Paso Robles Youth Arts Center announces staff changes
Ann Berry-Gallegos, newly appointed executive director of the Paso Robles Youth Arts Center.
– The Paso Robles Youth Arts Center this week announced a new executive director, program director, and program coordinator.
Executive Director of the Paso Robles Youth Arts Center Ann Berry-Gallegos
Ann Berry-Gallegos, newly appointed executive director of the Paso Robles Youth Arts Center, will follow her lifelong passion for helping disadvantaged youth after a highly successful 20-year career as a Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications in Silicon Valley. “Youth Arts represents the culmination of my life’s work: building, connecting, and collaborating with hundreds of adults and youth of all backgrounds,” she says.
In her career in Silicon Valley, Berry-Gallegos worked to launch new companies into the marketplace with strategic and tactical marketing campaigns, driving global brand-building campaigns for industry leaders Intel, Samsung, Siemens, and National Semiconductor. She is expereinced in all aspects of public relations, event planning, fund development, web design and content, and social media.
Mid-career, she left Silicon Valley for the Central Coast to apply her corporate skills in a new direction – nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining Youth Arts, Berry-Gallegos worked for more than 15 years as director of community relations, building programs and expanding donor bases for Central Coast nonprofits, city and county governments, churches, and community organizations.
Berry-Gallegos says she lives daily her conviction that resilience is critical for today’s youth in facing life’s challenges. She says she sees the arts as the ideal instrument for helping kids build the skills needed to navigate — and thrive — in their daily life. “I’m a firm believer that the arts can change lives for disadvantaged children and teens,” she says. “Give children support and opportunity in a safe, non-judgmental environment and the arts will teach self-expression and build the confidence and resilience that youth need to navigate life in our ever-changing world. This is the mission of Yo h Arts.”
Program Director Jamie Dietze.
Program Director Jamie Dietze
Jamie Dietze was born in San Luis Obispo, California, and raised in Silverado Canyon, California. She returned to San Luis Obispo to raise two sons and a stepdaughter. Always passionate about art, Dietze obtained her BFA in art and design with a studio concentration from California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo in 2014.
Dietze’s other life-long passion has been to serve, she says, and she has volunteered at and worked for many SLO County non-profits including ARTS Obispo, Family Care Network, Inc., The Nature Conservancy, Cancer Support Community of the Central Coast, Wilshire Community Services, Cal Poly Cat Program, and Woods Humane Society. She is currently the owner of Black Rabbit Studio SLO and provides art instruction to both individuals and groups and has taught group art lessons to youth of all ages at Paso Robles Youth Arts Center, in Paso Robles, California.
Program Coordinator Natalie Cole.
Program Coordinator Natalie Cole
Admin/Program Coordinator Natalie Cole was raised in Paso Robles. She has taken dance classes with Amanda Gonzalez, the youth arts center’s dance instructor. She recently graduated from Cal/Poly with a BA in English where she studied abroad in 2022 in England and Scotland. She studied romantic-period literature at the Jerwood Centre in Ambleside, England.
Cole says she has a passion for the arts and is excited to share that passion with the youth of Paso Robles Youth Arts Center. In her spare time, she is an avid reader, writer of short stories and enjoys volunteering for local animal shelters.
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