Qiana Ganges - Co-Director/Teaching Artist

Qiana Ganges is a vocalist, songwriter, guitarist, educator, food justice advocate, urban farmer, Kindergarten Teacher and proud mother of an amazing little daughter. Qiana has been singing her whole life and performs with a number of groups around Philadelphia. Qiana graduated from Temple University and has worked as a food access advocate, farmer and educator at several farms in Philly including Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden, Mill Creek Farm, and Greensgrow Farms as well as serving as the coordinator at 215 People’s Alliance, Qiana has her writing published in Stories We Know - Recording Black History of Bartram’s Garden and Southwest Philadelphia. Qiana joined City Love in 2019 and became Co-Director in 2021.

Brian Caselli Jordan ~ Co-Director/Teaching Artist:

Brian (Brian Caselli Jordan) is an educator and songwriter who might remind you a little bit of a 2024 Mister Rogers. (or at least wishes he did…) Brian is a 1st/2nd grade teacher at the Philadelphia School. He holds a BS in Italian and Environmental Studies from the Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison and an M.Ed in Early Childhood Ed from Temple University. Brian has worked as an educator in a wide variety of settings and capacities for 15 years, from Faculty Assistant teaching Italian 101 at UW Madison to Preschool, and everywhere in between. Brian is also a trainer with the University of Pennsylvania’s Lion’s Story leading racial literacy trainings throughout the country. Brian co-founded City Love with Dwight Dunston in 2014.

David Stills - Teaching Artist and Special Projects

David Stills is a creative and dedicated educator, performer, songwriter, author and realtor who joined the City Love team in 2016. He has spent 10 years developing his teaching craft as an early education Montessori teacher, a 4th and 5th grade teacher and most recently as a 6th grade humanities teacher. Prior to teaching, David was an internationally touring vocalist and recording artist. Along with singing, songwriting, and performing, David is an orator, an author, and an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in education. David is author of a chapter in the bestselling anthology, The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys and recently released his first children’s book, The Happy Way Every Day. He is interested in creating works that speak to the experiences of people of color, and that show paths to excellence and prosperity. You can hear David each week on the Instant Grits Podcast. 

Masila Muli - Teaching Artist and Recording Engineer

Masila is a recording engineering wizard, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist who joined the City Love team in 2019 after working as sound engineer on City Love’s first children’s album in 2018. Masila's career began as a session musician and performer, but an interest in music industry and production brought him to Ursinus College where he studied music and economics. Afterward, he founded Elysium Creative Group, where he serves as Director of Operations and Lead Engineer.  Masila is also a composer, singer-songwriter, DJ and instructor who is involved with musical acts in the Philadelphia area. Check out his new album Vivify and follow his music at @MasilaMuli_ECG

Natasha Jovan Scotton - Teaching Artist

Natasha is a singer/songwriter with a background in education who joined the City Love team in 2021. She uses her music to uplift and inspire. She presently works as Co-Director for AYA: Aspiring Young Artists, a youth organization that helps high school students record their original music.

"Creating music is like therapy"; Natasha knows the transformative power of music first hand and loves to see others find their power, use their creativity, and feel good because of the music they create.

Jaleel "Jehuti Sun" Jordan - Teaching Artist

Jaleel "Jehuti Sun" Jordan is an emcee, singer-songwriter, and musician who joined the City Love team in 2021. Serving as an agent of transformation in the city of Philadelphia for 10 years, Jaleel uses his love of spoken word, music, history and restorative justice to shape the identity of a number of programs in Philadelphia and across the country. He has facilitated African Centered Rite Of Passage and Anti-Violence programs for young men in over 10 High Schools in Philadelphia and hosted various conferences on best holistic teaching practices for young men around the country. All the while being able to use music as a tool to spread his message. When not on stage or in a classroom, Jaleel is a martial arts instructor, business owner; and most proud to be a father of three lovely children and a dedicated husband.

Sterling Duns (Dwight Dunston) ~ Co-Founder/City Love Emeritus/Forever Fam:  

Sterling Duns (Dwight Dunston) is a West Philly based hip-hop artist, musician, educator, facilitator, organizer, and Quaker.  (Kind of like the Bayard Rustin of hip hop, or James Baldwin as an emcee.)  He co-founded City Love and co-directed City Love from 2014-2020, and he is greatly missed by the whole team! His heart, vision, brilliance, creativity, savvy, style and pedagogy have indelibly shaped City Love and we are so grateful for his countless contributions and dedication to this healing work and love-spreading.

Sterling is a staff member and lead trainer with the University of Pennsylvania Lion’s Story racial literacy organization, a trainer with AORTA and former coordinator of Equity and Justice Education at Friends' Central School in addition to his performance work throughout the world with numerous groups such as Hardwork Movement, and has shared the stage with many different musical acts such as Talib Kweli, QuestLove, Redman, Method Man, Rhiannon Giddens, and many more. Get in touch with Sterling at @SterlingDuns and hear his amazing music at http://www.sterlingdunsmusic.com as well as his beautiful new album, Heartwork!

Emyne Sanders-Rasul ~ City Love Emeritus/Forever Fam:

Philly rapper, singer-songwriter, visual artist, entrepreneur, plant keeper, educator, jewelry maker, and all around performing artist Emyne shared her amazing talents with City Love from May 2019-November 2020 presenting assemblies and workshops for thousands of students around the country, presenting at numerous education conferences and recording her beautiful verses for a re-release of our children’s album, World of Love (the new name was her idea!). Emyne helped dream up the City Love children’s show and filmed the first pilot episode! Emyne shifted gears in November 2020 to focus entirely on her amazing solo projects. Check out her wonderful song Just Be and hear her three albums Purple, Platinum and Golden on all major streaming platforms and her podcast The Butterfly Experience. Emyne also offers amazing voice lessons and tarot readings!! Follow her at @Emynethesuperstar

Nina Elizabeth “Lyrispect” Ball - City Love Emeritus/Forever Fam:

Nina Elizabeth “Lyrispect” Ball is an award-winning lyricist, activist, curator, soul-stirring poet, educator and the Director of Programming and Education at The African American Museum of Philadelphia. Nina blessed the City Love team with her talents and project management skills from January 2021-March 2022. Lyrispect is an activist and advocate for girls, women, people of color and marginalized communities. She is a multiple award-winning voiceover actor, has  performed internationally and is author of “The PreCursor” a collection of her early and signature works. What informs her practice is truth telling, complex human nature, cultural preservation, social justice, and unapologetic joy.  Lyrispect believes that honest expression with layered execution can disrupt, heal, liberate and transform.

Learn more about Nina’s work here: https://www.lyrispect.com and follower her at @Lyrispect

Charlie Raboteau - Cinematographer and Children’s Show Co-Director

Charlie is a filmmaker, a photographer, and a musician, who specializes in highlighting hyper-local stories that focus on people doing work in their communities. He provides visual and audio content for clients to showcase their work and passion in the best and truest light possible in order to build social, economic, and cultural capital. His aim is to help foster positive change and draw attention to the culture and resources that make Philadelphia such a creative and vibrant city. See more of his work at Soul Motion Pictures.

Melissa Roldan-Stills - Director of Education and Production

Melissa Roldan-Stills is a veteran early childhood educator and theater educator/director with a BA from Ithaca College and an MA in Theater Education from Emerson College as well as proud mother of two wonderful children. She has taught in Preschool and Kindergarten for over 12 years and worked with countless students of many ages developing and presenting impactful, joyful, engaging theater productions. As a Kindergarten Teacher at The Philadelphia School, Melissa co-developed the Spanish integration curriculum, the Seed to Table curriculum on garden science, cooking and stewardship, integrated mindfulness and social emotional learning best practices, and helped innovate and elevate developmentally appropriate curriculum around diversity, equity and inclusion for young learners. Melissa is a courageous advocate and insightful social commentator who uses theater to transform culture and heal injustice.

Jenny Chen - Impact Advisor

Jenny Chen is a community development practitioner committed to racial justice and housing for all. Jenny has worked with community-based organizations in Boston and Philadelphia where she has coordinated equitable development efforts and pursued housing and open space projects. She has a Bachelors  in Economics, Math and Urban Studies from University of Pennsylvania where she worked for four years with numerous organizations on food access issues and Master's in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she studied the impacts of housing policy on the lives of individuals and neighborhoods.    

Patricia Battles - Animation Collaborator

Patricia Battles is a seasoned freelance artist specializing in animation and illustration with over a decade of experience working within the field of the arts. Originally from New York City, Patricia moved to Philadelphia in 2017 to complete her BFA in Animation from The University of the Arts and graduated in 2019. Patricia enjoys creating animation with musicians and loves to combine other artistic mediums to produce unique and innovative projects.

Courtney Dabney - Animation and Illustration Collaborator

Courtney Dabney completed a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Fine Arts with a minor in Cinema. Courtney is also a graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design with an M.F.A. degree in Animation. Courtney uses different mediums ranging from CG animation to mixed media films that compliment the message and story being told in the video. Her most recent film, A Precious Life, placed third in the London Music Video Awards in the animated category and was also a semi-finalist in the International Music Video Awards.

Kristin Schwab - Strategic Planning and Operations Advisor

Kristin brings over 15 years of experience building long-term leadership capacity within community-based and movement organizations, cooperative businesses, and schools. Her workshops and coaching facilitate collaborative decision-making, communication across difference, and analyses of systems of power. Her approach to facilitation is highly experiential and rooted in popular education.  Kristin is passionate about building community, dismantling oppression, and working towards collective liberation. Kristin holds a BA in Individualized Studies with a focus in popular education and solidarity economics from Goddard College and was a 2016 recipient of the Leeway Foundation’s Art and Change grant.

University of Pennsylvania Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic (Penn ELC) - Legal Consulting

City Love has had the fortune of partnering with the ELC for the last year-and-a-half. Their legal support has been a major help as we try to build sustainable structures organizationally. The ELC provides free transactional legal services to entrepreneurs. Through senior law students under the supervision of legal professionals, we are able to service a limited number of entrepreneurial ventures with preference to ventures that impact society and communities in positive ways.  The ELC support with Strategizing, Negotiating, Drafting and Reviewing Agreements, Intellectual Property Counseling and more.