Laura Gravino is a native Long Islander who holds a Bachelors of Music from Five Towns College and Masters in Music Education from Boston University. She has NYS Certification in Music Education for all ages. With over twenty years of educational experience, Laura was most recently the Senior Director of Programming at Bloomingdale School of Music in New York City, overseeing all teaching and learning for the Upper West Side institution. Previously she has worked at Trinity Lutheran School as the Director of Music (grades K-8) and the Band and Orchestra Instructor (grades 4-8), Carnegie Hall

Michele is so excited to join the Usdan community this year as the Education Coordinator! It was Michele’s great-grandmother in her little Italian apartment who inspired Michele’s love for storytelling. That love has transformed into many areas of her life: singing on stage, writing in coffee shops, filming for the U.S. Army, and now, creating at Usdan. It is the fact that every person has a story to tell—their story to tell—that Michele aims to support and ignite the creative process of the stories being told in each studio. She holds a BA in Communications from Penn State University, where

Jessica Liss Feuer joined Usdan’s full time staff in June 2023. She has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector with a focus on fundraising, philanthropic partnerships, and program development. Prior to Usdan, she served as the Associate Director of Advancement and Philanthropy at the MLB Players Trust, the charitable arm of the Major League Baseball Players Association. As a child, Jessica spent two summers at Usdan, majoring in Musical Theater and minoring in Dance. She loves being back as a staff member and seeing the next generation of young artists experience the magic of Usdan.

Emily (they/she) is an arts administrator and flute instructor based in Brooklyn, NY. Emily first joined Usdan’s seasonal staff in 2021, supporting the Marketing, Enrollment, and Transportation departments. They joined Usdan’s Education department in January of 2023 as Education Coordinator, and rejoined the Enrollment department as the Enrollment Coordinator in May of the same year. Emily brings with them eclectic administrative experience in from a variety of roles, including a summer as Chamber Coordinator for the Spoleto Festival, USA. Emily holds a BA and MA in Flute Performance from SUNY

Johan joined the Usdan family in 2022. He brought with him over 15 years of experience working and volunteering in nonprofit organizations. His main responsibilities have revolved around bookkeeping, finance and strategic development. He graduated from Baruch College in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance. Soon after, he fell in love with the nonprofit world and has not looked back since. He then attended NYU for a course in accounting for nonprofits and followed it with a medical coding and billing certificate from Hunter College in 2016. He holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management