The UBMNA Team


Barbara G. Hammerman, Co-founder, President of the Board and United by Music North America Director

Barbara Hammerman is the co-founder, President of the Board and United by Music North America Director (UBMNA). Hammerman serves as the president of Hammerman Philanthropic Partners, a firm which guides organizations to attain higher levels of performance for their human and financial resource base. With UBMNA co-founder Amanda Gresham, she played a key role in establishing a base for UBMNA in the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, she serves as an advisor to the European company United by Music, founded in 2006 in the Netherlands.

Hammerman’s professional engagements include founding two planned giving councils, serving on the government relations committee of the national Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, legislative development for Charitable Accord (Texas and Washington, D.C.). She is the chair of the Emeritus Board of the South Sound Planned Giving Council (Tacoma, WA.) She is a published author of a book Endowments: Right from the Start, has written numerous articles and is a sought-after speaker in her field. She has worked as a volunteer with education, social justice and arts organizations, and was recognized with a 2009 Keeping the Blues Alive award from the national Blues Foundation (Memphis).
She serves on the inaugural board of the National Blues Museum (St. Louis) as well as the board of directors for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & History Museum. She founded the Luther Allison Endowment Fund (Chicago) and the Honeyboy Edwards Fund for the Blues of the National Blues Museum. Hammerman and Gresham were recently recognized by Cascade Blues Association (Oregon) for their contributions to the blues music field. She holds degrees in communications and law from Northwestern State University (Louisiana) and Western State College of Law (California), and is a graduate of the CORO Leadership Training program (CA).

Amanda Gresham, Co-founder, Associate Director/Production Coordinator

Amanda Gresham is co-founder, Associate Director/Production Coordinator of United by Music North America (UBMNA). A seasoned entrepreneur who excels in creating and managing businesses, projects and programs, Gresham is the founder and CEO of Delta Music Experience (DME), producing events, festival attractions and customized musical travel trips. DME is the presenting sponsor of UBMNA, and Gresham played a key role with her UBMNA co-founder Barbara Hammerman in establishing a base for UBMNA in the Pacific Northwest. Through DME’s association with Portland’s annual Waterfront Blues Festival, Gresham has integrated United by Music into the festival’s programming. A seasoned photojournalist, Gresham’s most rewarding and recognized documentary projects include the 30-day United by Music tour in The Netherlands and Warner Records’ 10 Days Out: Blues from The Backroads, a Grammy Award Nominated CD/DVD and PBS special.

Gresham was the associate to Emmy Award Winning producer/director Ellen Goosenberg-Kent for an HBO documentary “Middle School Confessions,” where her role ranged from on-set photography, to art and music selection to talent facilitation. After a stint in the hospitality industry as part of the team that opened the Half Moon Bay on the California coast, she followed her blues music passion to New Orleans, where she established Gresham’s Royal blues Art Gallery in the heart of the French Quarter. Delta Music Experience was launched in New Orleans shortly thereafter.

Most recently the president of Sun Studios and PBS producer of Sun Sessions sought out Gresham to record and film her 2012 Rockin’ the Roads Delta Music Experience trip she produced for their TV series. She was the documentary photographer for Lisa Marie Presley while she and her band recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis for Good Morning America and a PBS special for Sun Studio. Both Gresham’s PBS special and the Lisa Marie Presley project will be aired in the same season in 2013. Gresham is a graduate of The Webb Schools of California and American University in Washington, D. C.

Joris Van Wijngaarden,
Founder, United by Music

Joris Van Wijngaarden is the founder of the Netherlands-based United by Music. An executive with Carante Groep, a major Dutch healthcare organization, Joris developed the concept for United by Music with singer Candye Kane and launched the nonprofit in 2005. The first United by Music performing band was unveiled in 2006. Under Joris’ leadership, the organization in Europe grew to include teaching and workshop opportunities to augment the live performances of the touring ensemble.

Through Candye, Joris contacted Barbara Hammerman and Amanda Gresham, and asked them to undertake the launch of the North American United by Music program. Joris has supportede the development of United by Music North America and continues to be involved as a board member.

Arthur Steinhorn, Treasurer/Secretary

Arthur Steinhorn, based in Portland OR, currently serves as Treasurer/Secretary of United by Music North America. Over the past three decades, he has contributed to the development and success of a wide range of both for-profit and non-for-profit organizations primarily in the arts and human services industries. For the past decade, Arthur has served as the CFO at Special Olympics Oregon, a statewide nonprofit that serves individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families primarily through sports programming. These organizations have benefited from Arthur’s unique balance of analytical and creative talents.

Arthur is devoted to making a difference in both the local community and the world-at-large. Once a touring professional musician, Arthur continues to perform in the Portland area in rock bands as a drummer. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland.