Corey Pemberton
Executive Director
Corey (American b. Reston, VA 1990) received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. He has completed residencies at The Pittsburgh Glass Center (PA), Bruket (Bodø, NO), as well as a Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Crafts (NC). He currently resides in Los Angeles, California where he splits his time between Crafting the Future, production glass blowing, and his painting practice. Pemberton strives to bring together people of all backgrounds and identities, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges; not only through his work with Crafting The Future but with his personal artistic practice as well.
Che Spriggs
Deputy Director
Che is a nonprofit professional with more than 5 years of experience bringing structure and efficiency to organizations working in the fields of art, education, child welfare, and mental health for underserved communities. Che identifies as a left-brained thinker who can work flexibly at both high and low levels to design programs, create systems and procedures to organize workflows, and solve problems as they come. Sometimes they dabble in art too - drawing, painting, ceramics, stick and poke tattooing, and most recently a blacksmithing workshop at Penland School of Craft.
Mary-Ellen Lavigne
Development Director
Mary-Ellen brings over 20 years of fundraising, marketing, and communications experience to Crafting the Future, along with a passion for building genuine connections and making philanthropy accessible for all. With a background in both theater and mathematics from Wesleyan University, she loves blending creative storytelling with data-driven strategy to help organizations dream bigger and raise smarter—and she's thrilled to be doing so for such an amazing organization!
Before joining CTF, Mary-Ellen led successful annual and capital campaigns and helped nonprofits—especially independent schools—grow their impact and strengthen their communities. She believes fundraising is about people, not just numbers, and is energized by supporting artists and changemakers.
When she’s not championing CTF’s mission, Mary-Ellen can be found solving puzzles, singing karaoke, or diving into a new board game. Based in Los Angeles, she’s always eager to connect and help others go beyond what they thought possible.
Cedric Mitchell
Events & Resource Manager
Artist and designer, Cedric enjoys creating both functional and decorative works in glass. He brings many years of teaching experience from Tulsa Glassblowing School, a nonprofit organization in the mid-west. Working within the community teaching underserved youth and veterans the art of glassblowing in Tulsa. Other teaching experience; Pittsburgh Glass Center, Toledo Glass Museum, and Los Angeles Glass Center.
Terrick Gutierrez
studio manager
Terrick Gutierrez (b. 1994) is an LA-based interdisciplinary artist, creative technologist, activist, researcher, and curator. He is a child of Belizean and Mexican immigrants and his work explores urban life through the lens of the rapidly changing built environment such as liquor stores, public housing projects, and other cultural and physical landscapes that have shaped the city. Social issues including food insecurity, cultural erasure and displacement are themes found throughout his work which also explores personal histories addressing topics such as race, identity, and migration.
Russell Hartley
communications coordinator
Russell has over nine years of professional communications and marketing experience working in nonprofits and government. Before Crafting the Future, he worked in the nonprofit sector where he focused on digital inclusion, digital equity, and connecting under-resourced communities to the resources they need to thrive. He has experience leading digital storytelling campaigns, email marketing, managing social media strategies, and developing blogposts and website content.
Prior to his work with nonprofits, Russell held communications positions at state- and city-level government agencies in California and Texas. He recently served as a communications director in the California State Assembly where he worked on legislation relating to advancing social justice policies, increasing civic engagement, and expanding access to higher education. Russell holds a Masters of Science (M.S.) in Communication from Grand Valley State University which is where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in health communications.