About GEEX

What is GEEX?

GEEX (the Glass Education Exchange) is a BIPOC- and artist-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational platform that produces artist talks, community-building programs, and resources for glass artists.

Overview of GEEX programming, including GEEX Talks lectures, community programming, and more for the Glass community.

Mission

To gather unique and overlapping contemporary glass practices together through public programs and educational resources.

Vision

Bridging creative communities together to craft a more expansive, curious, and innovative future of glass art.

Values

  • We believe a public model of scholarship bridges and enriches independent thinkers and creative communities. 
  • We value online spaces as powerful tools that can extend beyond the walls of a classroom, studio, or learning institution to build broader networks of social support.
  • We invest in the longevity of records and educational materials to ensure they persist beyond the slippery present moment.
  • We acknowledge the harmful effects of tokenization and consequent attrition that have narrowed the field of glass.
  • We collaborate with historically white-led anchor institutions to redistribute funding directly to marginalized communities and undersupported voices.
  • We contend that artists must tell their own stories (and be meaningfully compensated for doing so) for transformative structural change.
  • We enrich glass history through a lens that acknowledges and centers voices of the global majority in the past and present. 
  • We share new legacies by canonizing artists and thinkers who have been historically marginalized in the field of glass.
  • We create leadership opportunities for the next generation of BIPOC and queer voices to better the field for all.
  • We pluralize the field’s precedent of singular leadership and narrative by prioritizing the cultural literacy and positionality needed to represent many perspectives.

How can people get involved with GEEX?

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Staff

Portrait of Helen Lee smiling; against brick wall

Helen Lee
Director
[email protected]
she/they

Portrait of Emily Leach smiling through a faceted lens of glass

Emily Leach
Assistant Director
[email protected]
she/her

Portrait of Jean Fernandes

Jean Fernandes
Executive Assistant
[email protected]
she/her

Portrait of Ben Orozco standing in front of his optical illustration, Blända

Ben Orozco
Graphic Designer and Web Manager
[email protected]
he/him

2025–2026 Facilitators

Portrait of Abigail Akindude smiling

Abigail Akindude
BIPOC Community Table
she/her

Black and white portrait of Lydia Boss

Lydia Boss
Writing Center
she/her

Portrait of Sara Clugage
Photo by Eugene I-Peng Tang

Sara Clugage
Writing Center
she/her

Portrait of Beth Hylen
Photo by the Corning Museum of Glass

Beth Hylen
Flame Affinity Group
she/her

Photograph of Adeye Jean-Baptiste in a glass studio, making a big smile with her hands raised over her head.

Adeye Jean-Baptiste
BIPOC Community Table
they/she

Portrait of Amy Lemaire smiling towards the camera
Photo by John Rogers

Amy Lemaire
Flame Affinity Group
she/her

Portrait of Sally Prasch

Sally Prasch
Flame Affinity Group
she/her

Portrait of Kiani Simms seated at a desk, holding a pen while reading literature

Kiani Simms
BIPOC Community Table
she/her

Portrait of Madeline Rile Smith smiling towards the camera

Madeline Rile Smith
Flame Affinity Group
she/her

Portrait of Bre'Annah Stampley smiling.

Bre’Annah Stampley
BIPOC Community Table
they/them


A portrait of Ana Matisse Donefer-Donefer-Hickie smiling and looking towards the camera.

Ana Matisse Donefer-Hickie
Writing Center
she/they

Portrait of Davin Ebanks smiling

Davin Ebanks
BIPOC Community Table
he/him

Photo by Matthew Cylinder

Wu Hanyen
Move with Wu
she/they

Portrait Amber Mooers

Amber Mooers
Book Club
she/her

Photo of Suzanne Peck smiling

Suzanne Peck
Book Club
she/her

Board

Helen Lee
President and Treasurer
she/they

Davin Ebanks
he/him

Susie Silbert
she/her

Kim Harty
Vice President
she/her

Carmichael Jones
they/them

Bre’Annah Stampley
Co-learner Representative
they/them

Anjali Srinivasan
Secretary
she/her

Jason McDonald
he/him

Hilary Wei Wang
she/her

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Chloë Browne for helping GEEX develop our Organizational Identity during our pilot year. We appreciate this act of generosity in helping us craft language to establish a new and needed voice in the field.