Meet the team
Meet the team
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Caroline has worked in arts administration for more than 25 years. Prior to co-founding Ultra Advising, she worked as an executive director for nearly 20 years, with leadership positions at Opus 40 Sculpture Park, Millay Arts, Thirteen/WNET, The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, and The Poetry Society of America.
She has raised the profiles and funding capacities of the organizations she worked with while also acting as a liaison for community groups and developing key programs. She has garnered six- and seven-figure grants from the IMLS, the National Science Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Economic Development Council, and others.
Caroline has been a mentor for nonprofits through LitTap, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, and the Alliance of Artists Communities. She served as a consultant for the New York State Council on the Arts, and a juror for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, and Yaddo. She served on her Community Board in New York’s West Village for two years, forming and co-chairing an arts committee there, and she was part of a city-wide committee on the arts formed by Congressman Jerrold Nadler.
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Rebecca is a writer, community developer, mental–healthcare worker, housing activist, former elected official, and, for more than 25 years, director of a literary nonprofit. She is founding editorial director of Fence, an influential international literary journal in continuous publication since 1998; Fence Books, publisher of more than 100 poetry and prose titles since 2001; and The Constant Critic, an early and ongoing site for online poetry criticism. She steered the nonprofit from startup to one of the most respected small presses in the country. She has worked as program director at the Poetry Society of America, development director at BOMB Magazine, and with many writers as a developmental editor.
In her home city of Hudson, New York, Wolff took office on the city council in 2020. As Alderperson, Wolff obtained a $1 million Anti-Displacement grant, which allowed her to coordinate a team of stakeholders to: launch a new office in City Hall dedicated to maintaining housing affordability; initiate a Community Affordable Housing Land Trust; establish an Affordable Housing Trust Fund; and distribute more than $150,000 (and counting) in emergency rent support.
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A strategic brand and communications executive currently serving as Vice President of Philanthropy Marketing at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund, Zuhirah’s work has focused on “spreading the good word,” sharing and elevating impactful causes, ideas, and art for more than twenty years. Over the course of her career, Zuhirah has led award-winning campaigns at numerous nonprofits including at UNICEF USA where recently she helped drive unprecedented results, increasing awareness and support of UNICEF’s global humanitarian efforts (2018 – 2022). Zuhirah began her communications career in the music industry where she was tour publicist for The Roots at Geffen Records and managed media relations for Jay-Z (securing his first New Yorker feature in 2001 and appearance on SNL in 2000). She has managed marketing and communications for Converse (leading to its storied resurgence and sale to Nike in 2004), National Urban League (leading voter education campaigns in 2012 and the Economic Empowerment Tour 2008-2009), the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Zanzibar International Film Festival, and recently at Jumpstart for Young Children where she led Read for the Record, with over 2 million adults and children reading the same book on the same day in celebration of early literacy (2022-2024). Zuhirah has also worked and consulted with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Milele Zanzibar Foundation; Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture; Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day; and the Horticultural Society of New York, serving on numerous boards including at NYU’s Hip Hop Education Center, the Society for Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, and Oceans First Institute.
A native New Yorker, Zuhirah has also lived in Bermuda, The Netherlands, and Tanzania, happily calling the upper Hudson Valley home for the past four years.
Testimonials:
I had the pleasure to work with Caroline Crumpacker as a consultant for Art Omi, at a key stage of the start of significant growth and professionalization of the organization. Caroline brought skill, rigor and commitment to her consulting practice, with a base of insight from years of experience enriched by her emotional intelligence. She helped us raise money at an important juncture, create strong language and collateral for development, and strengthen board and donor relationships.
Caroline manages her relationships and network beautifully and with authenticity, and I'm proof of that - we've kept in touch over 2 decades, and I continue to value her advice and input - nothing like checking in with a colleague in the field who really gets your organization!
—Ruth Adams, Executive Director, Art Omi
Zuhirah Khaldun-Diarra and I worked together for 8 years at the National Urban League as cross functional teammates — she was our senior marketing director and I was vice president, partnerships and advancement.
What stands out to me about her leadership and marketing expertise is her use of multi-channel media to increase a brand’s value proposition and maximize opportunities that highlight an organization’s social impact. As a result, our work was amplified leading to new revenue.
—RENEE JENKINS, Executive Vice President, Chief Advancement Officer, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
We Also Work With...
We Also Work With...
For specific projects, we love to work with our marvelous friends and colleagues listed below.
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Anees’s (she/they) childhood existed at the intersection of Eid and Christmas, biryani and beef stew - her racial/ethnic, queer, disabled, and spiritual identities being both visible and invisible. As the daughter of a Pakistani, Muslim father and an Irish American, Catholic mother, she witnessed how differently family members experienced life due to how they were racialized, the specifics of their faith, their gender and sexuality.
As an ongoing learner of restorative and transformative justice, her steadfast hope that liberation is possible is rooted in rage, radical love, and expansive imagination. She is driven by an understanding that her very existence is the result of the joy, resistance, and right relationships of elders before her. Her knowledge of social systems, structures, and how groups of people can more intentionally learn alongside each other informs her approach to collaborating with organizations. She seeks to uplift and amplify trauma informed approaches to community safety, care, and wellness.
Anees holds a Master of Arts in Education, with a focus on Organizational Leadership and Learning, from George Washington University. She earned her B.A. in Sociology, with minors in Education, LGBT Studies, and Political Science, from the University of California, Los Angeles. Otherwise, you can find her marveling at street art, soaking up nature’s rich shades of green, and creating misshapen pottery as personal practices of healing through embodied movement. Fun fact? She was an alternate on the USA taekwondo team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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China Jorrin is a portrait and event photographer with a background in documentary photography, giving her a keen eye for capturing candid moments, as well as the ability to tell a compelling story through her images. Her portraits are also a reflection of her fine art background, as she uses light, composition, and color to create beautiful and timeless images of her subjects.
Clients have inclued Bard College, Bomb Magazine, Opus 40 and many others.
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Elsbeth has worked in development since 2010, with a particular focus on institutional giving and strategy. Prior to being an independent consultant, she served on staff at New York arts, cultural, and environmental institutions including Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Center for Book Arts, MoMA, New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), Poetry Society of America, and WNET/Thirteen.
Elsbeth is adept at synthesizing diverse perspectives, helping organizations through difficult situations, and setting folks up to thrive.
She holds a BA in English from Vassar College and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University.
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Derek is an accomplished graphic designer, bookmaker, printmaker, and web developer.