Kate Bass
Co-Founder and CEO
Kate Bass is an internationally sought-after singer, songwriter, speaker, teacher, and creative facilitator for programs and festivals around the world. Her master classes and workshops in songwriting, voice, musical theater, and opera have been featured in conventions and programs throughout the US and Europe, as well as many U.S. Embassy-funded programs in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
As a performer, Kate has toured extensively in many varying musical genres. She has performed in numerous Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award-winning shows and albums, from Broadway to Film, TV, and Music internationally. She appeared as a soloist numerous times at Carnegie Hall, with the New York Philharmonic, the Colorado Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra, among others, and continues to tour internationally in musical theater, opera, and as a singer-songwriter. As a composer and singer-songwriter, Kate has released four albums, debuting on international radio in 2013. Kate has been hailed by the press as “easy to love,” “infectious,” and “one of the best vocalists on the scene today.”
She was a Teaching Artist-in-Residence for the Metropolitan Opera as well as a professor and Musical Director at Pepperdine University, and now leads masterclasses, songwriting workshops, and cross-cultural projects around the globe for organizations such as the Girl Scouts, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Classical Singer Magazine, and American Voices, with her most recent U.S. State Department-sponsored programs in Egypt, Nigeria, Eritrea, Uganda, Lebanon, and Turkmenistan.
Richard Steighner
Co-Founder and COO
Richard “Robot” Steighner is an American producer, global music instructor, and champion beatboxer who has travelled the world performing and developing programs for over two decades. He has performed in 59 countries and worked with 24 US Embassies to build programs around music and cultural diplomacy. His specialty is in collaborative vocal-centric pop & hip hop, producing and writing group songs in 20 different languages.
He has served in dozens of Arts Envoys, 4 American Music Abroad tours, AMA Academy in Colombia, 7 YES Academies, and Producer for Wordplay with ECA at State. He has won numerous CARA awards for songwriting and production, the HIMPFF award for best film score, and is the National Harmony Sweepstakes Champion. Richard founded the Well Versed program (media literacy through songwriting), Fusion Music Academy (developing artists in Australia), the Hong Kong Music Walk (youth-engagement program in Hong Kong), and dozens of individual artists.
He has also worked as Artist in Residence with NYPA and as a Guest Instructor with Youth on Record, London A Cappella, Vocal Asia, Camp A Cappella, Vocal Australia, and SoJam. He worked as a Competition Adjudicator for Sri Lanka’s Music Fest, New Faces Talent, American Music Abroad, Mile High Music Festival, and Harmony Sweepstakes.
Additionally, Steighner holds degrees in Psychology and Environmental Design. He combines these skill sets when working with artists to produce authentic performances with marketing and design packages that garner international acclaim.
Drew Foxman
Board Chair and Founder of Giant Steps
Giant Steps Music is the vision of Drew Foxman, a nonprofit impact leader who has built a career at the intersection of arts and culture, youth development, education, and global social justice. His passion for music led him to launch his career at the San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ) as one of the founding Directors of Education. In this role, he brought music to schools in violence-stricken neighborhoods of San Francisco to inspire young peoples’ self-expression, and commissioned new music dedicated to social change. He then pursued graduate studies at Columbia University to research the nexus of music and global development, and created a post-conflict creative arts action platform reaching thousands of youth in India and Pakistan with the US Department of State.
Drew holds a Certificate in Social Enterprise Management & Impact Investing from Middlebury College, and Social Sector Leadership from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley; an M.A. in International Development Education from Columbia University Teachers College; and a B.A. in Economics and French from Northwestern University. He is a 2018 Rotary Peace Fellow and 2017 SE 100 Fellow, a list of the world’s top 100 social entrepreneurs.
Barrett Shaver
Nonprofit Leader
A strategic nonprofit executive with more than 20 years experience driving organizational growth, Barrett has been building and engaging audiences for jazz and world music for the past decade. After honing his skills in membership and major gifts for the San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ), he became Director of Development in 2013, completing a $64 million+ capital campaign for the world’s first freestanding facility dedicated solely to jazz, the LEED-certified SFJAZZ Center. In this capacity, he has overseen exponential revenue growth in SFJAZZ’s evolution from nomadic organization to city arts institution.
Earlier in his career, Barrett managed strategic planning projects with the Consulting & Research team at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and grants for the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. Barrett is also active in the local community, serving on the Board of Zambaleta School of World Music and Dance, and volunteering with Refugee Transitions and the International Rescue Committee.