Natasha Amendolara, MA, LCAT, RDT, has over a decade of experience working as a creative arts therapist in educational, clinical and social services settings. She also holds a certification in Contemplative Psychotherapy and values the use of meditation and mindfulness as powerful therapeutic tools. Over the course of her career, Natasha has worked with children and adolescents, families in crisis, adults living with acute mental health issues and substance-dependent individuals. In her role as Associate Executive Director, she is constantly inspired by TAP’s young creatives and incredibly passionate team. In her free time, Natasha gains inspiration from travel, live theater and spending whatever time she can being immersed in nature.

Natasha’s favorite superhero is Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie version, of course). Buffy takes on her hero fate with a fierce determination and inner strength that enables her to withstand any challenge. Her empathy, strong moral compass and endless well of witty one-liners have always been an inspiration.

Kennedy is a Drama Therapy student at NYU. What she loves about working at TAP is getting to watch how quickly group members open up when discussing animation and some of their favorite cartoons or their personal work. She also enjoys observing the collaboration process and witnessing how a group may come to a consensus of what they want to communicate with their story. The stories always turn out great and everyone learns a lot about themselves and others along the way!

Kennedy’s favorite superhero is Spiderman, because she is not super into action movies, but she saw Spiderman on Broadway when she was in middle school and he's been her favorite ever since.

Gabby Consolo has a long history with TAP. She was introduced to TAP during the COVID-19 pandemic when TAP offered a virtual program to learn about the animation pipeline. This rekindled her love for creativity and passion for art which she had put on the back burner due to other commitments.

Gabby later participated in TAP’s Training Program where she learned additional skills in animation, video editing, production, and graphic design, and later interned in various positions at TAP.

Gabby has a wide range of talents which allows her to create art in many forms, from photography, painting, videography, drawing, fashion design, dancing and so much more!

Being part of TAP is very meaningful to Gabby because she hails from a working-class background and grew up in a low-income community in New York City; as a result, she did not have access to specialized programming and fine art classes.

Gabby truly believes that TAP is a wonderful organization which provides underserved communities with a therapeutic learning environment. She is grateful to be part of TAP’s mission in ensuring that all people have equal opportunities no matter how you grow up or where you’re from!

Gabby’s favorite superhero powers are resilience, strength and helping others.

Solana currently studies Creative Arts Therapy at Pratt Institute, learning the fascinating and expansive capabilities of the arts as a healing modality.

Within the past year, Solana has interned at the League Education and Treatment Center (LETC). During her time at LETC, Solana led weekly therapeutic groups with children and adults with intellectual disabilities. In doing so, Solana has developed a love for sensory art materials, as they offer a unique opportunity for self-soothing and grounding.

Solana’s love for animation and storytelling is what drew her to join the TAP team. Solana is very excited to support the next generation of animators as they explore and experiment with their creativity!

Solana's favorite superhero is Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service. Her relationship with her magic is very similar to an artist’s relationship with their own creativity. Both are maintained by a curious mindset and a consistent practice of self-care. 😊

Danielle Newmark, MA, LCAT-P, is a professional actor and Drama Therapist. What drew Danielle to a creative, therapeutic environment has been her work with incarcerated individuals. From her actor training, to collaborating in therapeutic theatre, she continued to find that creative expression correlated with a healthy body-mind. Danielle loves how drama therapy explores the roles we play in life and the stories we tell ourselves (including the roles others ask us to play in life, and the stories others tell us about ourselves). She hopes for her spaces to feel collaborative, connective, and safe-enough to sit in discomfort, explore, and create. Danielle first became affiliated with TAP when she spent the summer of 2022 interning for their Summer Program, co-facilitating workshops about career readiness. She felt moved by the brilliance and talent of the TAP participants. Two years later Danielle has officially joined the team and is honored to continue learning and growing alongside its staff and participants. When Danielle isn’t at a TAP related activity, you can find her singing old show tunes loudly in her apartment.

Danielle's idea of superhero roles are: "the one who cares," "the one who sees others the way they want to be seen," and "the disrupter."

Stef Syfert, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT, believes that creative expression and storytelling is the gateway to growth, healing, self-love, and community building. Stef first connected with TAP in 2008 when Brian Austin guest lectured one of her graduate courses at SVA and spoke about the power of tech-based art making with adolescents. 10 years later, Stef joined the TAP team and has loved connecting with, supporting, and learning from the talented young people of the TAP collective ever since. Their stories hold unique power and meaning.

Stef's favorite superhero is Leeloo from The Fifth Element because she is a wonderful blend of vulnerability and strength, innocence and badassery, and at her core, she just wants to love and be loved.

As a Commercial Relationship / Lending Manager II at TD Bank, Jose is responsible for managing account portfolios consisting of deposits, loans, fees and expenses for Small Business and Commercial Clients. He is a Money Out Champion for Downtown Manhattan, focusing on mentoring his employees and colleagues on how to provide lending needs for the customers that they service. Aside from his expertise in lending, he is a part of Manhattan's BNI, chapter 52, in which he consistently networks with individuals in various professions and provides solutions for any and all banking needs.

José holds a B.S. in Business and Administration from New York Saint Joseph’s College.

Before joining the TD bank team, Jose held the position of Branch Manager, VP for Citibank.

José is inspired by his favorite superhero, Iron Man, and his perseverance, ability to overcome adversity and his willingness to put those who he loves and believes in above all else. Despite the world's havoc, Mr. Tony Stark has stood true to his beliefs even when the world didn’t comprehend his vision for the world.

Lauren is an attorney at Dentons US LLP and is a member of the firm’s Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy practice group. She represents clients in and out of court in stressed, distressed, workout, insolvency and bankruptcy situations. Lauren has experience representing debtors, creditors, creditors' committees and other parties in interest in chapter 11 reorganizations and chapter 7 liquidations.

Lauren served as a law clerk to the Honorable Novalyn L. Winfield, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey. She is a graduate of Rutgers School of Law and Boston University.

Lauren loves Shrek - She loves how it flips the traditional Disney love story on its head. A good reminder that we shouldn’t be too quick to judge people simply by what we see. 

Frank is President and CEO of TradeMas Inc.

Matt has worked as an animator in the feature film industry for over 17 years. After studying Computer Animation at Savannah College of Art and Design, he went on to work for a number of studios including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Dreamworks, and Blue Sky Studios. Some of the films on which he's animated include Open Season, Surf's Up, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, I Am Legend, Puss In Boots, Ice Age 4 and 5, Rio 2, Peanuts, Ferdinand, and Spies in Disguise. In addition to his animation work, Matt has served as a voice actor on Open Season 3 and Spies in Disguise. Most recently, Matt has directed a short film with Blue Sky Studios set to be released on Disney+ early 2022.

Matt's all time favorite animated character is Shere Khan from the Jungle Book. In his opinion, no villain in animation history is as intimidating and charming. Not to mention, the animation is master level.

Nelson is a mission driven unabashed advocate for improving human services with a career dedicated to child welfare and family development dating back to 2008. He has a MBA and BS in Organizational Management from St. Joseph's University of NY. Currently, working as the Director of Administration for Action Research, a research organization dedicated to improving the child welfare system. Prior to this role, Nelson has lead finance and administration at several organizations. In these roles Nelson has interacted with the NYC Dept. of Education, Administration for Children’s Services, Dept. Of Health, Dept. of Juvenile Justice, and Dept. of Youth & Community Development, along with their New York State counterparts. Nelson and his wife have also been ACS approved foster parents since 2017.

As a person born in Queens, NY who loves stem, Spiderman's origin story has always been relatable to Nelson. As he waits for his spider bite, he’ll keep pushing to improve the lives of fellow NYers.