WHO WE ARE

The Gallery5 Board of Directors is a volunteer group dedicated to growing the impact of the organization and its mission of engaging communities through the arts. The executive and community boards work in tandem throughout the year on various projects involving oversight, governance, and fiscal support.

Board officers

Lauren photo (1).jpg — **Lauren DeSimone**
*Chair*

Lauren is a food systems + arts person with a love for racing sailboats and bicycling long distances. Her winding journey started with a degree in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts, which is when she first got to know Gallery5 in the beginning as one of its first interns.

Since then Lauren has led non-profit teams, supported business development for startups, helped entrepreneurs navigate their local innovation ecosystem, and consulted with executive leaders on creating joy in the workplace. Lauren currently works with Locus Impact Fund to manage an integrated capital fund that invests in food and farm businesses across the country to improve access to healthy food and generate wealth-building opportunities for communities.
Lauren is pumped to continue supporting Gallery5, almost two decades later, this time as a board member. She is eager to share tricks she's learned along the way to imagine a future for Gallery5 that is as sustainable as it is ruckus-making.

mcbride_self-portrait_2018 (1).jpg — **Katie McBride**

*Vice-Chair*

Katie McBride is an illustrator, designer, and artist, based in Richmond, VA.
In addition to her illustration work, she has worked as a graphic designer for over a decade, and is currently the Director of Design Services at the University of Richmond. She taught at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond for seven years, where she returned as the illustrator-in-residence in the fall of 2017, and served several years as co-chair of the Richmond Illustrators Club. She has shown artwork in local and regional galleries over the last 15 years, including at Gallery5, and has served as a juror for shows at VSU, Studio 23, and Art Works.
Katie has been involved with Gallery5 since its inception, having shown work in one of the first group shows in 2005, and more recently curating and showing work since 2018 as part of her board service.

Ashley Moore

Secretary

Ashley has a B.S. Mass Communications with a concentration in Creative and Strategic Advertising from the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University. They have worked for a number of arts organizations in the Richmond region, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond Symphony, and now Richmond Performing Arts Alliance providing marketing support in various capacities. Ashley serves as the Board Secretary at Gallery5, an award-winning, community-motivated visual and performing arts center located in historic Jackson Ward in the heart of Richmond. Both through their work at RPAA and in their volunteer roles, they strive to provide accessible opportunities for community members to both experience and be a part of the arts.

**Jameson Babb**

*Treasurer*

Jameson Babb has been living in Richmond since 2004 when he came to attend VCU and went on to graduate from William and Mary. He has spent over a decade working in the Virginia General Assembly – currently serving as Chief of Staff to Senator Lashrecse Aird. In addition to his work in politics, Jameson has been active in the Richmond arts scene. As the founder and co-owner of the music promotion company Jet Trails Music, Jameson put together hundreds of shows with great Virginia talents like Lucy Dacus, Illiterate Light, Butcher Brown and countless others. Jameson has also been a member of the House Sketch Comedy team at the Coalition Theater and is an extremely mediocre stand-up comedian.
As a volunteer, he serves as the Board Chair for the Richmond Department of Social Services Advisory Board, as a Commissioner on the Clean City Commission and on the volunteer board for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s Richmond PurpleStride.
Jameson is extremely passionate about the mission of Gallery5 to foster collaboration and grow our fantastic artistic fabric that makes Richmond so unique. Plus this one time Maya sang happy birthday to his cat Zoey from the stage and that was awesome.
Jameson lives in the Randolph neighborhood with his wife Rujuta, his son Anand and his aforementioned cat Zoey.

G5 board

**Amanda Robinson**

Amanda Robinson is the founder of Gallery5 and served from 2005-2012 as Executive & Artistic Director. Under her leadership, Gallery received countless awards and recognitions including “Best Art Gallery of the Year” by the readers of Style Weekly and Richmond Magazine and “Top Places to Visit in RVA” by The New York Times. In 2008 she received the Theresa Pollak Award for “Art Innovator of the Year,” and in 2006, was the youngest recipient of Style Weekly’s “Top 40 under 40” awards. In 2012 she took a step down to pursue her own creative ventures including the opening of Sweet Fix, an award-winning cake design studio featured on Food Network, Martha Stewart Weddings, Disney Channel, Weddings Unveiled, and more, as well as her herbal apothecary Virago Alley, a passion-project turned business specializing in organic medicinal herbs made available to the community.
Amanda has over 20 years of experience in the fine arts, having received her degree at The Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in Painting and Art History. She has continued her passions in Historical Art studies with a focus on Medieval Art and Architecture as well as creates in numerous artistic mediums including oil painting, woodworking and ceramics, most often favoring miniature scale. She is an avid traditional archer, hiker, forest dweller, rock climber, and adventurer. She is married to Bizhan Khodabandeh, the beloved local artist, activist, and designer, and they share their daughter Azzy, two cats, and the best dog on the planet Mr. Pixel.

**Parker Galore**

Parker’s creative journey took a significant leap in 1998 when he moved from rural southwest Virginia to Richmond, immersing himself in the city’s vibrant arts scene. At VCU’s School of the Arts, he graduated from the renowned Painting and Printmaking Department, where he pushed creative boundaries and earned the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Award. This transformative experience rapidly evolved his artistic vision and deepened his commitment to uplifting Richmond’s creative communities.
By 2005, Parker co-founded RVA Magazine, a DIY publication dedicated to showcasing local arts, music, culture, and progressive political discourse. He also became a driving force behind Gallery5, transforming Virginia’s oldest standing firehouse into a vibrant arts hub. In addition, Parker serves on the Richmond Arts District Board of Directors, furthering his commitment to fostering inclusive community outreach and creative cultural experiences that unite people and drive positive change.

**Michael Harwood**

Michael Harwood was born and raised in the Richmond Metro and has spent several years working in public accounting, focusing on auditing non-profit organizations. He now serves as a Special Agent with IRS Criminal Investigation, where he applies his financial expertise to investigative work. Michael is excited to bring his experience and passion for the arts to the board of Gallery 5, where he maintains strong connections within the Richmond art community.
Outside of his professional life, Michael resides in Mechanicsville with his wife Isabelle, a talented stained glass artist, and their four cats. In his free time, he enjoys woodworking, restoring antique tools, and working on his vintage Ford truck.
Michael looks forward to contributing to the continued growth and success of Gallery 5, helping to foster creativity and community involvement.

**Jeff Shockley**

Dr. Jeff Shockley has been a professor in the VCU School of Business Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics since 2017 and is the current Academic Director of the Master's degree program in Supply Chain Management. Jeff teaches graduate and undergraduate coursework in the areas of operations management, quantitative analysis, and supply chain management. Prior to arriving at VCU, Jeff was Department Chair of Supply Chain and Information Management and the Supply Chain major program director at the College of Charleston (2012-2017) and a business professor at Radford University (2009-2012). Jeff has published research in top academic journals and received a number of research and program-related grants from public and private sources. Prior to academic work, he held corporate management positions at both Circuit City/CarMax Group and PCS Health Systems (of Eli Lilly and Company). He is an active academic member of the Production and Operations Management Society, Industry Studies Association, the Decision Sciences Institute, Academy of Management, and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). He has also served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Operations Management and is currently on various academic and public policy task force groups focusing on the areas of healthcare supply chain responsiveness and corporate social and sustainability performance.

**Trieste Lockwood**

Trieste Lockwood studied integrative arts at the Pennsylvania State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. She later received a Juris Doctor and a Public Policy Program Certificate from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. She now works in the environmental policy field, and enjoys the intersection of law, politics, and policy. In 2017 she was selected to be a member of the University of Virginia's Sorensen Political Leadership Program.
Trieste is passionate about Gallery5's mission and its constant ability to foster creativity in Richmond.

Scott Smith

Scott was born in Dallas and initially raised by his grandparents on a cattle ranch in central Texas; his bio-dad was a nationally known mural artist who met Scott’s mom painting stage sets at Casa Mañana Theatre in Ft Worth. Later an Army brat thanks to his adoptive-dad, he lived in Europe as a child and learned the first of five languages, was on voice/theatre scholarship in college and performed in diverse productions from light opera to musical theater. Scott loves learning about new cultures and has lived/traveled/served on four of the seven continents.

Diverse work experiences colored Scott’s life: working on a horse farm for two years in Kentucky; enlisted ten years in the Marine Corps, served three churches as a United Methodist pastor (we all have a dark side), was a software project manager during the Dallas dot com boom/bust. Currently, he’s a GS15 with a Department of Defense agency with three deployments to Afghanistan and one to Djibouti during over 30 years of combined federal service.

Scott is a proud dad of two amazing daughters with one grandson and is happily in his sequel marriage with three bonus kids. Frivolous facts: Scott commutes daily by motorcycle and drives his 95 Cadillac hearse in inclement weather, he conducts private rune readings, travels specifically to study alternative spiritual practices, is an INFJ and only child (we get a bad rap), sorted to Slytherin, and his call sign is Bones.

Although they currently reside in northern Virginia, Scott and his wife are making plans to retire to RVA. He first fell in love with G5 through a December First Friday Krampus Nacht event several years ago and feels incredibly grateful to support G5 as an executive board member.

Community board

Jo'Rie Tigerlily — **Jo’Rie Tigerlily**

New Jersey built and Richmond bloomed into a ferocious flower with mighty power. With a background in all things music and theater, this singer, dancer, mover and shaker is no stranger to the stage. Her accomplishments include performing in Jeezy’s Juke Joint (Chicago), The Show Me Burlesque Festival (St. Louis) and claiming the Burlesque Bunny title at the 2016 Edmonton Burlesque Festival (Alberta,ON). She is a student and staffed teacher of Boom Boom Basics Burlesque and Performing Arts Studio (Richmond, VA) as well as a member and choreographer of Deanna Danger's Boomettes dance troupe.