AMS is pleased to welcome Dr. LaSaundra Booth as Consulting Associate to the AMS team. Dr. Booth is an accomplished arts leader and teaching artist. She is founder and executive director of the Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra (WFCYO), a not-for-profit organization that provides expert orchestral instruction and free instruments to youth living in rural and under-resourced communities.
LaSaundra was a Lynette A. Turner Pathways to Consulting Fellow at AMS in 2022. She has also partnered with the AMS team in the development of a Cultural Roadmap planning effort to ensure arts and culture as a central component to the quality of life for all and the City and County of Durham, North Carolina residents.
Under her leadership, WFCYO grew from 3 students to over 350 within three years. Dr. Booth is also a lecturer in music education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In this role, she prepares the next generation of educators to lead culturally inclusive arts education programs. Dr. Booth serves on the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) Council for Orchestra Education, where she is heavily involved in implementing diversity initiatives for K-12 string orchestra classrooms. LaSaundra is an inventor who received a patent for a music instruction apparatus for string instruments. She is an alumni of Sphinx LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts & Diversity), a 2-year professional empowerment program designed to evolve the landscape of arts leadership.
We look forward to LaSaundra’s continued contributions to our clients and our AMS team where her expertise in cultural diversity, learning and community engagement will add depth to our work with clients large and small.
