_edited.jpg)
Corbin Lewars
Executive Director
Corbin Lewars wrote her first book, The Nosy Puppy, when she was five years old and has been following her love of creative expression ever since. She earned a BA in Multicultural Literature and a Masters in Education where she based her thesis on her work as a story facilitator with homeless women incorporating Narrative Therapy and Multiple Intelligences theories. For two decades she has worked side by side with writers in prisons, CEO boardrooms, Writing Conferences, non profits serving marginalized populations, colleges and hospitals helping them write and share their story. Her clients have earned National Book Awards, been published in the New York Times, LA Times and Sun Magazine, and been optioned for screenplays. She is thrilled to combine her passions of mental health advocacy, partnerships and creativity as Executive Director of Hold Your Crown.
Cameron Miles Lavi-Jones
President and Band Leader of King Young Blood
Cameron Lavi-Jones is a 23-year-old award-winning, musical artist, producer, sound engineer, songwriter, bandleader of his alt-rock band King Youngblood, multi-instrumentalist, graphic designer, film maker, and the President of his band’s non-profit project – Hold Your Crown, fiscally sponsored by the Allied Artist Foundation. He recently graduated with honors with a communications degree from the University of Washington where he focused on marginalized communities, BIPOC social justice issues, and the democratization of media. He has organized BIPOC musical teach-ins in and around the Pacific Northwest. He is one of the founders of the popular podcast The Revolution Will Be Harmonized on Spotify and Apple Music. Cameron is also working long hours as the youngest senior sound engineer/producer/writer/session musician of two major recording studio in the greater Seattle area at Studio Sage – a state-of-the-art multi-track facility in Edmonds, WA and at the iconic Robert Lang Studios in the City of Shoreline, WA. He is also a partner of Dreaming In Color Entertainment LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary - DICE LAB. There seem to be no limits for this young man.
In his free time, Cameron loves to work out, hike in the wilderness, kayak, play video games, gourmet cooking ( he first learned to cook from Gordon Ramsey and his mom) and dream big. Explains Cameron, “My reason for founding Hold Your Crown is that I watched so many of my high school peers die by suicide, experience severe depression, anxiety, gender identity issues, cutting, food disorders and overall mental health struggles probably often in reaction to our turbulent times and I just wanted to create a peer to peer organization where we could try to stomp out the stigma of mental illness and make sure young people know they are not alone. In my view, it is crucial for young people to hear from their own peers that getting help for mental illness should not be stigmatized. I am a strong advocate for therapy, real talks with my own peers and using my art to release negative emotions and turn them into something beautiful.”
Alix Daniel, King Youngblood drummer, DICE LAB Artist & Hold Your Crown Artist Advisory Board Member
Alix Daniel is an extraordinary humble musician and a national level drummer. He is the heartbeat and soul of King Youngblood but is always striving to be better despite his amazing talent. When he is not rocking out on stage with his band, he also play drums at his church and enjoys doing martial arts in his spare time. Explains Alix, “Hold Your Crown is a valuable organization for young people because it is always important to let youth know that it is okay to seek help when needed for mental illness.” For Alix specifically, Hold Your Crown presentations and programs are an effective outlet for any young person to be able to talk about their mental health in a judge-free zone and Alix emphasizes that is something that should be accessible everywhere. Adds Alix, “When I’m going through mental health challenges, I find for myself going out and taking long hikes in nature to help me clear my head. Taking time for myself is key and gives me the reset to jump back in the pocket.”
As a Filipino American, Alix is acutely aware that stigma related to people of color is especially rampant. Growing up in both America and the Philippines, Alix did not grow up in a culture where getting help for mental health issues was supported. There was strong cultural stigmas. Being part of the Hold Your Crown artist advisory board is Alix’s way of actively changing the culture for his own youth community and BIPOC people in generally. As a deeply spiritual person, Alix finds solace in worship, worship music, rocking out with his band King Youngblood and his love of nature. Says Alix, “A naturally introverted person, King Youngblood and its projects have helped me come out of my shell a bit more and be an example of what good comes from peer to peer support.
Chet Peterson
Executive Board Member of Hold Your Crown and Band Member of King Youngblood
Music, cooking, working on cars, fishing, are all things that Chet Petersons love. Chet likes to think the things we love most say a lot about who we are. Chet has played the cello for over 15 years, all while growing up in a hyper-musical, and supportive family. His father, Phillip Peterson being a multi-platinum producer, string arranger, record label owner, bassist and cellist, has made it so that music has become a huge part of Chet’s young life. He spends most of his own time creating musical projects with his father, his band King Youngblood and other artists in the community. A lot of people ask Chet for string arrangements and background compositions for their songs, and it’s probably what he is best at besides production and being an amazing live performer on cello. Chet has written and arranged strings most recently for Halsey, Acid Tongue, TezaTalks, Brian McKnight, Poison Jams, Ari Joshua, Medeski Martin and Wood, ALITA, and Devin Townsend. But in the past he has also sung backups on records for Portugal The Man, Nada Surf, and Kay Kay’s Weathered Underground.
In the recent past Chet toured Europe three times as the principal cellist in The North Stars Chamber Orchestra. The tour including performances during the summer of 2017 in Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Estonia. In 2018 Chet toured in Ireland, and in the summer of 2019 Chet again toured in Italy and Portugal.
Chet’s obsession with rebuilding cars are another thing that take up a lot of Chet’s time. He is the proud owner of a 1991 Range Rover, a 1975 Fiat Spider and a 1976 Fiat Spider all of which he rebuilt or repaired mostly himself – a serious hobby that could have been a career path but for his core authentic self as a musician, songwriter and producer. Chet wants folks to know that for those unfamiliar with Fiats, they look really nice, but break all the time. Despite all the frustration, he loves the sense of satisfaction when he fixes a problem that takes a great amount of effort to solve. Working on cars and music are a huge source of therapy for Chet when he works through a mental health issue.
the path to where I want to be in the future.”
Samy Garcia, King Youngblood Bassist, DICE LAB Artist & Hold Your Crown Artist Advisory Board Member
Samy Garcia is a multi-instrumentalist and a testament to the power of youthful determination and undaunted talent. When King Youngblood needed a new bass player, they called on Samy who plays guitar, keyboards and drums prolifically but had never played bass in a band or in the studio. Determined to join King Youngblood. Samy focused intensely on practicing a borrowed bass for two weeks and then brilliantly played his first gig with King Youngblood to critical acclaim. As a second generation Latino young man, Samy is bi-Lingual Spanish and English, whose father is from is El Salvador and his mother is from Puerto Rico. Both are Pastors in the Church they founded. Samy has been playing music since he can remember. As a multi-instrumentalist, when Samy is not on tour with King Youngblood, he plays keyboards for his parent’s church and even from the road he is the Musical Director at his parents' church, a role that gives him great spiritual connection and makes him feel good to support his parents as pastors. Explains Samy, “Where I grew up, as a member of the Hispanic community, it can be tough. Most of the people in my community did not have the resources or access to mental health support-let alone spaces to address and remove the stigma around mental illness. Yet many of the youth and adults in Hispanic communities suffer from various forms of untreated and unresolved mental illness. We live in challenging times and often our Latino youth struggle to cope. Hold Your Crown is important to me because it’s a chance to show my community and communities everywhere that it’s okay to talk about these things and seek help especially on a peer to peer level.” King Youngblood has created many firsts for Samy; first time playing bass in a band, first time playing in an English speaking band, and the first time learning public speaking as a peer to peer youth advisor for Hold Your Crown. Adds Samy, “Music, family, and my personal relationship with God has helped me so much through tough times. Being aware of the present and the beauty in the struggle.”