Meet the Team
Riyaad Seecharan
President & Board Co-Chair 2023 /2024
Riyaad Seecharan has served as President & Board Co-Chair at AIRIE since 2021, bringing his expertise and passion for preserving the Everglades' unique biodiversity to the organization.
As a serial entrepreneur and technologist with multiple exits in healthcare technology, Riyaad has built a reputation for driving innovation and change. His consulting work has taken him from Fortune 500 companies like Wal-Mart, American Express, and Tradestation to Dell, IBM, and NASA.
With his strong background in systems management and commitment to diversity, Riyaad is dedicated to making a positive impact at AIRIE. When he's not working on preserving the Everglades ecosystem, you can find him practicing martial arts or exploring new destinations—he even reached the Everest Advanced Base Camp!
Riyaad holds a degree from Florida International University.
Cornelius Tulloch
Global Artistic Director
Cornelius Tulloch is a Miami, Florida-based interdisciplinary artist and designer. With work transcending the barriers of architecture, visual art, and photography, Tulloch focuses on how creative mediums can be combined to tell powerful stories. With inspiration from his Jamaican and African American heritage, his work expresses how bodies exist between cultures, borders, and characteristics to create spatial impact.
His work has been exhibited in fairs and museums, including The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., Faena Miami, Pulse Art Fair, Miami, Florida, and the Museo Nazionale Delle Arti Del XXI Secolo, Rome, Italy. Tulloch is a graduate of Cornell University School of Architecture.
Heike Dempster
Consultant
Heike Dempster is a curator, art writer, arts administrator and artist collaborator between Miami and Munich. She is currently a program Consultant at AIRIE (Artists in Residence in Everglades), works in international artist management with Amir Shariat, and maintains a freelance curatorial practice. Curatorial projects include exhibitions, performances, and talks at Baker—Hall Gallery in Miami, Locust Projects in Miami, All Street Gallery in New York, NKR in Düsseldorf, Soho Beach House in Miami Beach, and Untitled Art Fair, to name a few. Her articles and essays have been published in various art magazines as well as numerous exhibition catalogs and books.
Givanete Castillo
Creative Assistant
Givanete Castillo is a creative based in miami. She is currently a creative assistant to the Artistic Director at AIRIE (Artists in Residence in Everglades), and works extensively in the field supporting leading artists and galleries in Miami and formerly New York. She has helped to produce major exhibitions for AIRIE including the film “Elements of Being” that premiered in Venice and most recently the installation for “Ebb + Flow” on view at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Triennial through August 2025.
Jessica Kaschube
Grants Manager
Jessica Kaschube is a creative thinker who loves working in authentic and enriching environments specializing in grant funding and arts admin. She has managed over $11 million in funds for small to medium sized arts nonprofits and has produced and contracted over 100 live theater productions and dozen more workshops & special projects including A WONDERFUL WORLD A Louis Armstrong musical opening at Miami New Drama and coming to Broadway in Fall 2024 and 7 DEADLY SINS from November 2020 to January 2021 in storefronts on Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach which received a 2021 Drama League Award and was featured in the New York Times and PBS NewsHour.
Jessica believes in “figuring it out” moments and finds it an adventure to keep learning and solving new challenges or improving upon current modes of operations.
Heather Roy
Tech + Communications Specialist
Heather Roy is a Virginia-based entrepreneur with strong ties to the Southern US where she spent most of her early years. With a BS in Environmental Science from Western Carolina University, she is passionate about protecting the environment and its creatures. A self-taught techie, she’s merged her expertise in project management, website design, and software systems with her love for the outdoors to serve AIRIE’s purpose since 2021. When not at her desk, you can find Heather exploring the local museums and parks, at a concert, or with a good book and sudoku puzzle in her cozy Alexandria home.
Daniel Blakenship
Supervisory Ranger @ Everglades National Park
AIRIE Residency Park Ambassador
Daniel Blakenship is a seasoned ranger within the National Park System and also a creative based in homestead. As Supervisory Ranger in the Everglades National Park, he’s our planning partner and arts enthusiasts in support of AIRIE Fellows during their residency. Daniel will soon be joined by a new position of AIRIE x ENP Residency Liaison to support his work to create impactful connections within the everglades environment for our fellows during their brief stay in the only biosphere of its kind in the world.
Dharma Creativ
Marketing Team
Dharma Creativ is a full-service digital marketing agency dedicated to crafting impactful, thoughtful content that resonates with audiences and drives meaningful change. Rooted in the art of storytelling, they create work that not only educates but inspires genuine connection and engagement. With a multicultural team based in Miami and Bogotá, they blend creativity and industry insights to bring brands to life digitally.
HR CONSULTANT
@ Tag Consulting
Janiece Smith
ACCOUNTANT
@ BEAM
Daniela Menache
Phiona Swanson
FINANCE ADMIN
Gus (Virtual)
accountspayable@airie.org
airiepayments@bill.com
AUDITOR
Thomas & Co. CPA
“By looking at how our human habits relate to the environment, we can begin to create an inclusive space and dialogue with the environment that fosters a culture of ecological consciousness and social equity”
- Cornelius Tulloch.
Image courtesy of Rebecca Reeve
Header Image courtesy of James Jackman