Zahar Al-Dabbagh
Senior Program Officer, Career Advice & Training (Interim)
Zahar Al-Dabbagh is an interdisciplinary artist, arts administrator, and advisor, with over a decade of experience in arts and culture and higher learning. She has mentored artists and scholars across the arts at the University of New Mexico, NYU, and Dar Al-Hekma University, and is a frequent panelist for arts and cultural grants and awards. Prior to joining NYFA, she was an Assistant Director at The Museum of the City of New York’s Schwarz Education Center, where she facilitated programs and fellowships centering visual and cultural literacy. She holds an MFA degree in Interdisciplinary Studio Art and Regenerative Culture from the University of Hartford and an MEd degree in Communication, Media and Culture from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Natalia Camargo-Duarte
IAP Program Officer
Natalia is a Colombian composer, cultural producer, and arts entrepreneur based in Brooklyn. She brings experience in artist services, program development, education, and production to NYFA from her role as Program Associate at the American Composers Forum and earlier roles at Carnegie Hall, the American Composers Orchestra, and National Sawdust. In 2025, she founded AndeArte, which premieres new works by Colombian composers and runs InterArt Lab, an interdisciplinary fellowship. Drawing on her path, she believes in building bridges, not ladders, so immigrant artists find mentorship and community to sustain their practice.
