Board of Directors

DR. LYNN ASTARITA GATTO, BOARD SECRETARY

As a thirty-six-year veteran elementary schoolteacher in the Rochester City School District, Dr. Lynn Gatto has been recognized both locally and nationally for her achievements as an outstanding urban educator. Most notably, she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the Toyota Tapestry Award, and the Disney American Teacher award. In 2004, she was named the New York State Teacher of the Year, and her innovative teaching practices were the subject of the PBS documentary “A Life Outside.” 

Dr. Gatto has edited books, published in both clinical and scholarly journals and developed award-winning classroom materials. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Warner School of Education/University of Rochester and Director of the Early Childhood and Childhood Program in the department of Teaching and Curriculum. As an extension to her directorship, she also co-founded and directed the first Horizons Summer Enrichment affiliate program on a higher education campus for 135 Rochester City School District students in grades K–8. 

MS. ERICA FINCH, BOARD TREASURER

A Summa Cum Laude graduate of SUNY Geneseo and a journeyman construction laborer for 16 years, Erica Finch retired in her mid-thirties to start her own home-based business as she shifted to a more meditative lifestyle. Her business is beginning its seventh year of successful, and growing operation, and her personal meditative pursuits have brought her into close affiliation with the Springwater Center for Meditative Inquiry. 

Ms. Finch's meditative pursuits have brought into keen focus the malleability of identity, and the ways in which it can be molded and shaped by our actions, attitudes and experiences. Though she almost never experienced the arts as a child, exposure later in life has unlocked doors to new worlds for Ms. Finch. Her firsthand experiences have contributed to her strong belief that the arts can nurture and promote the development of identities that are not fixed or static, but able to adapt in ways that foster positive personal and community growth. As result of her study of psychology and her broader life experiences, Ms. Finch believes that, with a few basic tools, all people can come to recognize the fluid nature of identity development, and learn to skillfully navigate the social influences that can either harm or empower. As a member of the ArtID International board, Ms. Finch is excited about helping to provide opportunities that foster growth and creativity for children and young people, especially those with limited access to the arts.