Ms. Azpeitia-Sachs holds a B.S. in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Chaminade University of Honolulu and an M.B.A. from Walden University. In addition to her role as Founder and Executive Director at Inland Empire Dance Center, she serves as a Trustee for the Riverside County Office of Education. Her nominators valued her dedication to providing safe, healthy dance training for children with an intentional approach to age-appropriate costumes, choreography, and music. Nominators described Jamie’s thoughtful establishment of a respectful culture focused on the wellbeing and personal growth of dancers in addition to their technical training.

Jamie describes her commitment to healthy dance, saying, “Protecting children is more than a responsibility; it is an expression of my faith, my spirituality, and my belief that when entrusted with the opportunity to guide a young life, we are called to do so with love, integrity, and profound care with which I am blessed to be entrusted.” 

Ms. Hernandez holds a B.A. in Creative Arts and Dance from San Jose State University and a teaching credential in Elementary Education from California State University Fullerton. As Executive Director, Christy leads Dance 4 Joy Ministries in training 250+ students a week through classes, workshops, camps, and outreach projects. Her nominator highlighted her dedication to providing safe, healthy dance training for students, embracing an environment embedded with accountability and transparency – including clear hiring and staff training expectations, and encouraging high family participation. Christy engages in outreach and partnership with organizations outside of Dance 4 Joy Ministries in her efforts advocating for the safety and wellbeing of children in dance.  

Describing her experiences in dance, Christy states, “Personally, I walked the journey of allowing myself to be drawn into sexualizing my dancing as a young person, and I found in my twenties a deep sense of body shame, isolation, and depression that escalated in sexual promiscuity and not setting safe boundaries for my body or my lifestyle. Thus, this is my passion for all other dancers whom I encounter: that they might start, stay, and promote dance as a healthy form of self and cultural expression that uplifts themselves and everyone who sees them.” 

Dr. Roberts holds a B.A. in Psychology from Smith College and her Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. As a Professor of Psychology at Colorado College, her research focuses on emotion, gender, and the body, and the psychological consequences of the sexual objectification of women and girls. Her nominator emphasized how her early research helped establish the scientific framework for understanding how environments that emphasize appearance, sexual appeal, and body surveillance can negatively affect girls’ mental health, development, performance, and well-being. Her scholarship also informed national conversations through the American Psychological Association’s research on the sexualization of girls. She has been working collaboratively to bring evidence-based education and advocacy around sexualization to the movement arts since 2013. 

Regarding specific influences contributing to the increase of harmful dance, Dr. Roberts states, “I believe that digital media and the widespread availability of YouTube and our smartphones have changed the culture of children’s dance from healthy to more harmful, because we have begun to think of dance as something that is to be performed, and to be spotlighted on social media, and to be about what it looks like, and not what it feels like. What matters more is helping children understand the beauty of dance and the way in which dance can connect them to their best selves.”