Board and Staff
Board Members
Lisa Nesmith
Board President
Ms. Nesmith is a visual artist, educator and arts administrator who has been involved as a volunteer with NoBo since 2011. She joined the Board in 2013 and has formalized our operations to create reporting and business frameworks for growth and increased the organization’s communication and outreach. Since 2013, Nesmith has been the primary worker bee for day-to-day operations. NoBo has recently hired Leah Brenner Clack as Acting Director and is transitioning to a paid Director.
Michael Deragisch
Board Vice President
Mr. Deragisch is a former radio host with KGNU, avid cyclist, skier, and mobile artist. He has a Masters in Communications from CU Boulder and ran the Career Counseling office for CU Boulder until his retirement. As a Board member he focuses on Membership; running our member’s mixers and greeting new members.
Rob Cavalier
Treasurer
Mr. Cavalier retired after 27 years with Westcon-Comstor Americas, where he was Director of Sales Operations, North America. He has a broad background in business operations and finance. He provides ongoing support for financial planning and grant applications. He has an MBA from CU Leeds School of Business and maintains his musical practice with a small jazz combo.
Karen Lester
Board Member
Ms. Lester is a financial advisor with Edward Jones Financial Services who has an up-and-coming business in the Art District. She is a skilled connector in the neighborhood who visits door to door distributing our event maps every month. She has a background in the Aeronautics Industry (American Airlines) as a large scale project manager. She is an avid collector of local art.
Adderly Grant-Lord
Board Member
Ms. Grant-Lord is an abstract painter who was born in the Caribbean Island of St. Vincent. She studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. She regularly creates events featuring the talents of local POC artists and created an exhibit in honor of Black History Month in our Gallery. Ms. Grant-Lord brings marketing skills and dynamic energy to the Board.
Connie Luebbert
Board Member
Ms. Lubbert is a graphic designer and owner of Salt and Light Studios with clients worldwide. She has extensive experience in marketing, social media, web design, and publishing. She publishes and designs Salann Magazine, an artist magazine focused on giving artists a voice. She is also re-emerging painter, currently working in watercolor and India ink wash, on rice paper within a variety of series: Animals, Americana, and Landscapes, and encaustic.
Megan Mazzoni
Secretary
Megan has lived, worked and played in Boulder for the last decade. Before becoming the current Senior Operations Manager at The Dairy Arts Center, she managed a locally owned store on Pearl Street. Megan is an avid art patron and creative dabbler, with free time spent designing jewelry or handbuilding ceramics. Her passion for leadership and enthusiasm for this community drove her to join the NoBo Board.
Staff
Leah Brenner Clack
Executive Director
Leah is a community centric leader with a passion for public art, providing platforms for artists and empowering youth and communities through arts education, programs and events. Leah has worked in the Boulder arts community for over 12 years across multiple organizations and businesses. A certified Change Leader through CCI and a graduate of the CBCA Leadership Arts program, she is committed to always continuing her training and skillsets. Leah is also the Founder and Director for Street Wise Arts and served on the NoBo Board of Directors for two years from 2020-2022.
Kelle Boumansour
Program Manager
Ms Boumansour has over a decade of experience working in project management, event planning and coordination, outreach and communications, and program development and implementation. She joined the NoBo Art District board to unite her passion for the visual arts with her professional skills. As a board member, she supports the First Friday Summer Market, public art installations, strategic planning and DEI.
Nod Norkus
Gallery Manager
Nod Norkus embarked on his Boulder journey, in 2012, propelled by a dream and a prayer to establish the beloved mom-and-pop clothing boutique, Nod & Rose. From the dynamic inception of Nod & Rose to pivotal roles in retail management at Mountain Standard and Roark, and orchestrating live music events for local talents and his band, Sun Jr., Nod consistently leverages his influence to foster community, connecting individuals through music, the arts, business collaborations, sports, and food & beverage.
As a self-proclaimed generalist, Nod remains unwavering in his commitment to bringing people together for holistic growth in mind, body, and spirit. Whether functioning as a creator, manager, artist, drummer, promoter, designer, stylist, coach, actor, producer, or server, the common thread in his journey is the cultivation of community bonds. Rooted in a passion for promoting unity, Nod enthusiastically channels his energy and heartfelt dedication into crafting togetherness within the NoBo Art District, with a specific focus on managing the NoBo Art Center and Bus Stop Gallery.
Nod’s diverse experiences encompass being an accomplished stage actor, producer, and founding member of the Footprint on the Sun Theater Company, a dynamic drummer for Sun Jr. and former bands The Hinges and Ghost Town Revelry, an amateur artist and writer, and the designer/owner of the grassroots graphic apparel brand N/O/D. Additionally, he was the owner of Nod & Rose Storehouse and a former collegiate DI football player at Duke University. Currently, Nod enjoys playing goalkeeper for his over 40 soccer team, coaching youth soccer and football, spending quality time with friends dining and attending live music and art shows, and most importantly, being an engaging and loving father to London and Oscar.
Aisha Simmons
Event Coordinator
Aisha is a seasoned writer and event coordinator with over 20 years of experience. Her writing career began after acquiring a professional writing and English degree from Depauw University. She has been penning, publishing, and editing poetry, blogs, articles, and short fiction ever since. Her current bread and butter are ghostwriting for therapists and online content creation for clients from coast to coast.
An growing appetite for event coordination and reception planning keeps Aisha busy too. In her empty nest years, she enjoys creating memorable events with local artists, community groups, and district leaders in Boulder County. Her repertoire of event-oriented activities and offerings includes indoor and outdoor event planning; tablescape and buffet design; food artistry, grazing tables, and charcuterie.
Her summers are particularly fruitful as they find her delightedly digging into and developing the NoBo First Friday Summer Market experience. Both an introspective author and inquisitive lover of people, the opportunity to work with visual artists and musicians throughout the year is a dream.