Team Members

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As the Cohort Leader Samantha manages all aspects of the program. Overseeing classes, bringing in guest educators, producing student films, and recruiting new members, Samantha ensures our students are getting the best education the COOL can offer. She also oversees all equipment and acts as POC during the COOL Camp.

Andrea Morningstar is an Emmy Award–winning filmmaker and the Administrator of the Heritage Documentary Project (HDP) at The COOL Cooperative. Based in New Orleans, she leads the development and implementation of HDP’s hands-on documentary curriculum in Louisiana schools, mentoring teachers and students as they create films rooted in local history and lived experience.

Andrea brings over a decade of non-fiction storytelling experience to the program and is passionate about helping young people see their communities—and their voices—as powerful tools for connection and change.

As the Executive Director Beth is the senior leader responsible for overseeing the overall operations and strategic direction of an organization. She manages staff, budgets, and programs to ensure the organization meets its goals and fulfills its mission. Let’s just say she is the COOL’s force of nature.

As the Education Coordinator, Kathryn manages all aspects of programming relating to curriculum and in-school education. Overseeing the COOL academy subscription programs, designing curriculum, scheduling in-school visits for COOL fellows, and teaching classes, Kathryn ensures our school outreach runs smoothly and our educational materials are high- quality. She also acts as Camp Director during the COOL Summer Camp and holds the office title of “Punctuation Princess”. She can usually be found writing scripts and puppeteering the COOL mascot, Benji.

As the DIT/Film Specialist at The COOL Cooperative Kenzy manages everything from gear maintenance and data workflows to film festival submissions. She acts as a substitute for any of our film classes as she is well versed in all areas of film making. While managing all of our media assets.

As the Program Director of the COOL Cooperative, Alaina spearheads the development and implementation of innovative educational programming. This work focuses on empowering students through media production and technology, fostering creative expression, and cultivating practical, career-ready skills.

As the Marketing & Office Manager Brittanie keeps the office in order while getting out the word about The COOL Cooperative all from NYC! She runs our social media platforms, produces the monthly newsletter, and manages our community communications.

As the Cohort intern Hunter assist in preparing the classroom and equipment for our Saturday meetings. He also assists in maintaining our equipment, students productions, and COOL events.