Mr. Brian Francoise has deep experience in community-based programs and in a variety of learning environments. He served as an Open Society Institute — Baltimore — Community Fellow, and he worked as a non-profit arts administrator in community engagement, development, and advocacy. He was an affiliate faculty member teaching community-based theatre and peace studies and courses to incarcerated individuals, and he has taught in the public school systems of Memphis, TN, Alexandria, VA, and Baltimore City. Brian has also directed after-school youth theatre programs in Washington, DC, New York City, and Baltimore.

Elizabeth Garcia is a recently returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in the Republic of Georgia in the Community Economic Development program. She is a Shriver Peaceworker Fellow at UMBC and pursuing her Masters of Social Work at UMB. Elizabeth is completing her Peaceworker placement with the Lakeland Community and STEAM Center, and she is a bilingual speaker of English and Spanish.

Becca Hazany grew up in the Philly suburbs and moved to Baltimore in 2011. Since then, she has gradually fallen in love with the city and its spirit. Becca finds joy in cooking and sharing food alongside other day-to-day delights such as music, reading, writing, learning languages (she speaks Spanish), yoga, climbing, hiking, and growing things. Outside of her daytime job, she has worked on projects focused around building structures of community care and co-facilitated adult learning on topics of gender and sexuality. More recently, she has been exploring how somatic practices can be integrated into social movements. Becca has worked at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School since 2017, previously as an ESOL Para-Educator before joining the LC+SC team.

Originally from Argentina, Ana grew up in a family in which giving to others was paramount. She spent ten years in Barcelona (Spain), teaching ESL, before moving to Baltimore with her husband and daughter in 2019. In her work at Lakeland, Ana has found the community where her passions for learning, teaching, and service come together. Ana is also currently pursuing her Masters in Professional Studies in Community Leadership at UMBC.