Who We Are
Britta B. Wheeler, Ph.D.
Founder & Executive Director
Kate Bushmann
Director of Administration
Isha Charles
Teaching Artist
Rebecca Heritage
Teaching Artist
Elaine Cao
Teaching Artist
Ren Chang
Teaching Artist
Deishanell Quiros
Teaching Artist
Volunteers
Board of Directors
Dr. Britta Wheeler PHD
Founder and Executive Director of the Children’s Institute of Fashion Arts.
She holds a bachelor’s in Textiles, Clothing and Design from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a Master’s of Fine Arts from Goddard College, and Masters and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She was the Faculty Fellow in Art Worlds at New York University’s Draper Program, and has taught at the Art Institute of New York City, Hunter College, CUNY, Monroe College, and New York Institute of Technology. Her vision for the CIFA stems from her lifelong excitement for the creative processes involved in designing with textiles, color, fashion, art and costume, and her unending curiosity about the relationship between art and society.
John Powell
John received his undergraduate degree in Art and Philosophy from Wesleyan University in 1985 and his Masters in Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. He practiced architecture in Philadelphia, Hong Kong and New York for 25 years. In 2015 he left the practice of architecture and joined the facilities department of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown New York where he is leading efforts to create and manage accurate and up-to-date documentation of their facilities and to implement software to integrate that documentation with computerized facility management solutions. John brings to the CIFA years of senior level project management experience, a broad outlook on world culture and social concerns and a long history of creative innovation.
Mary Grieco
Mary Grieco is an attorney and partner at the firm of Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP in New York City. Mary has been an attorney for thirty years and works in the fashion industry managing all aspects of “branding” and brand protection for fashion companies large and small. She represents both the sellers and purchasers of intellectual property rights, and routinely negotiates and prepares all types of intellectual property agreements. Mary started her career in Los Angeles, where she represented entertainment clients in their intellectual property matters and came to New York in 2000.
Mary is licensed to practice law in New York, California, and Washington D.C. She is a member of Fashion Group International and the International Trademark Association.
Stephanie Taylor
Stephanie Taylor has a unique combination of fashion industry experience and academic leadership success. Taylor has more than twenty-five years of experience as an innovative and progressive educator and administrator in fashion schools in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Charlotte, and Milan Italy. Prior to that, Ms. Taylor held merchandising and buying positions in leading retail establishments. In these assignments, Ms. Taylor established working relationships, professional connections, and a respected reputation as a facilitator, problem-solver, and catalyst in the fashion industry.
Taylor has refined her twenty-five years of experience as an educator in all aspects of the fashion industry into an innovative management approach that delivers the highest level of academic and career-oriented training and learning experience.
