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Laura Zabel is the Founding Director of the Creative Change Coalition, a national network of 200+ locally-rooted community and culture organizations. Laura stewards the Coalition’s work informed by her 21 year tenure as Executive Director Springboard for the Arts. At Springboard, Laura led the development of nationally recognized and influential programs at the intersection of arts and community development, economic security, rural-urban solidarity and crisis response. These innovative and effective programs led to widespread replication and adaptation of Springboard’s work in over 100 communities across the country. Through the Coalition and other national initiatives, Laura is now focused on helping communities across the country strengthen local ecosystems for creativity and culture, by building a stronger, more visible field for the hubs and homes of local cultural practice.

Laura’s work has been featured by the New York Times, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Bloomberg News, The Guardian, PBS NewsHour, Aspen Ideas Festival and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Laura has been honored with numerous awards, including the YBCA 100, Gard Foundation Award of Excellence, Common Future Local Economy Fellowship, ASU Creative Placemaking Policy Fellowship and the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship. Laura serves on the Healthcare Affordability Advisory Task Force for the MN Department of Health and is the Past President of the Board for the Minnesota Consortium of Community Developers.

Laura is a theater artist and holds a degree in Theater from the University of Kansas, where she serves on the Professional Advisory Board. She has performed with Mixed Blood Theater, Brave New Workshop, Theater in the Round and Comedy Suitcase.

Jun-Li Wang is a connector of people, places and ideas. For the past 15 years, Jun-Li grew strategy and programs at Springboard for the Arts, first as a community organizer and finally as the Associate Director. She created and led Springboard’s Community Development program, including Irrigate, a nationally-recognized creative placemaking program designed to train and support local artists to address community challenges.

With Laura Zabel, she directs the Creative Change Coalition, with a focus on facilitation, organizing, and training. She also directs the Knight Creative Cities initiative, a 5-year five-year collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Springboard for the Arts to create stronger pathways for arts and culture to become integrated into civic life in Knight communities.

Jun-Li has extensive experience in asset-based community development, community organizing, neighborhood leadership, workshop curriculum design and implementation, and training. She has received multiple grants for her own projects Saint Paul Hello, an initiative welcoming newcomers, and Board Repair, a network supporting people of color on nonprofit boards. In recent years, she has served on the Saint Paul Planning Commission, the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Advisory Committee, and the board of Urban Boatbuilders, a metro non-profit serving at-risk youth. Jun-Li holds a BA from Vassar College and MPS in International Development from Cornell University, and though she has lived in Minnesota longer than any other place, some of her heart remains in Berkeley, her childhood home. As a craft artist, Jun-Li occasionally creates small artworks in public spaces to provide moments of surprise and delight.

As Senior Program Manager, Sara Sawicki tends to the development and stewardship of the Creative Change Coalition and other national initiatives. Previously with Springboard for the Arts, Sara has been with the Coalition since its launch in 2023.

In prior roles, Sara has managed programs, with organizations including the American Library Association and the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, supporting artists and organizations in creating original community-engaged projects across the country. Sara is also a theatre artist who tours internationally with Emmy Award-winning cinematic shadow puppetry company Manual Cinema.