Co-Founders

Nico Daswani, Co-Founder

Nico is a cultural organizer dedicated to placing the arts at the heart of intercultural dialogue, supporting the collaborative development of new expressions, knowledge and ideas that include the contributions of artists from minority communities and create the possibility for imagining a shared future. He has worked with several organizations towards this end, including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance. He has spoken at conferences and universities on the role of the arts in intercultural dialogue and currently serves as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts' Special Arts Services panel which supports artists and institutions in communities of color. He holds an MA in Cultural Heritage from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study for which he conducted ethnographic research in Bali, Indonesia. For the past three years, Nico has been the Program Director of the Asian American Arts Alliance, the cultural council for New York's Asian / Asian American population, which now represents 1 million people (13% of the population) and is the most rapidly growing cultural group in the city. Nico has launched and established the organization's current programs, including the lively Brainstorm! series, the popular monthly Town Halls, and he is currently leading the efforts for the collaboration-driven Locating The Sacred festival slated for September 2012.

John Rouse, Co-Founder

John is a stay at home dad focused on enjoying his neighborhood, his family, and the journey that is Create Culture.  He loves to write and to make burping noises that make his baby boy laugh.  He grew up being dragged kicking and screaming on summer vacations to folk festivals in places like Johnstown, PA and Lowell, MA (birthplace of Jack Kerouac). At the time, He just wanted to play baseball.  But then he grew to love it all.

John holds a Bachelor's degree from Mary Washington University in Psychology and an M.A. in Economics from American University. He has proudly served as an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) and as an Economic Development Director with California Rural Legal Assistance.  For seven years he was employed in the financial services industry in New York City.  

Contact
We are based in New York City, USA. Email us at info@createculture.org for any questions or suggestions.