BIO ~ Dena DiGiacinto
Managing Director/Director of Education, Saguaro City Music Theatre
Dena, a graduate of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, has performed everywhere from Europe to Asia to Broadway. She has worked with legends such as Hal Prince and Marvin Hamlisch, and her favorite productions include EVITA, and the Broadway revival of A CHORUS LINE. Dena is also a choreographer and theatre educator, as well as an occupational therapy practitioner.
She is thrilled to bring inclusive theatre arts education programming to the Tucson community. After a 25-year New York City based professional musical theatre performing career, Dena started to go down the avenue of choreographing and teaching. She used her education in field of occupational therapy, combined with her background in theatre to co-create a musical theatre camp through Variety: The Children’s Charity of St. Louis, which was designed for children and teens of all abilities. This experience paved the way for her current position as Managing Director/ Director of Education for Saguaro City Music Theatre, where inclusive theatre education is the cornerstone of programming.
Saguaro City Music Theatre seeks to create a cultural hub that is uniquely Tucsonan by partnering with local artisans and businesses, as well as offering inclusive arts access to the entire community. We are building Saguaro City to entertain, embrace, and empower the people of Tucson. Musical theatre can inspire us, provoke us, and connect us. It is not a luxury; it is a necessity for every community to grow and thrive.
Company Website: saguarocity.org
Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dena-digiacinto-humphrey-99651392/
Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sagcityaz/
BIO ~ Logan Greene
Director Groundworks Tucson
Logan is a musician and youth music educator. Born and raised in Tucson, he is passionate about fostering an alleges. DIY art and music space in the city where young people feel safe and supported. A graduate of the University of Arizona, he has helped run venues and book shows in Tucson and has toured all over — 48 contiguous states (plus Hawaii to make it 49), 10 countries, and counting!
Before starting Groundworks Tucson, I had not yet found my calling, though I always expected to do something in music. After high school, I got a job at Instrumental Music Center doing instrument retail. After college I started substitute teaching for music classes while teaching private lessons on the weekends. Eventually I started teaching guitar at Sahuaro High School. All the while I was working on my own musical projects and enterprises. I toured the country and the world with various musical ensembles. I began a video series for performing artists called the Trundle Sessions that racked up over 1.3 million views over its run.
I also started a record label to release independent artists called Diet Pop Records. However, it wasn’t until 2018, that I found a project that I could fully immerse myself in: Groundworks!
Groundworks is a 501c3 non-profit, youth-driven community arts space in Tucson. It’s a team of artists, musicians and educators with the shared goal of developing creativity and talent in Tucson’s youth arts scene. Every Friday and Saturday night we host an all-ages event for youth to come interact with art and music, so visit our venue page for the full calendar of events.
Groundworks was established in 2019 by our founding board of directors: Logan Greene (president), Nirantha Balagopal (treasurer) and Timothy Milner (secretary). A Kickstarter that year helped raise enough money to sign a lease on a building in January of 2020. However, because of the impending pandemic, by March Groundworks had to cancel our grand opening plans and postpone all in-person activities.
So, we switched to entirely virtual programming to continue our mission and our promise to the community to highlight youth musicians and artists in Tucson. After our virtual opening in our original Broadway location, Groundworks continued to build connections and resources so that we would feel comfortable and safe to open by the end of 2021.
After moving to 2919 e Grant Rd in late 2021, we were able to host our official Grand Opening party with AJJ, Playboy Manbaby, Los Velvets, They’us, The Sinks, and Imogen Rose. Since then, we have been the host of many artists from around the world including Sparta, Cheekface, Smidley, Forever Came Calling, Flasher, The Body, Tim Kasher, Mattiel, Widowspeak, Teenage Halloween, Foot Ox, Mega Ran, Dent May, and more!
Today we are working to build a better organization both internally and with our physical space to allow a safer, more accessible alternative than what is currently available to youth interested in the arts in Tucson. From construction projects like stage/venue beautification, to administrative work like volunteer coordination, and to program development like creating our instrument/art supply library… we need your help to keep the mission alive!
Company Address: 2919 e Grant Rd. Tucson, AZ 85716
Company Phone Number: (520)-360-3579
Barbara McClure, Executive Director 
IMPACT of Southern Arizona
3535 E Hawser Street
Tucson, AZ 85739
Phone: 520-825-0009
barbara@impactsoaz.org
www.impactsoaz.org
SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter |
Barbara McClure wakes up each morning passionate about going to work at a place that improves lives and inspires futures every day! She has been the Executive Director of a Tucson social service nonprofit called IMPACT of Southern Arizona, for ten years. What is it that keeps you passionate about your role Barbara?
Barbara has been a visionary and planner with decades of experience as a small business owner and in nonprofit leadership; her innovative ideas and strategic thinking, along with a talent for bringing the community together, has helped grow IMPACT five-fold in a very short time. Her talents and interests are diverse but all center around helping people, improving the community, bolstering education, building capacity and sustainability, being vocal about the rights and conditions of others, experiencing art, nurturing all inhabitants of your garden, and enjoying life to the fullest.
And now Barbara is about to experience another exciting chapter in her life with hosting a brand-new Radio Show Podcast here on the Tucson Business RadioX Network starting in November.
IMPACT of Southern Arizona is a 20 – year old social service nonprofit stabilizing families and seniors, and moving people out of poverty. IMPACT’s programs are designed to stretch household budgets so earned income can be spent on necessities such as improved housing conditions, fuel to get to work, utilizes, and needed medical attention and prescriptions. Its clients are your neighbors! People come to IMPACT because it is a welcoming place where they are always treated with dignity and respect, and where they find resources, referrals, coaching, and help to attain the skills that can move them forward into self-sufficiency.
Barbara grew up in Pasadena CA, moved to Long Beach for college, got married and started our family then moved to Seattle area ten years later. Took our youngest son on an 11-month motorhome trip to get to Tucson – Homeschooled for 10th grade.
We vacationed at a rustic cabin when I was growing up, where we had no phone or television; and spent all our time outside fishing, hiking, horseback riding, listening to old radio shows, playing pool, reading comic books from the local small grocer, and using our imaginations all day long. I always admired the superheroes who defended people and cities like Gotham and Metropolis, so when our three boys were born, we named them after familiar character: Colin (Bryce for an overlay of Bruce Wayne, Kent, and Parker. Our first grandchild was born last year, and as in the family tradition, named Logan, after the Wolverine. I used to always tell them they were my superheroes – and they still are today!
Barbara loves working with numbers and has always loved math and the organization of things, so accounting seemed perfect, but I soon realized that I if I became a CPA I would have to spend many months inside doing tax returns, and that did not appeal to me as a long–term career! I have a great imagination and enjoy creating things, so thought I should find a better path that might nurture that side of my personality. I was working in the shipping industry in SoCal at the time and fell in love with import and export, so shifted my majors to Marketing and International Business. Those were wonderful fits, and I imagined graduating and moving to the largest port on the planet, in Germany; then, I met my future husband and things took a different turn.
A little bit about how Barbara got into Nonprofit work:
All along with my husband and I were always involved in nonprofits and community volunteer opportunities, and often said it was too bad we could not make a living doing those things we loved so much. Leadership roles in PTO, Boy Scouts, Historical Societies, Junior League, Elks, Rotary and more. Then when we moved to Tucson I looked for a local opportunity to impact my community. A Board position was about to open at IMPACT, and my local bank branch manager, Peggy Smoot, suggested I would be very passionate about getting involved in the mission work there. I worked in the Food Bank.
There are thousands of nonprofits in Tucson. What makes IMPACT Unique is that they bring the community together to stabilize families and move people out of poverty. Our true success lies in partnering with a large number of businesses, agencies, social clubs and other nonprofits. We invest $2.5 million in the community each year, and we do it all with a lean staff of amazing professionals supported by more than 170 volunteer shifts each week! We have put great systems in place to run efficiently, effectively and with a commitment to sustainability and integrity, protecting the community’s investment in our work, striving for perfect audits, being innovative, building capacity and most importantly – treating everyone with dignity and respect. We are an award-winning nonprofit with numerous nods to incredible customer service. Our clients are your neighbors… We improve lives and inspire futures of people living in Southern AZ.
So, IMPACT is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and you have been at the helm half that time. Share with me the things IMPACT has accomplished over the years, and the things you have planned for this celebratory year.
