Making Space Bmore Welcomes New Board Members

Making Space Bmore is proud to welcome Hannah Brancato and Dema Al-Kakhan to our Board of Directors! Hannah Brancato will be chairing our new Fundraising Committee, and Dema Al-Kakhan will chair the Programming Committee.

Hannah Brancato, Fundraising Committee Chair

Hannah Brancato (she/her) is an artist and educator based in Baltimore, whose art practice is grounded in collective storytelling, and the creation of public rituals to bring people’s stories together. Hannah is best known as co-founder FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, an art/organizing collective that produces creative interventions to create a culture of consent. Her current practice centers on Dreamseeds, socially engaged art, music and workshop series featuring community healing spaces centered on dreaming for a more just future. For this collaborative work with Sanahara Ama Chandra, Brancato is a recipient of the Ruby's Artist Grant and was recently an artist in residence at Montgomery College and Visarts in Rockville, MD. A professor of art since 2011, Brancato is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in American Studies at University of Maryland. She is writing and researching about the role of art and material culture in anti-sexual violence movements, with a theoretical grounding in Material Culture, Women of Color Feminisms and Disability Studies. Brancato lectures and holds  workshops related to her art practice and her research about trauma informed spaces and pedagogy, most recently presenting at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the Colgate University Women’s Center, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Dema Al-Kakhan, Programming Committee Chair

Dema Al-Kakhan is a small business and marketing consultant serving clients across the DC, Maryland, Virginia region. Her background is in Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a focus on Middle East and Islamic Studies. After years of policy and advocacy work in D.C.’s think tank scene, she discovered the real work needs to be done outside of these systems, on the ground. She went on to work and organize alongside local grass-root organizations using practical training in conflict resolution to mitigate internal and external conflict and community building.                        

Al-Kakhan’s love for storytelling, social justice, and conflict resolution is the framework for everything she does. She loves working in creative strategy for projects she truly believes in. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from George Mason University.