and indigenous peoples of southern New England, Alaska, Hawai’i, and New Zealand.  He is an ally to these communities and works to build awareness of indigenous rights and histories within non-Native contexts.  His academic interests include indigenous social networks, maritime labor, and migration; indigenous citizenship and political activism; and reindigenizing public history and education.

Currently, Mellon Visiting Fellow in Slavery and Justice at Brown University, Jason served previously as Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Connecticut College, Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Brown University, and Social Sciences Instructor at Sea for Sea Education Association (SEA).

Jason holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Connecticut with expertise in the archaeology and ethnohistory of New England.  His article, “in contempt and oblivion”: Censuses, Ethnogeography, and Hidden Indian Histories in Eighteenth-Century Southern New England, published in the Journal of Ethnohistory and his forthcoming book projects, “Beyond Reservation: Indian Survivance in Southern New England,” to be published by SUNY Press and “The Narragansett Chief: Adventurers of a Wanderer” (an edited volume) examine the nuanced and subverted histories of the indigenous peoples of the American northeast.

Contact: 860.937.6542 | smuro@cthumanities.org

CT Library Consortium – Children’s Librarian’s Round Table, South, Co-Chair

Susan Muro joined CT Humanities in 1996.  As Book Voyagers Program Officer, Muro partners with libraries, schools, and community-based organizations to provide high-quality book discussions, literature-based storytelling, and a wide variety of meaningful and creative experiences to people of all ages.  With hundreds of sessions each year, thousands of Connecticut citizens can participate in engaging, relevant programming right in their own communities.  This last year, Muro took on the responsibility of securing grants to fund Book Voyagers programs.  Prior to CT Humanities, Ms. Muro was the Executive Director of the Southern Connecticut Library Council, a multi-type library consortium.  Susan began her library career at the Hamden Library, where she held various positions, including Children’s Librarian and Head of Technical Services.  Muro holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree in library science from Southern Connecticut State University, is active in continuing professional development, and is a longtime member of the Connecticut Library Association.

Contact: 860.937.6520 | soliver@cthumanities.org

Sheldyn Oliver joined CT Humanities in 2020. She earned an associate degree in General Studies from Middlesex Community College and a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Wesleyan University.  Having lived in Middletown since early childhood, Sheldyn is honored to have received degrees from institutions located in her hometown.  Her studies, exploration, and time spent working with the professors in Wesleyan’s African American Studies Department helped to ignite her enthusiasm for history and sparked, even further, the desire to better understand how it informs the present.

Contact: 860.937.6653 | lpartridge@cthumanities.org

Lian Partridge joined CT Humanities in 2021. She earned a BA in English Literature with a double minor in Chinese Culture and Language and Cinema Studies from Northeastern University and a MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Lian has worked with adult students in both administrative and teaching roles at various institutions, such as UCLA Extension, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and Shantou University in Shantou, China. In her teaching roles, she has enjoyed the opportunities to work with immigrant and bilingual groups and guide students to explore the intersections of language and culture.

After spending several years in California and abroad, she is happy to be returning to Connecticut where she spent half her childhood. As someone who dedicated her studies and teaching to language, literature, intercultural communication, and film, she is particularly excited about CTH’s mission of promoting public humanities, and she looks forward to learning about and helping to facilitate CTH’s support of the great humanities projects happening around Connecticut!

Contact: 860.881.2934 | kquotap@cthumanities.org

Khalil Quotap is the Digital Systems Manager, joining CT Humanities in 2022. He will help develop CTH’s statewide digital initiative program, working with organizations and individuals across the state to make the state’s cultural heritage more accessible to the public.

A former New Haven Social Studies teacher, he began his career in museum education at the Connecticut Historical Society, before serving as Director of Education at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, CT, and Director of Education at the Wood Museum & Library in South Windsor, CT. Prior to Connecticut Humanities, Khalil was the Director of Education and Engagement at the New Haven Museum, where he brought the history of New Haven to adults and children of all ages. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Southern Connecticut State University.

When not working, Khalil is at home in Southington watching something Marvel or Star Wars, or out traveling the state looking for both vintage and new toys and collectibles.

Contact: 860. 986.6704 | ctolosa@cthumanities.org 

Cyndi Tolosa joined CT Humanities as the Development Officer in 2022. She leads CTH’s individual and corporate fundraising efforts and works to strengthen CTH’s relationship with its many supporters.

Prior to joining CTH, Cyndi was the Director of Development at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT and Development Officer at the Concord Museum in Massachusetts. At both organizations, she helped manage capital campaigns for building renovations and worked with the board and other donors on individual and corporate gifts, membership, events, and grants.

Cyndi earned a B.A. with a double major in Architecture and French from Columbia University and an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program of SUNY Oneonta. New York City is still one of her favorite places to be.

When not working or traveling, Cyndi lives in Bristol with her husband and their small menagerie (cat, dog, tortoise, turtle, and soon-to-be chickens).

Contact: 860.881.2940 | bvitkauskas@cthumanities.org

Becky Vitkauskas joined CT Humanities as a Grants & Programs Assistant in 2022. A library and archives professional, Becky earned an MS in Library and Information Science (MSLIS) with a concentration in Cultural Heritage Informatics. Becky also studied social sciences, the arts and humanities, and even culinary arts.

Having worked in public, private, nonprofit, and academic institutions, Becky has experience with many activities our grantees will recognize. These include implementing programming, managing budgets, processing archival materials, stewarding collections, assessing metadata, and improving digital processes. For Becky, this work always has been and will continue to be, focusing on marginalized and underrepresented groups and people to help build more inclusive, accessible, and equitable communities.

When not working, Becky can often be buried in yarn, with an open book, and curled up with the pets.

Contact: 860.937.6535 | swands@cthumanities.org

Scott Wands is the Director of Grants and Programs at CT Humanities where he oversees the Connecticut Humanities Fund granting program and delivers non-grant-funded services to Connecticut’s cultural community.  He is co-creator of StEPs-CT, an integrated program of training, mentoring, and grant funding that, since 2012, has helped forty-seven Connecticut cultural organizations build professionalism and remain vibrant community resources.  He directed CTH’s Journalism in an Age of Fake News project (2018-19), managed Poetry Out Loud in Connecticut (2014-2017), oversaw the 2013-14 statewide Connecticut at Work initiative, and created the Heritage Resource Center (2008-12), a nationally award-winning web portal.  Scott currently serves as a board member for the American Association for State and Local History *Nashville, TN) and the Connecticut Coalition for History.  He is also a Connecticut Corporator for the Eastern States Exposition (West Springfield, MA).  Before joining CTH in March 2008, he worked for five years at Connecticut Landmarks as Assistant Curator of Education.  A graduate of Amherst College and the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, Scott lives in Wethersfield, Connecticut, with his wife and daughter.

Contact: 860.937.6528 | ewiley@cthumanities.org

Emma Wiley joined CT Humanities in 2021. She is a public historian with a special interest in connecting and strengthening communities through their historical and cultural resources. Emma holds a B.A. in history from Vassar College and is currently working towards an M.A. in history with a concentration in public history from American University. Before coming to CTH, Emma served as an AmeriCorps member at Wheeling Heritage in Wheeling, W.V. In addition, she has experience in archaeology, material culture, and community engagement. Emma is dedicated to pursuing and creating a more diverse, reflective, and accessible humanities discipline.

Emma lives in Washington, D.C. and enjoys exploring the outdoors, getting involved in DC activities, and finding new coffee shops.