Originally from San Diego, California, Arianna Monge is the director of Health & Wellness at Remo, Inc. She is a graduate of California State University in Northridge, California and has extensive experience in drums, percussion and music therapy.

Hit Like a Girl Assistant Director, Elli Teague, is based in a country-side town about an hour west of London, England. She is a business owner, entrepreneur, activist and mother of 4.

Danielle Thwaites (aka Daiza) is a musician, educator, composer, music producer and Ableton certified music technology specialist. She is also a board member and communications and program director with Beats By Girlz, an organization that empowers girls, women and gender expansive people to engage with music technology. Danielle continues to serve as the liaison between Beats By Girlz and Hit Like A Girl and is responsible for organizing the Beatmaking category of the Hit Like A Girl contest.

While working as a third-grade teacher in the Jefferson County Public School System in Louisville, KY, Diane Downs founded The Fabulous Leopard Percussionists in 1993 and directed that group for ten years. She then created and has directed The Louisville Leopard Percussionists, a non-profit, community based group, ever since. She also serves as a consultant to numerous elementary percussion ensemble programs around the United States. In recognition for her work, Diane has received awards from the Louisville Arts Council, Today’s Woman Magazine, The Jazz Education Network and Berklee College of Music, the Percussive Arts Society and more.

Co-founder and Executive Director of Hit Like A Girl, David Levine has been involved in drumming for over 50 years. He has been a professional drummer/percussionist, journalist, instrument designer, educator and executive as well as a consultant to many of the leading drum companies and organizations in the world, including Drum Workshop, Remo, Simmons, Ludwig, Modern Drummer, LP, Hudson Music, the Percussion Marketing Council, the Electronic Percussion Industry Council and the Percussive Arts Society.

With a background in journalism and graphic design as well as a love of music, Louise King joined Rhythm magazine in 1994 and proceeded to work her way up through the ranks— becoming editor of the magazine in 1999. Before leaving the magazine to start a family in 2007, Louise helped make Rhythm one of the most influential and important drum magazines in the world by balancing its coverage of legendary and up-and-coming drummers from the UK and the rest of the world with top-flight educational columns and tutorials. Louise rejoined the magazine as editor-in-chief in 2019 with the goal of building Rhythm into an international, multimedia hub for news about anything drum, drummer or drumming-related.