Our People

Kara Anton

Board Member + President

Kara is the founder and CEO of Nurture, an email marketing consulting firm, and has over ten years of digital marketing experience. Her zest for helping clients build great customer relationships rivals her passion for the arts, the human condition, family and community. Kara is a summa cum laude graduate from DePaul University in Chicago, IL, and holds a B.S. in Marketing with a minor in Anthropology. She credits her elective art history courses to one of her favorite aha moments - discovering an upside-down Rothko hanging in the MOCA in Los Angeles!

Kara’s fascination with Pablo Picasso and abstract expressionism began at the early age of five. Creativity was encouraged and she always had art books, brushes and a rainbow of media within reach, often painting uninhibitedly on large canvases twice her size. From that point forward, she found comfort in the creative arts and was immersed in a colorful world of art, dance and theatre where she won first place in many art shows and regional dance competitions. From there, her craving for adventure began and she learned to fly a plane, obtained her motorcycle license, and cultivated an interest in diverse cultures, traveling to over 20 countries. The values of hard work, selfless service, and compassion impelled her to volunteer, including delivering therapeutic art programs to underprivileged kids, caring for hospital patients, helping rescued animals find homes, and tutoring privately as well as teaching groups up to thirty students. She is a Certified Therapeutic Art Life Coach (2019) and recently received her Social Emotional Arts (SEA) Certification (2020) through UCLArts & Healing.

GIVE KIDS ART is Kara’s dream to share her passion for the artistic experience with kids and communities around the globe. She hopes to raise awareness of the significant value that creative self-expression has on positive youth development, including self worth, academics, critical thinking, social skills, coping methods and life choices. Her mission is to help children of all populations, including the disadvantaged and sick, connect with their innate artistic creativity. GIVE KIDS ART delivers every child the opportunity to create freely, joyfully and fearlessly. Our members exercise “out of the box” thinking, have fun discovering new art media and outlets for communication, and can learn to balance social and digital isolation through individual and shared creative exploration. Above all, GIVE KIDS ART promotes self love, joy, and healing in an environment where anything feels possible.

In her spare time, you will find Kara painting on her balcony ‘art studio’ in Santa Monica, California where she lives with her fiancé, Noah, and their 13-year-old rescue puppy, Bella.

Favorite Quote: "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." – Howard Thurman

Brianna KozLarek

Board Member + Secretary

As the Director of Digital Engagement for a large corporate communications agency, Brianna has over 10 years of experience designing campaigns that connect people, products and ideas. Growing up, Brianna participated in and instructed children’s theater courses, learning and honing techniques that encourage communication and individuality. She has always had a passion for volunteering and community service, but has found her true passion with GIVE KIDS ART – blending creative expression with self-esteem building in underserved communities. Brianna lives in Marina Del Rey with her husband Brandon and their cat Fred.

dENA ANTON

Board Member + Treasurer

Interior Designer, artist and humanitarian, Dena shares her daughter’s vision of elevating global consciousness to the wellness power of unconditional artistic self-expression. As a passionate advocate for the arts and especially for our underserved youth, she supports the positive, life-enhancing impact that the creative process can have on both children and adults of all ages. Her professional background and heartfelt compassion for helping others makes GIVE KIDS ART a perfect fit.

“In an era where we, and especially our youth, have lost ourselves in a digital world, the time is NOW to reclaim our inner joy, heartfelt authenticity and nurture our creative and artistic souls.” – Dena Anton

Noah Kerner

Board Member

Noah Kerner is the CEO of Acorns, one of the country’s top Fin-Tech firms and the leading saving & investing app for everyday Americans. With over 9M accounts opened to date, Acorns has raised almost $500M from investors like Blackrock, PayPal, CNBC, Bain, TPG, Wellington, Softbank, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. His background is colorful: 4X entrepreneur, Co-author of Chasing Cool with the former CEO of Barneys, and former DJ for Jennifer Lopez. Noah has lectured on entrepreneurialism, media and technology at Stanford, UCLA, Columbia University, and NYU. He is on the board of VH1 Save the Music and has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s Innovation Agents, Billboard Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 and AdWeek’s Top 40 Under 40. Noah studied psychology and economics at Cornell University.

Favorite Quote: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited." – Albert Einstein

Carrie Harambasic

Board Member

Carrie’s passion for art started at a young age, as she lived with her grandmother for a short time as a young girl and would spend endless hours working on projects together. Her interest in the arts continued as she grew up and attended New School for the Arts charter high school in Arizona, with a focus on Creative Writing. Now a mother of her own, Carrie spends her weekends with her young daughter either at their easel in the living room, the piano, or the kitchen table cutting and gluing colored paper into animal shapes. Carrie believes the arts are necessary in growing creativity, problem-solving skills, and confidence in children.