Our Faculty & Staff
The below reflects Usdan's year-round staff. Faculty and staff working summer 2025 will be added as confirmed.
Michele Brisco
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Education Coordinator
Administration
Michele is so excited to join the Usdan community this year as the Education Coordinator! It was Michele’s great-grandmother in her little Italian apartment who inspired Michele’s love for storytelling. That love has transformed into many areas of her life: singing on stage, writing in coffee shops, filming for the U.S. Army, and now, creating at Usdan. It is the fact that every person has a story to tell—their story to tell—that Michele aims to support and ignite the creative process of the stories being told in each studio. She holds a BA in Communications from Penn State University, where she rescued a cat she calls Jaxon. She rolls change for fun and is a professional hide-and-seeker, ranked 4th in the country.
Lauren Brandt Schloss
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Executive Director
Administration
Lauren Brandt Schloss joined Usdan in 2015. With her appointment, she became Usdan’s third leader in a half century and the first woman to hold the position. Bringing 20+ years experience in arts education, at the Queens Museum, MoMA, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Lauren is committed to ensuring that Usdan is at the forefront of educational and artistic practices.
Courtney Kassinger
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Associate Director of Camp Administration
Administration
Courtney Kassinger has spent her summers at Usdan since 2002 when she first attended as a student. On staff, she has served as a Discovery counselor, a member of the administration/transportation staff, Transportation Manager, Associate Director of Student Affairs. and is now the Associate Director of Camp Administration. Courtney holds a B.M. in Music Education from SUNY Fredonia and a M.S. in Music Education from Queens College along with an Advanced Certificate in TESOL from Touro College. Courtney teaches elementary band in the Harborfields Central School District in the very elementary school she herself attended and is a member of both SCMEA and NAfME. She looks back fondly on her many summers at Usdan as a student that fostered her love for music and led her to pursue a career in music education. Courtney is eternally grateful for her Usdan family and the many lifelong friendships that have been created through her time spent at Usdan.
Julio Garcia
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Senior Groundskeeper
Administration
Lauren Kinane
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Manager of Administration
Administration
Dr. Lauren Kinane is a clarinetist, educator, and currently serves as the Manager of Administration at Usdan. Prior to becoming the Manager of Special Projects, Lauren served as the Manager of Special Projects, Enrollment Coordinator, and Student Supervision Coordinator, and she spent four summers as a camper at Usdan. Her summers at Usdan inspired her to pursue her passion for clarinet further. Throughout the year Lauren can be heard performing with the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra and the Atlantic Wind Symphony. She can also be heard on the Massachusetts Chamber Players' album Frank Martin: Music for Winds. Lauren received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, her Master of Music from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, and her Bachelor of Music from SUNY Fredonia.
Kyra Leeds
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Senior Development Coordinator
Administration
Kyra Leeds is an actor and arts administrator from Queens, NY. Kyra was a student at Usdan for ten glorious summers, a Discovery Counselor for three summers, and has worked in Usdan’s administrative offices for the past five years. Kyra has also done some development and fundraising work for DCM, Inc. and, most recently, for the Off-Broadway MCC Theater in NYC. As an actor Kyra has been a part of Royal Caribbean’s CATS (Jennyanydots), Argyle Theatre’s FULL MONTY (Vicki), Hangar Theatre’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Christmas Past), and the REV Theatre Company’s PARADE (Ensemble/Dance Captain). Kyra holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Ithaca College.
Javan Howard
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Director of Education
Administration
Javan joined Usdan’s full time staff in 2017. Year round hip hop and poetry are his modes of survival and inspiration. A Bronx born creative that hails from the same high school as James Baldwin, he spreads love one word at a time. He truly believes that the lived experience is the ultimate teaching tool and uses poetry as a social forum to foster discourse about love, culture, and identity. He was named a 2022 Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow. He also suffers from severe milk chocolate withdrawals and has been diagnosed with a case of the New York Knicks.
Victoria Ellerbe
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Chief Operating Officer
Administration
Victoria joined Usdan in 2022 and has more than 10 years experience working in nonprofit organizations in HR, Finance, and Administration. She earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting from St John's University and since then has worked with NYC organizations such as Seeds of Peace, Harlem's World Famous Apollo Theater, and the Children's Museum of Manhattan. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her partner and maintains a great appreciation of arts and culture, as an avid cellist and a regular patron of live performances, art houses, and museums.
Cory Benson
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Manager of Buildings & Grounds
Administration
Johan Van den Berghe
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Director of Finance
Administration
Johan joined the Usdan family in 2022. He brought with him over 15 years of experience working and volunteering in nonprofit organizations. His main responsibilities have revolved around bookkeeping, finance and strategic development. He graduated from Baruch College in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance. Soon after, he fell in love with the nonprofit world and has not looked back since. He then attended NYU for a course in accounting for nonprofits and followed it with a medical coding and billing certificate from Hunter College in 2016. He holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University. He resides in Chelsea, MA with his partner, two cats and a ball python. He has great appreciation for music, especially live concerts.
Emily Annesley
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Enrollment Coordinator
Administration
Emily (they/she) is an arts administrator and flute instructor based in Brooklyn, NY. Emily first joined Usdan’s seasonal staff in 2021, supporting the Marketing, Enrollment, and Transportation departments. They joined Usdan’s Education department in January of 2023 as Education Coordinator, and rejoined the Enrollment department as the Enrollment Coordinator in May of the same year. Emily brings with them eclectic administrative experience in from a variety of roles, including a summer as Chamber Coordinator for the Spoleto Festival, USA. Emily holds a BA and MA in Flute Performance from SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Purchase respectively, and in addition to their work at Usdan, teaches private flute lessons to flute lovers of all ages and skill levels. When not teaching, working, or fluting, Emily can be found knitting, listening to e-books, or learning how to play a new instrument.
Jessica Liss Feuer
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Director of Development
Administration
Jessica Liss Feuer joined Usdan’s full time staff in June 2023. She has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector with a focus on fundraising, philanthropic partnerships, and program development. Prior to Usdan, she served as the Associate Director of Advancement and Philanthropy at the MLB Players Trust, the charitable arm of the Major League Baseball Players Association. As a child, Jessica spent two summers at Usdan, majoring in Musical Theater and minoring in Dance. She loves being back as a staff member and seeing the next generation of young artists experience the magic of Usdan.
Amalia Drewes
Lead Teacher, Art
Art
Amalia Drewes is an artist, a lover of nature, and a spiritual explorer. Amalia graduated from Parsons School of Design, The New School with a BFA in Illustration. Amalia is a presenter and storyteller for Journeys Into American Indian Territory, a moving museum of Native American culture. She has started her own business called Visual Remedies, providing healing art for those who are grieving from loss. Additionally, Amalia operates as a freelance graphic designer, but one of her biggest joys was becoming a teacher of Reggio, a nature-based learning, at Spark Elementary. Amalia started online teaching at Usdan in 2020 as a Mixed Media Instructor and for the 3rd year in a row will attend as a Painting and Drawing teacher. Amalia had the pleasure of attending camp as a young girl, starting when she was in 3rd grade. Her summers at Usdan were some of the best memories of her life. She is very excited to be on the campgrounds again this year to share in the celebration of art, music, and nature coming together.
John T Harris
Camp Faculty & Staff
Lead Teacher, Discovery Art
Art
J.T. Harris started his Usdan career in 2018 as an assistant ceramics teacher. In 2019, he was promoted to a lead teacher position as the Discovery Program’s art teacher. He is now returning for his fourth summer at Usdan as the Discovery Art lead teacher. Outside of Usdan, J.T. is a NYS Certified Teacher in art, general education, and special education. He is currently working as an elementary art teacher in the Central Islip School District on Long Island, where he has been for the last three years. J.T. is also a frequently commissioned illustrator based on the south shore of Long Island.
Krista Biedenbach
Camp Faculty & Staff
Lead Teacher, Art (Painting & Drawing)
Art
This will be Krista's seventh year with Usdan, first serving as an assistant in the Art department in 2012, then returning as a lead teacher in 2016. Krista's current work involves large scale, mixed media paintings of abstracted, figurative imagery. In addition to spending summers at USDAN and creating work in her personal studio, Krista is currently a high school art teacher. Krista holds a MA in Art and Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and BA Degrees in Art History and Studio Art from Stony Brook University. Along with teaching, Krista is currently pursuing an Ed.D. degree in Art and Art Education back at Teachers College. Besides everything art, Krista enjoys relaxing with her two small dogs, Patrick and Lily.
David Lake
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Chair, Recreation
Recreational Camp
Dave began teaching at Usdan in 2005 as the Tennis Instructor and is pleased to begin a new role in 2022 as the Chair of Recreation. During the school year Dave is a 5th Grade Teacher in the East Islip School District. Fun fact: Dave juggled a soccer ball 12,600 times when he was 17.
Jim Incorvaia
Year-Round Faculty & Staff
Department Chair, Theater
Theater
Jim began teaching at Usdan in the summer of 1991 and after more than thirty summers in the woods, he is still as excited as when he first started. Jim is an actor, director and producer who has overseen more than three hundred shows in Usdan’s three theaters. He began his professional work in the arts at the age of five as a commercial model. He was bitten by the acting bug for good in high school. Jim obtained his B. A. and his M.S. in Education at Hofstra Univeristy and studied for his M.F.A. at Columbia. He is the founder of the OnStage Strategies Group, a theater consulting firm assisting educational and local theater programs as they work to grow and re-imagine their student offerings. Jim believes that art has the power to break down the barriers that divide us.