Our Team
DIANE DOWLING
Executive Director &
Chief Financial Officer
Diane Dowling joined Carpe Diem Arts in mid-2020, bringing over 20 years of experience in finance, accounting, and strategy to the organization as she shifted to the nonprofit sector to make a positive contribution to the lives of others. During her tenure at Carpe Diem, Diane has demonstrated a deep commitment to the success of the organization.
Diane has been instrumental in moving the organization forward with improvements in technology, accounting, and human resources, in particular. The title of Interim Executive Director was added in 2025 when founder Busy Graham retired, and Diane was named Executive Director in February 2026.
Diane enjoys dabbling in drawing and painting. She is currently an active member of, and serves as Performance Coordinator for, Harmony Express, a barbershop style mixed a cappella chorus out of Germantown, MD. Diane says she got her love for music from her father and her appreciation for art from her mother. Her husband also sings with Harmony Express, and their daughter is an emerging actor in Los Angeles.
Diane is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and earned her M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Her career has caused her to live in many locales around the U.S., including Florida, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, and Nevada, but she grew up in Montgomery County, MD, and settled here again in the late 1980s.
DENISE M. JONES
Associate Director
Denise Jones has been instrumental in the growth of Carpe DIem Arts since its inception, providing support to Busy Graham in building community awareness and developing strong relationships with partner site managers, peer organizations, and teaching artists. With Busy's retirement, Denise was named Associate Director in February 2026. In this role, she will continue her work to ensure daily operations meet client objectives in bringing the arts to Montgomery County residents.
Denise is a meeting facilitator, instructional designer, teaching artist, and facilitator of K12 education and workforce development support training for parents and students. She has been an ardent supporter for parent advocacy and student achievement, especially targeting families of color, and parents in particular to encourage them to walk the school journey with their children.
Denise is also a passionate advocate for arts integration in education and in positive youth development programs, and has developed several artist residency projects that combine the visual arts with history, math and social studies.
In her work for community, youth and adult capacity building, she has been a member of the Montgomery County NAACP Parents Council, served as the NAACP Parents Council Representative on the PTA leadership team of two schools as well as their School Improvement Teams; and served four years on the Deputy Superintendent’s Minority Achievement Advisory Council of Montgomery County Public Schools. Denise’s commitment to parents and adult empowerment has been further fostered as a teacher of adult learners in Prince Georges County Public Schools and Prince Georges Community College; a facilitator for the Safe Silver Spring Summit conference; a training facilitator for Juvenile Justice Family Advocacy Initiative Resource; and as a consultant for the Impact in the Schools Initiative of Impact Silver Spring a capacity building community organizing non-profit in Montgomery County, MD.
Denise has designed and delivered trainings in MCPS schools, for the National Council of Negro Women, Community Preservation and Development Corporation, Takoma Park Youth Collaborative, ACE (African Arts, Culture and Education) Academy c/o Montgomery County Collaboration Council and Carpe Diem Arts, the League of Women Voters, and other community serving organizations. Her College Prep Seminar, Begin with the End in Mind is a celebrated community event.
BUSY GRAHAM
Founder (Retired)
Busy Graham has devoted most of her life to the arts and education, from music teacher to artist representative to nonprofit administrator and arts advocate. Busy is now transitioning to retirement, reducing her involvement in Carpe Diem Arts which she founded. The organization will continue her focus on community building through the arts, creating cross-cultural, multi-generational opportunities to participate in the visual, literary and performing arts.
In her career, Busy has served as the director of the Institute of Musical Traditions; founded Class Acts Arts with the goal of bringing high-quality and culturally diverse traditions of music, dance, storytelling and theater to schools and under-resourced communities throughout the National Capital Region; and launched Project Youth ArtReach, serving youth and women in corrections.
She has received numerous awards in recognition of her work on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, including Maryland’s Sue Hess Award as "Arts Advocate of the Year," and the “Lifetime Impact Award” from Montgomery County. She believes that the arts matter – in our towns, our schools, our communities, in the life of every citizen -- and that through creative partnerships, we can make the power of the arts accessible and beneficial to all.
BETH BROOKS-MWANO
Program Manager - Arts Alive!, Jump Start with the Arts, Sleepaway Camps & Adult Retreats
Beth served as house parent and teaching artist at the Carpe Diem Arts Summer Sleepaway Camp in 2021, advanced to Camp Director, and now is Program Manager for Sleepaway Camps as well as Arts Alive! for seniors and Jump Start with the Arts for pre-k children.
In all that she does, Beth ensures a safe space influenced by her warm soul, gentle spirit, and sense of justice and inclusiveness.
Beth also teaches yoga, singing, and creative dance. She has previously partnered with several non-profits as artistic collaborators, including Dance Exchange in Takoma Park, and Body Wise Dance. She is a Certified Yoga Instructor and completed first-year coursework at Maryland University of Integrative Health toward an M.S. in Yoga Therapy. She earned a Master of Arts in Teaching, Licensed Special Education Teacher, and worked at Kennedy Krieger High School, Baltimore, MD.
SARAH LANZO
Program Manager - Assemblies, Ukes on the Move!
Sarah Lanzo served as an educator in Maryland public schools for 14 years, teaching choral and general music in elementary and middle schools. During this time, Sarah was given the opportunity to host one of Carpe Diem Arts' Ukes on the Move programs. Believing that music is a universal human experience that should be accessible to all, Sarah was grateful for the opportunity and resources that Ukes on the Move provided her students. When she was ready for a change, Sarah joined the Carpe Diem Arts team and now serves as the Program Manager of Assemblies.
Sarah received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the University of Maryland. She was deeply engaged in the campus music community—directing the popular university a cappella group, the Faux Paz, and performing with the school’s premiere choral group, the UMD Chamber Singers, while furthering her piano studies under the tutelage of Dr. Cleveland Page. Sarah continues to work with student musicians as a staff member with Glorystar Children’s Chorus.
LESLIE ADELMAN
Eastern Shore Programs Manager - Jump Start with the Arts, Arts Alive, School Assemblies/Residencies
Leslie Adelman serves as Eastern Shore Programs Manager for Carpe Diem Arts, where she supports a range of initiatives including Jump Start with the Arts, the Arts Alive concert series at Brookletts Place and the Chesapeake Center, school-based cultural arts assemblies and residencies, and partnerships with community organizations across Talbot County.
She brings a multidisciplinary background in education, biology, and program development, along with a deep commitment to expanding access to meaningful learning experiences. Leslie is especially passionate about creating opportunities that foster connection - helping individuals engage more deeply with themselves, with the natural world, and with diverse communities.
Originally from the Midwest, Leslie moved several times before settling on Maryland’s Eastern Shore with her husband in 1999. As an arts enthusiast who grew up enjoying museums, theater, and concerts, she happily considers herself an “artist in progress,” dabbling in photography and sewing. As the mother of three band kids, Leslie has witnessed firsthand the powerful role music and the arts play in young people’s lives - fostering joy, confidence, creative expression, and well-being. Her early volunteer work coordinating cultural arts programs at her children's elementary school introduced her to Carpe Diem Arts and the rewards of connecting people through the arts - an experience that continues to guide her today.
JO RASI
Program Director, Daily Antidote of Song
ANNA ALTER
Program Manager, Daily Antidote of Song
Anna (they/she) is a musician, folk dancer, and craftmaker based in Boston, MA. Anna has spent much of their life exploring music from around the world, learning how to make their own (most recently, they’ve become quite taken with the fiddle), and supporting organizations that utilize music and art to build community and strengthen our connections with one another.
Anna has experience as an events manager for a music and arts center in Seattle, and was an active intern and volunteer for KEXP, a public alternative music radio station for three years. Volunteering to support music-related organizations and projects continues to be a meaningful part of Anna’s life. She currently serves on the Pinewoods Camp Inc. Board (where she met fellow Board Director, Jo Rasi, the Daily Antidote of Song Program Manager), as well as the DEFFA (Downeast Friends of the Folk Arts) Board.
In 2020, Anna published Some Alternative Roots, a creative resource website, and through this platform, co-curated and hosted a week of the Daily Antidote of Song in the spring of 2021. Anna soon became a regular part of the Daily Antidote of Song community, and delightedly joined Carpe Diem Arts in September 2021.
MUNIT MESFIN
Lead Teaching Artist, Ukes on the Move!
Munit Mesfin is an Ethiopian singer and songwriter, teaching and international touring and recording artist, entrepreneur, arts advocate, and a celebrated cultural ambassador. She believes in the power of culture to unite and build bridges. She is the Music Creative Director for Yegna, an innovative radio drama turned TV series that addresses difficult social issues surrounding girls in Ethiopia and uses the arts (storytelling and music) for positive social change. She currently splits her time between Ethiopia and the US.
Alongside music performances, Munit works as a teaching artist at the Wolf Trap Center for Performing Arts, a Youth Programs Coordinator at the Ethiopian Community Center in Washington DC and consults with other organizations working on out of school and library programming. She also works extensively as an emcee and moderator for conferences, workshops, festivals, fundraisers, launches and more. Munit is currently working on her third album slated for release in 2020.
Besides her role as program manager for two programs, Munit serves as a teaching artist with Carpe Diem's Youth ArtBeat afterschool program and Jump Start with the Arts program for preschoolers, teaches children to play the ukulele at our summer camps, and is a performing artist for Carpe Diem Arts, as a solo artist, as a member of Project Locrea, and as leader of Munit & z Lovebugs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munit_Mesfin /