Official Website of Youth Speaks Seattle - spoken word & poetry organization for youth

because the next generation can speak for itself

Youth Speaks Seattle Staff

Aaron Counts, Education Director

Aaron Counts, in his career as an adolescent counselor and educator, helps young people locate and recognize their power through creative writing as a tool for transformation. He is a poet and essayist intent on dispelling the myth that literature is created only in the academy. With influences ranging from Chuck D to Charles Dickens, he tiptoes the line between spoken and written forms. His work has appeared online and on stage, as well as in ego trip's Big Book of Racism (Regan Books 2002), ColorsNW, the Seattle Times, and T-shirts across the country. In addition to coordinating programs with the intergenerational literary arts education organization Youth Speaks Seattle, he is the co-author of the workbook-style text, Reclaiming Black Manhood and the founding editor of Unblind Communications, an urban micro-press.

Angela Dy, Program Director

Angela Martinez Dy, also known as El Dia, is a poet, spoken word artist and emcee with isangmahal arts kollective roots. A performance poet since age fourteen, Angela competed on the 2000-2002 Seattle Youth Poetry Slam teams, and coached 2003-2006 teams. She is a founding member and mentor for Youth Speaks Seattle and became its Program Director in 2005. She completed two residencies with Seattle Arts and Lectures as a Writer-in-Residence at Chief Sealth High School, and currently teaches poetry at a youth treatment center and a youth shelter. Angela was a finalist in the 2007 Seattle Poetry Slam and placed second in the 2007 Seattle Poet Populist competition. She has been integral in bringing young people's voices to the forefront of the poetry communities in Seattle and nationwide.

Matt Gano, Arts-in-Education Facilitator

Matt Gano is a full time teaching artist, writer, and performance poet. He graduated in 2003 from Western Washington University with a Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing. Matt was a member of the National Poetry Slam team for Seattle in 2004 and again in 2005. He works as a teaching artist for the organizations Writers in the Schools and Arts Corps and is an integral part of Youth Speaks Seattle, helping to provide safe and creative spaces for the youth to explore their voices.