BHAWIN SUCHAK (he/him) | Co-Founder, Co-Executive Director

Bhawin is an educator and filmmaker and in 2008 he co-founded Youth FX, a media arts organization focused on empowering young people of color in the City of Albany and around the country by teaching creative and technical skills in film and digital media while supporting communities of young artists.  He is also the co-founder and co-director of NeXt Doc, a year-round fellowship program that exists to amplify the voices of documentary filmmakers of color between the ages of 20-24 years old.  Bhawin is a director, cinematographer and editor, currently in post-production on Outta The Muck, a feature length documentary supported by Sundance Institute, ITVS, Just Films and Southern Documentary Fund.  He previously directed the award-winning documentary, The Throwaways (2014). He is a 2019 Just Films Rockwood Fellow and 2019 Sundance Documentary Film Program Fellow. Bhawin has been an educator in the capital region for 22 years and is the former co-director of The Free School.

RASHID HOWELL (he/him) | Technical Director & Co-Founder

Rashid is one of three youth founders of the Youth FX program, which he has been a part of for 10 years.  He is a director, editor and sound recordist and a graduate of The College of Saint Rose, with a degree in new media and business.  Specializing in producing, editing, sound, grip and electric, Rashid has helped youth peers learn and understand the various technical aspects that go along with film making.  Rashid believes that the Youth FX program allows youth to obtain skill sets that can be applied outside film making and digital media.  Skills such as: communication, critical thinking, problem solving, leadership.

TYLER K. WEST (she/her) | Administrative Coordinator

Tyler Ki-Re West is a New York Based Editorial & Fashion Photographer, as well as Creative Director. Her primary focus is bridging together Fashion photography and Photo Documentation. Her primary focus is bridging together editorial photography, with the rawness of photo documentation. 

 Prioritizing her work around Black & Brown women and highlighting them in traditionally white settings and spaces. Self facilitating over 10+ large scale photoshoot projects. She has worked in and around cinematography for the greater majority of her life. She now sits as Administrative Coordinator for Youth FX. 

CAMILLE DOBBS (she/her) | Lead Educator

Camille Dobbs is an educator, actress, director, and screenwriter based in Albany, New York. Through her concentration in acting she fell in love with not only the art of storytelling but also teaching. During her highschool career her interest for film peaked. She was shortly connected with Youth FX and passion grew. Her focus shifted due to wanting to tell stories where she controlled the narrative. She used her films as a medium to shed light and bring awareness to issues like racial injustice and sexual assault. Her film "Silence" garnered attention from various different film festivals such as BlackStar. But the most rewarding aspect of it all for Camille was being able to mentor young women like herself. Camille is currently teaching and finding ways to help more youth tell their stories.

DAYSIA LENEÉ (she/her) | Educator

Daysia Leneé is an educator and filmmaker from Albany, NY, whose work showcases the various relationships within life, including love, loss, and finding oneself. A 2022 Youth FX Upstate Arts2Work fellow, she created her first documentary Redi Love which premiered on season 14 of PBS’s TvFilm and was screened at the 2022 Big Eddy Film Festival. She has worked as a production assistant for HBO’s The Gilded Age, and in the art department on Mother’s Milk, a feature film by director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte. Through documentaries and narrative film, Daysia displays the beauty of bonds within life, especially within the Black experience. As an educator, Daysia engages with youth in teaching digital filmmaking while nurturing community building amongst young people. Daysia is a graduate of SUNY Albany, where she holds a Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a double minor in Psychology and Film Studies.

COURTNEY STATON (she/her) | Teaching Artist

Courtney Staton is a Black Southern poet, community organizer and filmmaker dedicated to facilitating change through the sharing of stories. Since its 2019 premiere at BlackStar Film Festival, her debut documentary “Silence Sam,” following the student-led movement to remove UNC-Chapel Hill’s Confederate monument from campus, has had impact driven screenings across the South. A 2018 NeXt Doc fellow and lead educator at Youth FX, Courtney currently serves as an impact producer of “The Neutral Ground,” unpacking monuments, myth and how to break up with the Confederacy, and “Freedom Hill.” One of Ms. Magazine’s “25 under 25 to watch,” Courtney works to drive viewers past the point of empathy to the point of healing and action.