CO-CREATOR, DIRECTOR & FOUNDER

Julia Munroe Mandeville is an award-winning cultural worker, curator, writer, civic artist, and grassroots organizer. With the dream that we can make a joyous, just, and peaceful future by and for all, Julia builds open public programs for lifelong learning, creative expression, self discovery, and collective impact. Together with her collaborators, Julia has resourced thousands of artists and activists by co-creating hundreds of platforms, from solo site-specific commissions to 25,000-citizen cultural celebrations, and re-distributing over $10m to makers. With decades of field experience, Julia holds/held leadership roles including Chief Programs Officer of Harwood Art Center, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of SOMOS ABQ, Associate Director of Creative ABQ, Vice Chair of Tricklock Theatre Company, Co-Organizer of Albuquerque Poet Laureate Program, and more, and she is the author and maker of The Infinite Scroll Project. She’s a 2024-25 Women’s Impact Alliance Catalyst Fellow, 2025 Hambidge Center for the Arts & Sciences Creative Residency Fellow, and 2025 City of Albuquerque Creative Bravos Award Recipient. Previous honors include the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Scholarship Award, ABQ Business First 40 Under 40 Award, and National Philanthropy Day New Mexico Outstanding Young Nonprofit Professional of the Year Award. At home where the Sandias and Manzanos meet, she lives and makes in Albuquerque, on Tiwa Lands, with her beloveds James and Iris. In 2020, Julia glimpsed the seedlings of Mirror Bridge during a silent meditation; in 2023, after years of imagining, she officially established Mirror Bridge.

CO-CREATOR & ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Alejandra Warden is an educator, counselor, international speaker, spiritual guide, and author dedicated to cultivating a deep consciousness of oneness. For more than four decades, she has been devoted to creating spaces where the essential interconnectedness of all life can be experienced and where spirituality is grounded in everyday living. Guided by her deep understanding that reconnecting with a consciousness of oneness nourishes both individuals and a world longing for meaning, her work invites personal and collective transformation rooted in lived spiritual experience. Rooted in the wisdom of the Sacred Feminine and Sufism, her teachings also integrate her Catholic upbringing in Argentina, offering a natural, interspiritual approach to transformation. Alejandra specializes in meditative and contemplative practices, as well as the interpretation of dreams and spiritual experiences. She serves as an interspiritual mentor and trainer for the Spiritual Paths Institute and is the Director of Charis Circles of Interspiritual Practice for the Charis Foundation for New Monasticism & Interspirituality. Remembrance: A Vision of the Sacred Feminine and the Renewal of the Earth and El Llamado de mi Corazon are two of her published works. She lives in Washington State with her family. In 2020, Alejandra became a founding thought partner to Mirror Bridge, and in 2025, she also joined the inaugural Mirror Bridge Advisory Board.

CO-CREATOR & ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Dafina Toussainté McMillan is a facilitator, coach, strategist and question wizard. Dafina has spent 20+ years at the intersection of theatre and arts management, social justice, communications and philanthropy. She is committed to bringing joy, curiosity and liberated processes to McMillan Works, a consulting business focused on organizational development, emergent strategic planning, coaching and team building. Previously, Dafina co-founded Crux, an immersive technology storytelling platform and co-op focused on creating and distributing content by and for Black artists. She was a program officer on the arts team of Bloomberg Philanthropies. Dafina served as the Director of Communications & Conferences for Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for not-for-profit theatre. Dafina was also the Associate Managing Director of Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, MN, and has served in various public relations and community engagement leadership roles. Dafina is an alumna of the Kennedy Center’s International Arts Management Fellowship and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. In 2025, Dafina completed a Liberatory Coaching Certification Program rooted in individual and collective healing and liberation. She loves asking questions and being in spaces where she can go deep with dear humans, and as such is, developing the podcast Where We Find Ourselves. Dafina is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tiwa Lands. In 2020, Dafina became a founding thought partner to Mirror Bridge, and in 2025, she also joined the inaugural Mirror Bridge Advisory Board.

CO-CREATOR & ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Cailyn Kilcup is an entrepreneur and executive leader across multiple sectors, as well as a cultural steward and advisor committed to building environments where people, creativity, and community can thrive together. With a degree in International Business from the University of Denver and early career work supporting female artisan entrepreneurs on the global stage, she brings a relational, long-arc perspective to leadership and community-centered development. Cailyn currently serves as Vice President across a family of firms in the commercial facilities and environmental services sector and is the founder of CURA, a New Mexico–based conscious cannabis company rooted in ethical cultivation and care-centered values. Across both established enterprises and new ventures, her work centers on stewardship, integrity, and human well-being alongside economic vitality. She is the co-founder of SOMOS ABQ, a civic and cultural pride festival celebrating local creativity and collective belonging, and is actively engaged in community-centered cultural and development initiatives. Cailyn believes art, beauty, and thoughtfully designed environments are essential infrastructure for healthy communities. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her husband and two children. In 2020, Cailyn became a founding thought partner to Mirror Bridge, and in 2025, she also joined the inaugural Mirror Bridge Advisory Board.

CO-CREATOR: MIRROR BRIDGE LIVING ARTS LIBRARY

Maria Manuela is a writer, curator, and model based in Santa Fe, where she carries the legacy of a family who has lived there for tens of generations. Motivated by stories, she seeks words that convey the human experience, and all the ways that magic manifests. Maria has been writing about artists and their work for nearly a decade, and it's been her lifelong dream to write about fashion too. Maria’s essays have appeared in publications including Hyperallergic, Fashionista, NPR, Wild Sam, New Mexico Magazine, UNUM Magazine, Edible New Mexico, Good Mood, THE Magazine, Southwest Contemporary, and more. Currently, she’s also working on a collection of magical realism folk tales based on New Mexico history. On any given evening, she can be found gazing at the sunset with pups Ham and Pea, and partner Joel, being grateful for the small moments that are the sweetest juice in this life. In 2024, she joined Mirror Bridge as a co-creator, and she’s co-curator of the forthcoming Mirror Bridge Living Arts Library.

CO-CREATOR: MIRROR BRIDGE RADIO HOUR

Khalil Ekulona is an award-winning host, journalist, and producer whose career spans public radio, television, and digital media. He has interviewed thousands of people on issues shaping our present, stories from our past, and visions for our future. Born in New Jersey and raised in Maryland, Khalil received his bachelor’s in political science from Elon University. In 1997 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an educator for at-risk high school students and as a film producer, and became one of the founding members of the hip hop group, Fresh Air. Between 2001 and 2007 they released an EP and several singles. Khalil continues to produce and make hip hop music under the name Pope Yesyesyall. For over three years, Khalil hosted This Is Nashville, the daily live show on Nashville’s NPR affiliate WPLN. Previously, he created and hosted No More Normal for Albuquerque’s NPR affiliate KUNM, served as a correspondent for PBS affiliate KNME, and co-hosted Good Day New Mexico on NBC affiliate KOB4. Known for his authenticity, curiosity, and humor, Khalil brings compassion and candor to every conversation—turning interviews into memorable, meaningful experiences for both guests and audiences. In 2025, he joined Mirror Bridge as a co-creator, and he’s co-producer and -host of the forthcoming Mirror Bridge Radio Hour.

CO-CREATOR: PEACEFUL FUTURISMS PROJECT

Jir Anderson, hailing from the vibrant lands of Cochiti Pueblo (Ko-tyit) and San Felipe Pueblo (Katishtya), New Mexico, is a Native American award-winning singer-songwriter, rock guitarist, cultural leader, and founder and Director of Native Guitars Tour. His roots, family, community, and culture are the foundation of who he is and the driving force behind his creative and leadership work. Since launching Native Guitars Tour in 2007, Jir has built a nationally recognized platform dedicated to uplifting Indigenous artists, creating equitable performance opportunities, and preserving Native stories through contemporary music and community-centered events. Through this work, he supports more than 100 artists annually, reaches approximately 6,000 in-person attendees and over 750,000 online viewers each year, and actively advances cultural preservation, artist development, and community engagement. With over 30 years in the arts, leadership and management experience including extensive work in program development and process engineering, Jir bridges creative vision with operational excellence. Alongside his leadership role, he is the creative force behind Jir Project, crafting poignant, fearless narratives through songwriting. His latest single, “Who’s Your Favorite Indian,” confronts historical distortion with raw honesty, sharing lived experience through the lens of a five-year-old self. In 2025, the Native Guitars Tour X Mirror Bridge collaborations began, and he’s co-creator and -producer of the forthcoming Peaceful Futurisms Project.

CO-CREATOR: SONGS THAT SAVE OUR LIVES PROJECT

Naomi Natale is a socially engaged artist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico whose practice engages relational aesthetics, collective healing, and metaphor-driven participatory processes. For more than 18 years, she has developed and led multi-year, community-based projects grounded in activism, social practice, and civic engagement. For the past decade, Naomi’s practice has been rooted in a fundamental inquiry: How do we live with the grief of everything that doesn’t go away? Her current project, Of Grief & Dreams, is an immersive, community-centered artwork designed to support individual and collective healing. At its heart is an interactive, ship-inspired vessel built in the desert—conceived as a sanctuary and site of solace where participants can navigate grief and envision their deepest dreams. Through on- and off-site programming, the project explores what we can mine from our dreams that will enable us to live and thrive amidst the grief that is all around us. Naomi is the founding artist behind One Million Bones, The Cradle Project, and En La Luz. She is the recipient of a 2025 Artists At Work Fellowship, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s Artist as Activist Fellowship, a TED Senior Fellowship, Arts and Healing Network Award, and a TED Global Fellowship. In 2025, the Of Grief & Dreams X Metamorfos X Mirror Bridge collaborations began, and she’s co-creator and -producer of the forthcoming Songs That Save Our Lives Project.

CO-CREATOR: SONGS THAT SAVE OUR LIVES PROJECT

Casey Mráz is a songwriter, composer, musician, playwright, sound designer, teaching artist and father. He was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM and studied theatre at the University of New Mexico where he designed sets, wrote plays and performed music in many theatre, film and radio projects. Since then he has collaborated in countless music, theatre, film, circus and comedy projects in Albuquerque over the years. As a musician, he has played guitar, accordion, piano/keyboard, charango and sang with several bands such as Baracutanga, The Porter Draw, Concepto Tambor, The Reelers and his own music project, Metamorfos. In theatre, Casey has worked as a composer, sound designer, set & props designer and playwright with theatre companies such as Tricklock Theatre Co., Buran Theatre Co., The Vortex, ALT and more. In film, he has composed music for several short and feature length films. In circus arts, Casey has been Music Director for Circo Abq from 2009 to present. In comedy, he has been an MD with improv troupe The Show since 2010. He was a teaching artist with the Santa Fe Opera’s ALTO program for ten years and he currently teaches Music at Escuela del Sol Montessori School. In 2025, the Metamorfos X Of Grief & Dreams X Mirror Bridge collaborations began, and he’s co-creator and -producer of the forthcoming Songs That Save Our Lives Project.