Staff

Naomi Sturm, M.A. – Board President/ Founding Executive Director

Naomi Sturm is a folklorist/ethnomusicologist, who in addition to her work with Los Herederos, currently serves as the Director of Folklife for Staten Island Arts/Regional County Folklorist for Staten Island and the Project Director for the Sri Lankan Community Cultural Initiative of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance. She holds a Master’s Degree in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University and her public sector work, media publications, and writing deal extensively with: 1) issues of ethnic identity, political economy and cultural sustainability in NYC 2) indigenous and mestizo traditions of the Americas, and 3) models for holistic economic development through cultural tourism. Prior to co-founding Los Herederos, Sturm spent the past decade working for folk and immigrant arts organizations in NYC such as Pachamama Peruvian Arts, City Lore and the Columbia University-housed Laura Bolton Archives. She has also served as a presenter for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Lowell Folk Festival, the American Folk Festival, and the Richmond Folk Festival. She sits on the boards of the New York Folklore Society, the Ghanaian Association of Staten Island, and the United States Sierra Leone Association.

Mauricio Bayona – Founding Artistic Director

Mauricio Bayona comes to his work with Los Herederos from a background in videography, documentary film, art direction and production. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Bayona has been been living in New York City (NYC) since 1999 where he completed certificate programs at the School of Visual Arts in Film and Video and New York University in the School of Professional Studies. He has worked as an editor and videographer for the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, however he best known for his freelance work with NYC-based Colombian musicians as well as his unique backstage coverage of traditional music festivals in his native Colombia. Bayona and Sturm have been collaborating since 2008, when they met working on the FolkColombia project of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance.

Diana Bejarano – Founding Member/Photographer

Diana Bejarano is a Colombian artist and photographer who grew up in Bogota, Colombia and currently lives in NYC. She holds a degree in Photography from the Fashion Institute of Technology at The State University of New York and completed a certificate in storytelling and new media at the Fundación Pedro Meyer in Mexico. Her work is documentary-based and draws light to social issues, from indigenous rights in La Guajira, Colombia, to the stories of immigrants living in NYC. Lover of all cultural expressions and folklore, Bejarano has been a member of Mestizo Dance Company since 2014.

Camilo Correa – Sound Director

Camilo Correa, musician, sound engineer and sound designer was born in Cali, Colombia. He holds a degree in Audio Recording and Production from the Institute of Audio Research N.Y.C. and a degree in Music Recording Technology from LaGuardia Community College. With a wide musical background and experience performing diverse musical styles as a bass player, Correa has worked as a musician and engineer in recording studio environments as well as a sound reinforcement engineer for live shows. Currently Correa lives in NYC producing sound for film, commercials, institutional campaigns and documentaries as a sound mixer and sound designer in his home based studio.

Board

Javier Ramirez – Baron, LMSW – Treasurer

Javier Ramirez Baron, an immigrant from Cali, Colombia who is also a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and certified by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to provide immigration counseling and representation, is the Executive Director at Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC. In this position he manages the operation of the agency and is actively involved with providing immigration services, family social services, community organizing and counsel on social justice issues. His work was recognized when NY1 News Channel named him “New Yorker of The Week” (2013).

Prior to his employment at Cabrini he provided crisis intervention and emergency services to a diverse immigrant population living with AIDS and HIV at Housing Works (2007). In 2008 Ramirez helped plan, implement, and coordinate a collaborative project between “Queens Community House’s Action Group” and “Friends of Travers Park,” a local civic non-immigrant organization, around a local park in Jackson Heights, Queens.  His success was highlighted by The New York Immigration Coalition during its 20th anniversary celebration (2008), and published by Queens Community House.

Sebastian Ramirez, M.A. – Secretary

Sebastián Ramírez Hernández is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University. His research focuses on the ways in which internally displaced persons remake their lives and livelihoods in the aftermath of war. A central consideration of his study is the ways in which art is wielded as an important tool and medium for creating memory among those often excluded from official histories. In this spirit, he has collaborated with numerous artists, Colombian and American, professional and untrained, in a variety of projects that highlight new forms of reckoning with the country’s violent past and imagining its future. Works born from these collaborations have been exhibited in a number of galleries in cities around the world, including Bogotá, New York, Mexico City and Dhaka.