MNS Team
Kiff Gallagher – CEO and Founder
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Kiff Gallagher served in the White House, on the legislative team that created AmeriCorps. At the Corporation for National Service, Gallagher ran a $15MM program portfolio in education, health, public safety and the environment. At night, he produced for and performed in a hip-hop, acid jazz project. Gallagher then joined Odwalla, Inc., where he was lead spokesman and advisor for brand strategy and corporate responsibility. Later appointed President of Social Venture Network, a national organization for CEOs and investors, Kiff was an early leader and public voice in the movements for social entrepreneurship and sustainable business. In 2002, Gallagher turned to his lifelong passion for music full-time. He wrote and produced two critically praised pop-rock albums, toured nationally, and received radio and TV placement for his songs. Gallagher has consulted internationally for the State Department and global NGOs. He recently served on Barack Obama's National Arts Policy Committee and as an advisor to the Presidential Transition. Kiff is an active equity investor, a 2008 Aspen Institute “Ideas Fellow,” and an honors graduate of the College of Letters from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
Brittany Redgate – Executive and Program Manager
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Prior to Joining MNS, Brittany Redgate served as Program Coordinator and Instructor for the Wildwoods Foundation, a nonprofit organization that delivers community-building programs to public schools in Los Angeles. As the lead instructor for the Full Circle Program, she worked with inner-city students to develop stewardship for the natural environment and their urban community by drawing lessons from nature to illustrate interdependency, sustainability and legacy. Brittany’s contributions to curriculum and program development enabled Wildwoods to expand significantly. She graduated from UCLA with Honors in American Literature and Culture and brings long-term experience in office administration and management to her role.
Douglas Blossom - AmeriCorps*VISTA
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Douglas Blossom is a classically trained singer and private voice teacher. Dougholds a BM in Vocal Performance from Grand Valley State University and a MM in Vocal Performance from Western Michigan University. Mr. Blossom has helped establish new community and church choirs throughout West Michigan and has served as a prominent figure in the launch of Music National Service in Chicago.
Chris Howarth - Technology & Media
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Chris Howarth is a lifelong musician and dedicated filmmaker. He works as a freelance videographer, graphic artist, and web designer where a number of his projects involve local Bay Area artists. Chris has been playing music in both an educational and professional setting for over 12 years. With bass being his usual instrument of choice, Chris likes to get involved with any number of musical activities including giving lessons and playing in bands. Majoring in Music Industry Management, Chris received his BS in Business from Ferris State University in Michigan.
Jasmine Mahmoud - AmeriCorps*VISTA
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Jasmine Mahmoud is an accomplished musician, arts journalist, and public service advocate committed to advancing civic engagement and service through music. After she received her MA in Arts Politics from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, Jasmine founded The Arts Politic, a magazine dedicated to arts policy and arts service issues. Jasmine holds a BA in Government from Harvard University, where she volunteered violin lessons through HARMONY (Harvard and Radcliffe Musical Outreach to Neighborhood Youth) and wrote for The Harvard Crimson. Her career experience includes progressive policy research at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, community-oriented arts journalism at the Williamsburg Greenpoint News + Arts, and various performance pursuits on guitar and piano with her soul/funk band, with Seattle-based band Lawn-dree, as a classical violinist, and as music director for several Seattle-based original productions.
Clare Marash - Program Associate
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Clare Smith Marash is a multi-instrumentalist and writer from New York City. She has been singing and playing music since elementary school, and later began songwriting, performing original music with her college band. She studied psychology, musicology, and creative writing, graduating with honors from the University of Michigan. While at college, she was part of Arts Enterprise, an organization that sought to bring the tools and resources of the creative arts into the fields of business and civic service. Through her work there, she became connected with MNS and now joins the San Francisco team full-time. She has served her community previously as a mentor, tutor, and civic-events committee leader. She is winner of a Hopwood Prize in Short Fiction, a scholarship awardee of the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and was honored to participate in writing workshop programs at Stanford University and Reed College.
Alaia Zeno - AmeriCorps*VISTA
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Prior to joining Music National Service, Alaia Zeno served as an AmeriCorps Member with Jumpstart for Young Children, a national early literacy non-profit. While at Jumpstart, Alaia spearheaded a new volunteer program and worked on the ground in high-need communities to bring information about quality early education to low-income children and their families in San Francisco. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Alaia expanded her experience in the music industry through an internship at Sony BMG and a summer program at New York University's Tisch School of Arts. She is a trained percussionist with expertise ranging from West African drumming to Japanese Taiko, Indonesian Gamelan, and Eastern European Klezmer. Alaia's enthusiasm for her role at Music National Service's stems from her long-term interest in pairing rich musical experiences with high-quality education for all children. Alaia graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in American Studies with a concentration in Ethnomusicology and Music.
