Our Team
Cherise N. Washington
Cherise is the Founder & Executive Director at Beautiful Minds Unite. She works alongside a dedicated team, Sergio Jimenez and Kaira Batiz, who strive to empower and amplify the voices of all artists. She and team curate many events, professional writer workshops, collaborate with schools, and have edited and published a series of books called UNITED.
Sergio Jimenez
Sergio is the Program Manager at Beautiful Minds Unite. He has been a teaching artist for Urban Word NYC, Cooper Union, CityLore, Project X, Dreamyard, and a variety of public and private schools across the country. Sergio has featured in theaters such as The Apollo, The Mist and The Snapple Theater And has competed in a variety of locations across the country, such as Virginia, Chicago, Texas and Boston. He has also appeared teaching on Telemundo and NY1 News. Sergio continues to teach and perform across the city while staying close to home as a father, a poet, and a growing individual.
Kaira Batiz
Kaira is the Videographer at Beautiful Minds Unite. She oversees the content curation that is posted on social media and used in various creative mediums. Kaira is passionate about social advocacy and is a recent graduate. When Kaira is not working with the team, she is studying, and actualizing her dream to become a lawyer who fights every day for the peoples rights.