STAFF & LEADERSHIP | pyta-online

STAFF & LEADERSHIP

2019-2020 ADVISORY BOARD

he, him, his /// Theodore Ivan Meacham is honored to serve as Chair of the Pride Youth Theater Alliance Advisory Committee. As a queer identified trans-man born and raised in Kentucky, Theo takes special interest in the art and magic of being queer/ making a difference where you are, instead of migrating to a larger metropolis (which, while awesome, just isnt for everyone). In 2012, Theo founded Company Q, a queer youth theatre in Lexington, KY, through the generous support of a Mukti Fund Incubator Grant. When not working with Company Q, Theo holds down a day job as a Cash Applications Supervisor for a Fortune 100 company. Prior to transitioning to corporate life, Theo worked professionally as a Stage Manager and Company Manager for regional and youth theatres up and down the Atlantic Seaboard. Theo is also a very bad but enthusiastic gardener, poet, songwriter, multi-instrument musician, and unabashed practitioner of Southern Hospitality. As a proud foster and adoptive parent, Theo is passionate about educating folks on the need for LGBTQ+ friendly homes for teenagers in state's care. Theo has an amazing wife of 6 years, two fantastic 19 year old sons (maybe more by the time you read this! who knows!), and welcomed a perfect grandbaby named Ivan on Christmas Day, 2017.

Ali Hoefnagel, Vice-Chair

They, them /// Ali Hoefnagel is a performer, arts administrator and teaching artist currently based in Pittsburgh. As an artist and educator, they embrace the complexity of the queer identity to create new and engaging ways to explore LGBTQIA life within local communities. Ali currently serves as the Artistic Program Director at Dreams of Hope and previously as the Education & Outreach Director and the Interim Artistic Director of About Face Theatre Company where they have devised and directed Checking Boxes, 15 Breaths, Ad Hoc [Home] and co-directed the world premiere of Brave Like Them for About Face Youth Theatre. Ali was a 2014 Chicago Artist Month Featured Artist, recently received a 30 under 30 award from the Windy Times Times for contributions to the queer community in Chicago, and was a lead teaching artist with Steppenwolf For Young Adults for several years. Ali is an active board member for The Pride Youth Theatre Alliance, a cohort of activists representing Queer Youth Theater programs from across the U.S. and Canada. Their weird solo work has been seen in several places, most recently with their friends, The Dilettantes, as a part of Steppenwolf's multi-genre performance series Lookout. They have taught theatre activism classes and workshops with numerous organizations and universities in Illinois, including Illinois State University, Columbia College, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Lake Forest College, where they hold a B.A in Theater and Women’s & Gender Studies.

Evelyn Francis, Outgoing Chair

she, her, hers // Evelyn Francis is a theatre artist, educator and established arts administrator with experience working directly with over 10 Boston area arts organizations. Evelyn’s M.A. in Theatre Education from Emerson College culminated in a thesis, which examined the effects of devised work in the lives of LGBTQ youth. Evelyn joined The Theater Offensive as the lead teaching artist for True Colors: Out Youth Theater in 2001. In 2006, she became the Director of Education and in 2010 she was promoted to her current position as Director of Programs. Evelyn now oversees and implements all elements of The Theater Offensive’s OUT in Your Neighborhood strategy. As a co-author of the Boston Youth Arts Evaluation Project, Evelyn developed a set of evaluative tools which are utilized across the continent. Evelyn also served as the lead researcher with the Boston Children’s Hospital studying the effect of LGBTQ-specific theater as an intervention for low self-esteem and depression in LGBTQ youth. She is the Founding Co-Chair of The Pride Youth Theater Alliance, and in 2016, Evelyn accepted the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from First Lady Michelle Obama on behalf of True Colors.

Deejay Gray, Advisor

He, him, his /// Deejay Gray is an actor, director, and teaching artist born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. In 2012, Deejay founded the award-winning ensemble theatre company TheatreLAB, Richmond’s home for unexpected and evocative performance. As part of his work with TheatreLAB, Deejay was named one of STYLE Weekly's Top 40 Under 40 in 2013; launched SPECTRUM, an LGBTQ youth outreach program in collaboration with Richmond Triangle Players, in 2014; was a finalist for an RVA Creativity Award in 2015; and was featured in STYLE Weekly’s "Best of Richmond” and “Richmond POWER List,” and received Richmond Magazine’s Theresa Pollack Prize for Excellence in the Arts for Theatre in 2016. Deejay has helped launch many community outreach and engagement programs through TheatreLAB, including NERVE - a collaboration with Virginia Anti-Violence Project and Richmond Triangle Players that showcases stories of survival in the LGBTQ community; BlackList - a collaboration with The Conciliation Project that spotlights the works of influential African American Artists; ON BOOK - an interactive new play festival that acts as an incubator for emerging local playwrights; and #weRVA - a program that creates community partnerships with local non-profit organizations whose missions parallel the themes in TheatreLAB’s productions. Deejay is a proud board member of the Pride Youth Theatre Alliance, the President of the Richmond Theatre Alliance, an Ambassador for Richmond Region Tourism, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Richmond. To learn more about TheatreLAB, visit TheatreLABrva.org.

Donnie Williams, Advisor

He, him his /// Donnie Williams is a senior Theater/Communications at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is also a mentor and coordinator for Proud Theater Milwaukee. In addition, Donnie is also a working actor, and does a lot of local shows in Milwaukee. Donnie is excited to be a youth PYTA Advisory Board member and he can't wait for the fun things to come, within this next year.

Grace Stolen, Advisor

She, her, hers; ze, zir, zirs /// Grace Stolen serves as a board member and as the web administrator for Proud Theater and Art and Soul Innovations. They are also a mentor at Proud Theater-Wausau. Grace became involved with Proud Theater during 2015 and has been very involved ever since with its programming, its websites, event planning, and communications. An alum of Proud Theater’s Madison chapter, they have returned to volunteer and run tech for shows and been involved in Art & Soul’s annual Connections intergenerational conference. Grace is heavily involved in their community and has served it in a variety of capacities: as a youth representative on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, as a youth representative on the Dane County Youth Commission, and as an active member of numerous other organizations. Currently, they are a senator in their Student Government Association, as well as the Financial Director and First Year Officer for the University of Wisconsin Colleges Student Governance Council. As part of their roles, they represent the voices of 10,000+ UW Colleges students to faculty, administration, and the University of Wisconsin System. They are also working to establish an LGBT resource center on their campus, which will be the first center of its kind in Northcentral Wisconsin.

they, their, them; she, her, hers // Shirley Li is a native New Yorker - born and raised in Queens. She has been in the greater Boston area for the past eight years, four of which was spent at Wellesley College and the other two as a Teaching Fellow with Americorps and Citizen Schools, and last two years as an EdM Prevention Science Practice student and Certificate of Advanced Study at HGSE with a concentration in school counseling. Shirley is a nonbinary, femme Chinese American and primarily grew up in a combination of Chinese and American culture, which has been complex and challenging to navigate. In their professional work, Shirley strongly advocates for students and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, which has been suppressed by her parents. Shirley encourages all API folks and other people of color to be their true selves. At their internship last year, Shirley created the first every middle school GSA at their site. As a result they are currently working on a grant with Boston Public Schools to create more welcoming spaces for LGBTQ+ middle schools students and providing support to brand new GSA middle school groups. Furthermore, this past February, Shirley was hired as a GSA Support Consultant for all of Boston Public Schools and they currently work with LGBTQ+ students across 15+ high schools in the area. During Shirley's spare time, Shirley volunteers with Asian American Resource Workshop and is part of a Fighting Anti-Blackness and Casteism working group to dismantle and discuss anti-blackness and casteism in the broader Asian community. In her work as a future counselor, Shirley works to advocate for student voice, particularly students of marginalized identities.

Sisi Reid, Advisor

She, her /// Sisi Reid is an actor, theatre maker, spoken word performer, and teaching artist from Maryland/the D.C. area. She received her Bachelor’s degree in theatre from University of Maryland where she developed as a multidimensional storyteller. She engages with the creative process of theatre as a performer, playwright, director, teacher, and facilitator. She has performed at various venues in the D.C. area, Michigan, and abroad in London and Brazil. Sisi is dedicated to expanding the accessibility of theatre to marginalized peoples by facilitating theatre in community spaces. She has taught and directed theatre and performance poetry at schools, summer camps, and art centers. She also co-facilitates theatre workshops in prisons and has worked with the Prison Creative Arts Project in Michigan and Voices Unbarred in D.C. The core of her work centers around theatre for collective liberation, healing, and youth empowerment.

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