Cultural Connections Board 2026-2027

 Angeera Khadka, (she/her)

Angeera Khadka joins Cultural Connections with over thirteen years of experience in cultural institutions. Currently, she works as an Experience Developer at the Oakland Museum of California where she develops visitor-centered interpretation for new and permanent exhibitions. This past year, she served as Adjunct Faculty at the University of San Francisco’s Museum Studies program. She has worked on exhibition development, curatorial research, and educational content for the Presidio Trust, Exhibit Envoy, and Currier Museum of Art. 

Angeera holds an MA in Museum Studies from University of San Francisco and a BA in History of Art and Architecture from Boston University.

A personal glimpse: In her spare time, you can find Angeera bird watching, at a farmer’s market, or exploring a Bay Area hiking trail. 

Joined Cultural Connections in 2024

Ruby Ming, President (she/her)

Ruby aims to provoke unconventional connections to art across cultures, time, and technology. Involved in visual arts education for over 25 years, she has presented captivating art-making workshops for all ages, richly-illustrated lectures for life-long learners, and engaging teacher professional learning seminars on arts integration for the National and California Art Education Associations, Norton Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art, and the Santa Clara County Office of Education. In partnership with UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project, she launched a week-long teacher institute in summer 2022 for the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles focused on integrating textile arts in the humanities. As the former Associate Director of Outreach and Education at Montalvo Arts Center, she collaborated to design and produce school, teacher, and public programs. In September 2026, she presented a lecture series on "Stealing Art - Theft and Fraud in the Art World" for the Institute for the Study of Western Civilization.

She received her B.A. in Fine Arts from Brown University and her M.A. in Museum Studies, with an emphasis in Programming, from San Francisco State University, where she was also an adjunct lecturer.

A personal glimpse: Ruby enjoys traveling and experiencing daily life and cuisine in other parts of the world. She is especially curious about the artistry and the cultural and socio-economic significance of textiles.

Joined Cultural Connections in 2021

Pallavi Nemali (she/her)

Pallavi is the Marketing and Communications Manager at Montalvo Arts Center. Sparked by a love of performing arts in her youth, she now leverages over a decade of marketing experience in storytelling, design, and more to connect diverse communities through the arts. As a passionate advocate for inclusion, she designs communications that lower barriers to access, fostering belonging in arts and culture spaces. Her aim is to help build resilient, adaptive cultural institutions by empowering the professionals within them.

She holds a B.A. in Psychology and a Minor in Communication from UC Davis.

Joined Cultural Connections in 2025

Tonia Lowe (she/her)

Tonia is an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. She works as a Learning Initiatives Developer at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) and as Manager of the Truman T. Lowe Estate. As a developer with the school programs team at OMCA, she collaborates with colleagues, facilitators, and teachers to create programming for the thousands of students who visit the museum each year to deepen their understanding of California Natural Science, History, and Art. As an estate manager, she works with museums and galleries to support exhibitions, acquisitions and special projects that advance her artist father’s legacy. Prior to her museum career, Tonia worked asan advertising strategist and researcher in the Bay Area for 20+ years.

She holds a BA in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA in Art History from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she wrote her thesis on Edgar Heap of Bird’s public artworks. 

A Personal Glimpse: Tonia loves swimming in the bay, super-long walks, learning the Ho-Chunk language, exploring museums of all shapes and sizes, picking up trash in the bay via paddleboard, and building community through her tiny art gallery (instagram.com/beautifullittlethingsgallery).

Joined Cultural Connections in 2026

Jisung Heo, Secretary (she/her)

Jisung works as Registrar for the permanent collections at Crocker Art Museum. She has extensive work experience in Collections Management and Registration practices at Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, SFMOMA, Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco State University Museum, and a private art collection in San Francisco.

She holds an MA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University with emphases on Collections Management and Registration and a BA in Archeology from Pusan National University in Busan, South Korea. 

A personal glimpse: In her free time, Jisung likes visiting museums and galleries (of course!), ice skating, skiing, hiking, and traveling. 

Joined Cultural Connections in 2025

Samantha Stevick (she/her)

For the past 10 years, Samantha has been helping visitors reach for the stars as Director of Sales & Guest Experience at the Chabot Space & Science Center. She leads the guest experience and events teams which work to make every visit warm and welcoming and to show that science is for everyone. Together, they have created new educational programs and custom events for Oakland and beyond.

Prior to Chabot, she raised support for the San Francisco Opera through corporate and legacy giving, wrote grants for Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab, and worked as an educator at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh. She holds master’s degrees in Arts Administration & Policy and in Art History & Curation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her soft spot is for cultural spaces that celebrate everyday voices: places highlighting popular culture, the vernacular, delightfully odd objects and works by self-taught artists.

A personal glimpse: Samantha spends her free time on little trips with her one-eyed dog and 4-year old son exploring roadside attraction museums such as “The Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk” and “The World Famous Crochet Museum.”

Joined Cultural Connections in 2023

Crystal Lee Stone, Vice President (she/they)

Crystal Lee Stone is a Senior Volunteer Program Manager at the Gardens of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Her passion for nature, the arts, and people is reflected in her work both at the Gardens and as an artist. As part of the Programs and Partnerships team at the Gardens, she draws upon over a decade of experience in museums and public spaces such as the Exploratorium, Maud Morgan Arts Center, White House Historical Association, Nantucket Historical Association, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries. Trained to teach yoga, Crystal also periodically teaches yoga classes at the Gardens.

Crystal studied Visual Art and Psychology at Bowdoin College and Museum Studies at Harvard University. 

A personal glimpse: When Crystal isn’t at the Gardens, you can find her at San Francisco’s Noonan Building creating immersive art experiences or riding her bicycle through San Francisco. In addition, she currently serves on the Learning Advisory Committee of the American Alliance of Museums.

Joined Cultural Connections in 2023

Anna Toledano, Treasurer (she/her)

Anna Toledano works in and on museums. She is a historian and museum professional with over ten years of experience in cultural institutions and academia. Anna is the Executive Director of the Los Altos History Museum in Los Altos, California and serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the History of Collections. She has developed educational content, exhibitions, and programs for organizations such as the New York Botanical Garden, the Cantor Arts Center, and the Computer History Museum. In particular, she has experience working on augmented reality mobile applications.

Anna holds a PhD in History of Science from Stanford and an MA in Museum Anthropology from Columbia.

A personal glimpse: In her spare time, you’ll likely find Anna spinning tunes on KZSU Stanford 90.1 FM, planning her next trip, cheering on the New York Yankees, playing tennis, or knitting up a cozy scarf.

Joined Cultural Connections in 2022

Jullianne Nubla (she/her)

Jullianne Nubla is the Program Manager for the University of San Francisco’s Museum Studies graduate program, where she supports student development; manages internship partnerships; heads the admissions, recruitment, and retention processes of the program; and builds connections between emerging museum professionals and museums and arts/cultural organizations. Before entering higher education and the museum world, she worked in consulting, freelance marketing/communications services, and graphic design.

Jullianne holds an MA in Museum Studies from the University of San Francisco, a Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Washington, and a BA in Design from the University of California, Davis.

A personal glimpse: In her spare time, you can find Jullianne spending time with her family and dog, exploring museums and new places around the Bay Area, or discovering her next favorite restaurant.

Joined Cultural Connections in 2026

Megan Stewart (she/her)

I’m a Project Manager who is passionate about exhibits, events, interiors, and free-choice learning for folks of all ages. I am a facilitator, leader, procurer-of-weird-things, collaborator, bridge-builder, creator, and an intuitive thinker. I am adaptable and engaging, and I think the best Project Managers are those who take the time to understand their teams and what helps them to thrive and create, working to bring them together to build amazing things.

Joined Cultural Connections in 2026  Erick Orellana (he/him)

Erick Orellana is the Director of Visitor Services at the USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum. He has been in the Museum field for over a decade at institutions like Chabot Space & Science Center and the Exploratorium. He has presented at conferences focusing on Customer Service and guests relations at places like the Visitor Experience Conference and the American Alliance of Museums Conference. 

A personal glimpse: Originally from Los Angeles and has lived in the Bay Area since 2015. Has two cats named Loki and Thor. 

Joined Cultural Connections in 2026

Marcy Brown (she/her)

Storyteller & Educator focusing on environmental justice and freedom dreaming the future with youth

Joined Cultural Connections in 2026