Our Team

Lily Yeh

Philadelphia-based Chinese-American artist Lily Yeh is internationally recognized for her unique methodology for building community through the arts. She co-founded The Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia, and for 18 years she served as the organization’s Executive Director. During her tenure she developed sister projects in Kenya and Rwanda, and after leaving The Village she established Barefoot Artists to focus on expanding her international work.

Jean Bosco Musana

Jean Bosco Musana and Lily Yeh have worked together for 20 years! Musana is a dedicated Rwandan humanitarian professional with extensive experience in education and disaster management. He pursued his education in the Democratic Republic of Congo, completing his primary education at EP Kabindi and his secondary education at Jomba Teacher Training College. He later graduated in Biochemistry from the High Institute of Education in Bukavu. Musana began his career as a biochemistry teacher in various institutions in the DRC and Rwanda. His commitment to humanitarian work is evident from his significant roles in managing refugee camps and coordinating disaster response activities, particularly with the Rwandan Red Cross, where he has served since 1996. He has led numerous first aid and disaster preparedness training sessions across Rwanda and has been actively involved in various humanitarian interventions, including the management of refugee camps and responses to natural disasters like floods and volcanic eruptions. Musana is fluent in French, Kinyarwanda, and Kiswahili, with some knowledge of English and Lingala.

Xueer Arielle Jiang

Xueer Arielle Jiang stands in front of the brightly painted Tree of Life Mural at the original Dandelion Middle School campus.

Xueer has worked as an assistant to Lily on the Dandelion Transformation Project and works on administrative projects for the organization. A native Mandarin speaker educated in the US, Xueer brings an understanding of Chinese culture and language that has been invaluable to Barefoot Artists’ initiatives in China and around the world.

Earl Dax

Earl Dax pictured wearing a dark blue blazer and brown scarf.

Earl recently joined Barefoot Artists as a volunteer for the creation and installation of the large-scale Dandelion Rainbow Tree of Life mosiac mural in Beijing. He is currently working part time for the organization on a variety of projects including social media, content writing, fundraising and web development. His work with Lily extends nearly 25 years when he first worked as her assistant at The Village of Arts & Humanities. He has worked for other nonprofits including Philadelphia FIGHT, Spiral Q Puppet Theater and Dixon Place. For nearly 2 decades he worked as an independent producer, performance curator, nightlife promoter and artist manager based in NYC. Earl and his work have been featured in many publications including in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Village Voice, ArtForum, LA Times and Time Out London.