Paula Larke:
Founder, President, Executive
and Artistic Director

Download Bio

A veteran of the professional stage, (New York Shakespeare Festival, New Federal Theatre, La Mama) Paula now utilizes her music, poetry, and stories of real life heroes and "she-roes" as a modern day "djali", or historical chronicler.  She teaches essential lessons of peacemaking: integrity, fortitude, hope, and healing.  She has over thirty years experience in promoting literacy, eradicating intolerance, teaching African and American history, and encouraging ethical consciousness and behavior for individuals and
organizations.  Her accolades as a performer/lecturer include enthusiastic endorsements from the NC Department of Juvenile Services, Leadership America, the General Board of Global Ministries, and innumerable advocacy organizations across the U.S.  In addition, she provides counseling and motivational workshops through faith-based and community service organizations across the country.

Paula is an experienced advocate and mentor, combining her musical and theatrical artistry with skills learned in her studies with CTI (CONNECT Training Institute), Creating a Culture of Peace, The Children's Creative Response to Conflict, Inc., and the Brecht Forum TOP Lab (Theatre of the Oppressed) as well as two decades of community organizing and education training from the Highlander Center in New Market Tennessee. 

Within her organization, VOICES IN THE TREETOPS, Inc., Paula follows a family tradition - mentoring other artists in the integration of arts and social justice activism.  "Treetops' " mission is to give on-the-job training to elder and young artists alike.  She translates issues, goals, messages, etc. into singing, dancing, story-telling, acting, or Image Theatre to enhance, energize, and unite divided or competing individuals, institutions and community service agencies.  Through her talents as a multi-disciplinary artist Paula brings heightened consciousness, joy, motivation and healing to minds and hearts across the nation. 

In addition to her 20-year membership in Alternate ROOTS, Paula is a member of Actors' Equity Association and of Local 1000 (North American Traveling Musicians.)  She is a co-founding member of Atlanta, City of Peace, Inc.  
     www.paulalarke.com                                                                                     www.voicesinthetreetops.org

Kim Nimoy:
Vice President,
Director of Domestic Violence
Awareness and Prevention

Download Bio
 

Kim Nimoy, for decades a solo warrior in the fight against domestic violence, is an individual recipient of the prestigious Governor’s Justice, Freedom, and Courage Award in the State of New York.  Armed with this as well as the Warrior Award from the Benjamin Cordoza School of Law, she is a fearless representative of Sanctuary for Family’s (www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org) legal staff as a member of the Courtroom Advocacy Project (C.A.P.).  She is one of the recipients of the Fund for Modern Courts’ Samuel J. Duboff award ¹.  This award was given in recognition of her work in documenting problems with handling domestic violence cases and in making recommendations for improving the courts’ approach to such cases.

Ms. Nimoy is a certified producer, through training provided to Voices of Women, for Manhattan Neighborhood Network cable access channel.  She is now designing, in her own unique style, programming which addresses injustices to humanity on all fronts, locally and globally.
She promotes education and healing through the arts.  She uses music, dance, drama, poetry, drumming, with humor and artistic flair, and is a much sought after keynote speaker and facilitator.

She brings her training in the theories of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal, Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, to her “works” in helping women to heal and to organize through the arts and to her “works” in promoting peace globally. 

Ms. Nimoy considers herself a “Peace Warrior”. She has taken her experience, strength and wisdom to universities, middle through high schools, medical and law schools, the corporate world, prison populations and countless others.  Through Voices of Women, Inc. (www.vowbwrc.org) the Allstate Foundation recruited her to train the leading advocates for Domestic Violence Victims from each state in public speaking.  The Foundation flew her to their 4 day retreat in San Diego.  There she trained hand-picked leaders from 52 states in workshops and powerful healing through the arts sessions to use their own stories to affect change in policy and law.

After graduating from Sanctuary for Families’ Mentors' Program, Ms. Nimoy founded the Sister to Sister Peer Support Program at Sanctuary’s Sarah Burke House Tier II Transitional Domestic Violence Shelter.  Sister to Sister is a program which caters to the needs of women survivors in - shelter as well as in the continuing care program.  Her aim is to bring this program to other D.V. shelters both locally and nationally.

Ms. Nimoy is the founder of W.O.M.E.N. (Word of Mouth Empowerment Network) which provides workshops for victims in living life beyond violence.  She is also a proud member of Voices of Women Organizing Project.  She is the Vice President and Director of Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention at VOICES IN THE TREETOPS, Inc. (www.voicesinthetreetops.org) and serves on the advisory board of Safe Horizon’s Domestic Violence Hotline.  She is a vital advisory board member of the Administration of Children’s Services (ACS) and of the Commissioner’s Domestic Violence subcommittee.  Through this position, she also provides multicultural sensitivity training to ACS staff.  She provides emergency room sensitivity training for doctors and staff of Jacobi Medical Center, affiliated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital’s the Advocate Program, Mt. Sinai Hospital, and Metropolitan Hospital.

The list of accolades could go on and on.  In her own words, “Next to motherhood, my greatest joy is in being not just a ‘survivor’ of domestic violence, but it is in being an advocate for its complete obliteration.”  Kim Nimoy believes that "If you heal a woman, you have healed a nation!” and that one must “organize, strategize, and globalize” the message of peace.

¹ Samuel J. Duboff Memorial Award
The Samuel J. Duboff Award is named for the late Samuel J. Duboff, who served as Chair of Modern Courts' Executive Committee for 19 years. The Duboff award recognizes non-lawyers who make outstanding contributions toward improving the quality of justice in New York State.

Tufara Waller Muhammad
Director of International Community Outreach

Download Bio

Tufara was educated in Little Rock Public Schools: Williams Magnet School, Horace Mann Arts Magnet School and Parkview Arts Magnet School.  She attended Philander Smith College on a music scholarship where she majored in Philosophy and Religion and minored in Music education.  While attending Philander she was a section leader in the Colligate Choir and member of the Vocal Ensemble.  She was also one of the founding members of the Islamic Student Association on the campus of Philander Smith College a United Methodist Church related HBCU. 

While in college she enthusiastically embraced radio as a medium of communication.  As radio show producer/ DJ on on KABF 88.3 in Little Rock Arkansas she hosted The Sankofa Sessions for three years, establishing a grassroots progressive alternative to commercial radio outlets.  She was instrumental in bringing national celebrities to the Little Rock Metroplex, initiating collaborations with community organizations to support visits of Iyana Van Zandt, Dr. Linda Hollies (Womanist Theologian), Umar Bin Hassan (Last Poets), Dr. Tony Medina (Poet/Activist), Jollivette Anderson (The Poet Warrior), C. Leigh McInnis (Poet/Activist) and others.

She worked intensively with Patrick Oliver (formerly of Third World Press) to provide venues in Little Rock for artists and philosophers outside of the main stream.  Her working relationships assisted in facilitating the introduction of US Postal Service’s Kwanzaa stamp and the visit of Dr. Maulana Karenga to the Philander Smith College Campus.  She went on to become one of the organizers/hosts for Lyrical Message, an open-mike/spoken word presentation held in various venues around Little Rock.

A versatile vocalist, Tufara performs various musical styles.  Before her passion for organizing consumed her and made her an indispensable force for change in the South, she performed R&B with Kashmere, blues with the Essie Neal Blues Band, and sat in with numerous other bands around the South.  However, she readily admits a preference for show tunes, ballads and freedom songs.  She has shared the stage with legendary freedom singers, Dorothy Cotton, Bettey Fikes, Bernice Johnson Reagan, James Bevel, Guy and Candie Carawan.
Tufara’s visual Art works have been exhibited at the Aida Ayers Art Gallery and auctioned at the Women’s Project Annual Art Show in Little Rock, Arkansas.

She was certified as HIV/AIDS Peer Counselor through the Center for Disease Control in 1990 and began to do youth training throughout Little Rock.  She continues her work as an ally with Arkansas Equality Network, a regional lesbian/gay/bi-sexual/transgendered organization which seeks to strengthen community advocacy on issues of discrimination and diversity. With AEN, she has worked to advocate for the “Safe School Campaign” which provides that public schools become places of comfort for all children.

Waller Muhammad has worked extensively with children and youth for Safe Haven and Black Community Developers, she designed a program that empowers youth through entrepreneurial skills, health awareness, arts and cultural sensitivity.  A trained counselor for NCCJ’s Anytown, she served both as a camp counselor, song leader, and adult advisor for several years.

Contact Voices in the Treetops

For Booking or Program Design and Development
inquiries, contact the Director:
Paula Larke
Telephone: (646) 271-9873
or e-mail info@VoicesInTheTreetops.org

Back to Top