Board Members

Board Members(& their glasses)

Board of Directors
Board Chair: Jaya Ely

Jaya Ely has been working with children for as long as she can remember, she began as a babysitter around age ten and has since worked as a nanny, a daycare teacher, a baseball coach and as a mentor for finding racial identity in a support group she co-founded called R.A.I.S.E (Racial Awareness in a Supportive Environment). For the last ten years she has built her career around children's musical theater programming. She has worked as a director, choreographer, producer and playwright in the Los Angeles area. Jaya is focused on bringing great programming into diverse communities and is thrilled to be partnering with Focusfish.

Secretary: S. Miria Jo
S. Miria Jo is a UX/UI designer, web designer, and screenwriter/technical consultant. A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Miria has been a visual artist, stage manager, costume designer, and performer, including being a writer and actor for a sketch comedy troupe. Miria has been involved with children's theater and regional theater programs since she was a child in New England, including Andy's Summer Playhouse, the American Stage Festival, MIT Community Players, and MassArt Eventworks. Miria is also a singer/songwriter and co-produced the first Los Angeles Women's Music Festival in 2007. She lives with her wife and daughter in Topanga, where she is the chair of the Visual and Performing Arts committee at Topanga Elementary Charter School. Miria has been an enthusiastic supporter of Focusfish aerial arts and theater programs since 2016.
Treasurer: Faye Berriman, CPA
Director: Katie Driscoll
Katie Driscoll, like her personal hero Ella Baker, is dedicated to supporting the growth and development of young people. Katie first became a mentor to children at the the age of 14, when she coached a Boston-based softball team while still in high school. After graduating from Bates College in 2000, Katie began working at an after school program and tutoring while founding a non-profit arts organization called To Be Heard, Inc. Inspired by her father's legacy as a lifelong public school educator, Katie decided to follow in his footsteps and returned to school in 2003 to become a teacher. After graduating from Simmons College with a Master in the Art of Teaching and a Master in Gender and Cultural Studies, she taught 8th grade social studies in Needham, MA. She was an integral part of the Pollard Middle School community for 8 years. During her tenure there, Katie was granted a sabbatical leave of absence to teach abroad in Phuket, Thailand. Led by her adventurous spirit, Katie moved to Los Angeles to work for Topanga Mountain School. Katie had never even visited Los Angeles before moving here! Since August 2012, Katie has been teaching and acting as the Head of Curriculum Development at TMS. As a queer educator, Katie hopes to help kids feel comfortable being themselves and taking up the space they deserve in this world. She loves to be outside, mountain biking, and making and listening to music of all kinds. "I didn't break the rules, but I challenged the rules". -Ella Baker

Director: Jorge Camil Starr

Advisory Council
Dr. Stephanie Mihalas, Ph.D., NCSP
Susannah Wolk, Social Justice Board, Excelsior College
Eric Ekholm, CTRS
Wini McKay, LA Circus

Executive Director & “Flounder”: Kristy Beauvais

FOCUSfish is in the process of growing "the family" of board members. If you are interested in our mission, please contact Kristy at info@focusfish.com.

"If life is a circus, we might as well train for it." ~ Kristy Beauvais, Flounder for FOCUSfish

FOCUSfish is committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Each individual has the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal opportunities and prohibits discriminatory practices, including harassment. Therefore, FOCUSfish expects that all relationships among persons in the workplace will be business-like and free of bias, prejudice, discrimination, and harassment.
In order to keep this commitment, FOCUSfish maintains a strict policy of prohibiting unlawful harassment of any kind, including sexual harassment and harassment based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex, age, physical or mental disability or any other characteristic protected by state, federal or local employment discrimination laws. This policy applies to all FOCUSfish agents and specialists, including supervisors and non-supervisory employees, and to independent contractors who engage in unlawful harassment in the workplace.
Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, making unwanted sexual advances and requests for sexual favors where either:
1. Submission to such conduct is made an explicit or implicit term or condition of employment; or 2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis of employment decisions affecting such individual; or
3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Employees who violate this policy are subject to discipline up to and including the possibility of immediate discharge.
Examples of unlawful harassment include, but are not limited to:
• Verbal conduct such as epithets, derogatory jokes or comments, slurs or unwanted sexual
advances, invitations or comments.
• Visual conduct such as derogatory and/or sexually oriented posters, photography, cartoons,
drawings, e-mail and faxes or gestures.
• Physical conduct such as assault, unwanted touching, blocking normal movement or interfering with work directed at an employee because of the employee’s sex or other protected characteristic.
• Threats and demands to submit to sexual requests in order keep one’s job or avoid some other loss, and offers of employment benefits in return for sexual favors.
• Retaliation for having reported or threatened to report unlawful harassment.
Any employee or other person who believes they have been harassed by a co-worker, supervisor, or agent of FOCUSfish or by a non-employee should promptly report the facts of the incident or incidents and the names of the individual(s) involved to their program coordinator or advisory council contact, or in the alternative, to a board member. Upon receipt of a complaint, FOCUSfish will undertake a prompt, thorough, objective and good faith investigation of the harassment allegations.
If the organization determines that harassment has occurred, effective remedial action will be taken in accordance with the circumstances involved. Any employee determined by the FOCUSfish to be responsible for harassment will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
Employees will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint and/or assisting in a complaint or investigation process. Further, we will not tolerate or permit retaliation by supervisors or co-workers against any complainant or anyone assisting in a harassment investigation.