Asari Beale is an Afro-Latina writer, educator, and leader deeply committed to children’s literacy. She is the Executive Director of Teachers and Writers Collaborative, one of the nation’s oldest writers-in-the-schools programs, and a steering committee member of LitNet, a network serving America’s literary community. She has taught literature and creative writing at Hunter College, Brooklyn College, and Fordham University. Prior to joining Teachers & Writers, she worked with LSA Family Health Service and Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, both organizations which center early childhood literacy. She holds a BA from New York University and an MFA from Brooklyn College, and lives with her family in Harlem, New York City.

Leena Bhutta is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation where she oversees the foundation’s portfolio across the various asset classes it is invested in. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation gives grants in the areas of the Environments, the Arts, Medical Research and Child Well Being. Before joining DDCF in 2019, Leena served as Director of Alternative Investments at the Hollyhock Foundation. Prior to that role, Leena was an investment professional at Joho Capital, an Asia-focused hedge fund. She started her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. Leena earned her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and her BA in Economics from Wellesley College. Leena grew up in Lahore, Pakistan and she lives in Westchester County with her husband, three kids and a cat!

Keith Kaminski is a queer, Brooklyn-based nonprofit professional with sixteen years of experience in community-focused arts, education, and equity work. He currently serves as BRIC’s director of education, overseeing youth and family programs in partnership with over forty Brooklyn public schools. He holds a BFA in art education from Syracuse University and is pursuing an MPA with a concentration in nonprofit administration at CUNY Baruch College in the Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. In his spare time, Kaminski is also a multimedia artist, DJ, and podcaster.

Meredith Kirchheimer currently serves as Global Marketing Manager for Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm developing solutions to transform companies, industries, and society. She helps drive the growth and development of BCG’s content programming and marketing capabilities. Meredith joined BCG in 2016 and is currently based in New York. Prior to BCG, she supported Business Development for Cambridge Associates, a global investment consulting firm. Meredith received an MPA, concentrating in Social Impact, from American University and a BA in History and Political Science from Villanova University.

Sara Morgulis is an educator, theatremaker, and consultant. She is the Director of Education at New York City Children’s Theater, where she leads with her personal mission of engaging New York City students through accessible and inclusive theatre practices. She is an Adjunct Faculty Member for the M.F.A Performing Arts Management Program at Brooklyn College, and the M.A. Applied Theatre program at CUNY, where she graduated from in 2013. Her Master’s thesis research about training young people to be peer facilitators was published in RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance. In 2015, Sara received the TYA/USA Ann Shaw Fellowship Award, which funded a trip to London to visit Oily Cart Theatre and learn about their play development process. Sara used that research to co-create FIVE, a multi-sensory touring musical designed for students with disabilities, which has now toured to over 10,000 students in schools across NYC. Sara also serves as Director of Programs at Actionplay, where she curates self-advocacy focused theatre, film and music programming for and with Disabled artists. Sara has served on panels and presented workshops on accessible arts education at many conferences, including the American Alliance for Theatre and Education Conference and the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference. She acts as an Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Consultant for nonprofits nationwide. www.saramorgulis.com

Sheikia S. Norris, lyrically known as Purple was born in The Bronx. Currently residing in Newark, NJ & is in the Graduate program at Goddard College. Purple’s performance or classroom experience is dynamic & unforgettable! This independent international Emcee rocks with funk & soul, naturally connect with ease using a voice that inspires audience movement.  Enthusiasts appreciated her energy, her impeccable flow, and a clever deliverance of truth. Haze has mastered her own rich style of spitting lyrics with both power and substance. She is recognized as a skilled performer, presenter & leader in Hip Hop Educator. Acknowledgments from participating as a “Lady’s First Fund” grant recipient, NJPAC’s Hip Hop Art & Culture Program Director, Next Level Program U.S. Cultural Diplomat, Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem, and as a presenter facilitating curator conversations for Hip Hop art, culture & performance. Purp is a diversified talent poised for success in a host of areas.

Alexander Santiago-Jirau (he/él)is Director of Education at New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW). In this role, he oversees all of NYTW’s education and engagement initiatives, including the Mind the Gap (MTG) intergenerational theatre program, student matinees, in-school teaching artist residencies, after-school programs, master classes, administrative fellowships, and community-based programs. Some of his favorite work at NYTW has included developing educational materials and curating programming for the world premiere of David Bowie’s and Enda Walsh’s Lazarus directed by Ivo van Hove, the world premiere of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin, a production of Othello directed by Sam Gold featuring Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo, Heidi Shreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me, and Jeremy O. Harris’s Slave Play. Recent work has included facilitation of MTG devising intensive workshops in London, Chile, and North Carolina, and the creation of NYTW’s Youth Artistic Instigators program.

A Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) practitioner who studied and worked with Augusto Boal, Alex has facilitated many workshops throughout his career, particularly with youth, educators and immigrant communities. He is Past-President of the Board of Directors of Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, Inc., a national organization devoted to the work of liberatory educators, activists, artists, and community organizers.

Alex has presented his work at numerous conferences and his writing has appeared in American Theatre, The Indypendent, TYA Today, The Cross Border Project Blog (Spain), the anthology “Come Closer”: Critical Perspectives on Theatre of the Oppressed, The Routledge Companion to Theatre of the Oppressed and Applied Theatre with Youth: Education, Engagement, Activism. He has taught Latin American and Latinx Theatre at Drew University and also teaches TO for the Department of Drama at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

He holds a B.S. in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University and an M.A. in Educational Theatre from NYU Steinhardt.