Bridging the Gap
Community and Police Justice
Betty A. Bastidas
Betty Bastidas is an award winning photographer, filmmaker and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Ecuador, she came to the US at the age of nine.
She is a passionate storyteller using filmmaking and photography as a social tool to celebrate the strength of the human spirit amidst environments in flux. She is a graduate from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, with a degree in Documentary Film & Video. She recently completed Can’t Hold Me Back, a PBS short film she co-directed, produced and was the director of photography for.
She is committed to creating compelling content that elucidates our changing world and sharing her craft teaching the next generation of digital storytellers. Her experience teaching and managing EVC’s New Media Arts program has been a very rewarding and inspiring one, having grown close to her students and witnessed their growth.
Melanie J. Martinez
Melanie Martinez was born in El Salvador and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She is currently a senior in Midwood High School, graduating in June 2015. Melanie does not want to go to college outside of New York because she wants to stay close to her family. When she graduates high school she wants to travel to Brazil during the time of the Carnival. She enjoys playing volleyball and getting to know new people by joining clubs and/or afterschool programs. She has been participating in the EVC New Media Arts Apprenticeship where she learned about web design and collaborating with others. Later on in the Fall, she was called back to work at EVC as an intern. In the Spring, she went back and worked as an assistant. Her skills have grown greatly thanks to these experiences.
Tahmeena Veerjee
Tahmeena Veerjee was born in Dallas, Texas and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She received her B.S. from Texas Woman's University in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Early Childhood Education. She has received her M. A. in Digital Media Design for Learning at NYU Steinhardt. She plans to continue by looking for positions in the Instructional Design field. She has been volunteering with students at EVC to create a website to bridge the communication gap between the police and the community.
Amy Yuan
Since moving to the United States at 6 years old, Amy Yuan has embraced versatility, innovation, and simplicity. She has earned a Bachelors of Arts in Media and Television, CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications, and completed coursework in TEFL. Her experience in the fields of graphic design, translation, media editing, education, and nonprofits have given her a unique ability to merge creativity, technological solutions, and functionality.
She aspires to create applications and learning management systems that acknowledge our different learning styles and encourages us to be our authentic selves. She is currently archiving creative works, using digital mediums to empower youth, and is the editor-in-chief at the Asian Language Exchange & Social Network of New York (ALESN). When she's not hacking the learning process or learning a new language, she's consuming chocolate and trying to carry a tune. Amy can be reached at ayuan6 (at) gmail (dot) com.