Staff
Our small and mighty team of teachers, technologists, and community managers somehow run programs that impact hundreds of thousands of young poets.
Amy Sultan
Co-Founder, Power Writers
Amy Sultan is the Director of the Power Writers Program, the program she co-founded in 2001 with Roland Legiardi-Laura and Joe Ubiles. Amy is also a Co-Producer/Director of the award-winning documentary TO BE HEARD for PBS. From 1997 through 2008 Amy was a Co-Executive Director of the Early Stages Program, an arts education organization. In 1997, as Executive Producer of the Nantucket Film Festival, Amy steered the fledging festival through its crucial second year. From 1990-1994, she was Director for Film in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting. Amy is a former business agent for theatrical unions in New York City, where she represented designers and performers in the entertainment industry. In 1987 she created a technical training program in film and theater arts for minority young adults. Over the past thirty years, Amy has served as a community advocate for children’s arts programs and as a lobbyist for performing arts and visual arts organizations.
George Weiner
Chief Technology Officer | Co-Founder, PowerPoetry.org
George is the chief technology officer for Power Poetry.org and is responsible for developing and managing all online and communication systems for Power Poetry. He worked as the Chief Technology Officer of DoSomething.org, which, under his leadership, became an innovator in social media, mobile technologies and youth social action. During his time at Dosomething.org George converted over one million users. George was awarded a People's Choice Webby Awardin 2009 for his innovative work on Dosomething.org. He is a self-taught techie and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a frequent speaker on not-for-profit tech issues at forums including SXSW, NTEN, the Google Grants Conference, U.N. Youth Summit, National Conference on Volunteering and Service and Blog World. He has guest lectured at NYU and NYIT and is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post. George is also the founder of CTO's For Good, a small group of CTOs who use their technological skills to scale.
Jessica Wiener
Manager of Digital Programs and Community, PowerPoetry.org
Jessica is one of the founding members of Power Poetry and has moderated the website’s community of over half a million young poets for more than a decade. She produces content that's meant to inspire emerging writers and empower them to share their work. Jessica graduated with a degree in English from Siena College where she worked at the college library in the special collections and archival rooms. She also managed the social media and website for KFF’s Greater Than program, which provided educational materials about STD awareness in an effort to reduce stigma. Jessica has proofread for various trade books including fiction, poetry compilations, and biographies. She has helped many authors independently publish their first books. When she’s not working, Jessica can be found playing story-driven video games or reading a vampire novel.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
David Giovannitti - Board President
Alastair Gordon
George Weiner
Amy Sultan
Michael Peyser