Each year CUP has a jury of two people prominent in arts and design fields, and two people prominent in organizing and advocacy fields select our Making Policy Public collaborations for the upcoming year. As experts in their respective fields, having the jury determine the issue areas and collaborations for the year is also a way for CUP to ensure that our projects emerge from and are accountable to the communities we serve. For more information applying as an advocate, click here, and for more on applying as a designer, click here.

With that, we’re excited to welcome our jury!

Reem Ramadan was born and raised in Bahrain and is currently the Lead Organizer at the Arab American Association of New York, managing the Advocacy Department and leading AAANY’s campaigns related to anti-Muslim bigotry, immigrant rights and police reform. She also serves as the Lead coordinator of the Accompany Project and trainer of AAANY’s Bystander Intervention and Know Your Rights workshops. Reem also sits on the Board of Tarab NYC, an LGBTQ Middle Eastern and North African non-profit organization, where she continues to empower and advocate for the Arab American and Arab Immigrant communities in NYC.

Kelli Anderson is an interactive designer who explores how design can harness invisible forces in the world. She is known for her design, animation, and illustration work for NPR, “The New Yorker,” “Wired,” MoMA, and the “New York Times,” as well as her redesign of brands such as Russ & Daughters, Momofuku, and Munchery. Anderson is the author of two experimental and interactive pop-up books: “This Book is a Camera,” which transforms into a pinhole camera, and “This Book is a Planetarium,” which houses a tiny planetarium and other contraptions. Some of her other projects include a paper record player, Tinybop’s award-winning app and animations for The Human Body, and a counterfeited “The New York Times” with The Yes Men.

Simone Noronha is a New York based illustrator & art director. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, WIRED, Medium and Wall St. Journal. She’s worked at Google’s Creative Lab, Franklyn, Dress Code, Tumblr and Ustwo. In between work, Simone’s often working on personal projects from risograph zines and prints to animated gifs.

Shelby Chestnut is the Director of Policy and Programs at the Transgender Law Center (TLC), the countries largest trans led organization. Shelby’s work focuses on supporting the leadership of transgender people of color around the US, to ensure they are alive and thriving. Prior to TLC, Shelby served as the Director of Community Organizing and Public Advocacy at the New York City Anti-Violence Project for 6 years. Shelby holds a BA from Antioch College and an MS in Public Policy from the New School. Shelby has dedicated their career to organizing and mobilizing LGBTQ people, people of color and low income communities to ensure policies are informed by the people directly impacted by economic inequality and violence. Shelby lives in Brooklyn, New York with their partner and two cats.