Mentors and Guest Speakers

All our mentors and guest speakers at the Ateliers are renowned festival managers and directors, cross-sector experts, cultural activists, and artists. Our guest speakers are part of our programme for multiple days while mentors and facilitators are present for the whole period of the atelier. 

Members of the Alumni community of The Festival Academy are also invited to join the Atelier and take initiative leading sessions and involving professionals from their own networks (find out more about our Alumni-led sessions here).

During their participation, they not only act as lecturers but also as true mentors as they engage in one-on-one discussions with the participants.

You can have a look at the list of experts present during previous editions here.

Horacio Pérez (Chile, 1982) is a curator, creative producer, and professor of performing arts. His professional practice is related to international programming and artistic mobility, promoting exchanges between Latin America and the rest of the world.

He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Theater Department of Universidad de Chile, and a Master of Arts from New York University. He has worked in Chilean institutions like Teatro a Mil International Festival -where he was coordinator of PLATEA, Programmers Week of the festival in four editions- and the Theatre Department of Universidad de Chile, and international projects like Próximamente festival at KVS (Brussels), The Festival Academy (Nicosia, Elefsina), OpenScape (online) and The Public Theater (New York), among others. As a producer he has collaborated with Uruguayan choreographer Tamara Cubas and Chilean companies Bonobo, Teatro La María and Teatro Anónimo, presenting their work in more than 20 international festivals. Additionally, he has been selected to participate in international programs of professional development like Atelier for Young Festival Managers (Montreal), Producers Academy (Brussels), and a residency with the programming team of Holland Festival (Amsterdam).

Vigdis Jakobsdottir is an Icelandic theatre director and educator and has been Artistic Director and CEO of Reykjavik Arts Festival since 2016. The multidisciplinary festival is the leading arts festival in Iceland and has been running since 1970.

Vigdis is passionate about the ability of the arts to challenge conceptions, shape society and celebrate humanity. She feels strongly that access to the arts should not be reserved for the privileged few but should be accessible to all. Throughout her practice as theatre director, educator and festival director she continuously explores ways to reach out to an ever broader audience demographic through meaningful artistic exchanges.

Before Reykjavik Arts Festival Vigdis directed performances at the National Theatre of Iceland and with numerous independent theatre companies. She was Head of Education at the National Theatre of Iceland from 2002-2011 and adjunct and later programme director for MA studies in Theatre Education at the Iceland Academy of the Arts from 2002-2016. She is the founder of Þjóðleikur – The National Youth Theatre festival in Iceland which she led from 2008-2017 and UNGI -an international performing arts festival for young audiences in Reykjavík, (artistic director from 2013-2016).

Vigdis was elected on the executive committee of ASSITEJ (International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People) in 2011 and was vice president of the association from 2014-2017. In 2021 she was elected honorary member of ASSITEJ.

Yazmany Arboleda (b. 1981, Colombian-American) serves as the first People's Artist for New York City at the Civic Engagement Commission and is the Founder of The People's Creative Institute. An architect by training, Yazmany art practice fosters community connections through expansive public art initiatives. He also holds the role of Senior Artistic Advisor for the Community Art Network, He has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Yale School of Management, and the United Nations.

Inge Ceustermans is the General Director of The Festival Academy, a non-profit organisation initiated by the European Festivals Association (EFA). Inge Ceustermans has a Master’s degree in Languages and Literature with a specialisation in Theatre Sciences. She was the general manager for the Brussels based artists’ company Needcompany under the artistic direction of Jan Lauwers from 2003-2012 before she started working for the European Festivals Association (EFA), a network organisation of more than 80 festivals in Europe and beyond. Apart from this, she is consulting different artists on their general strategy and international relations. She is also a member of the advisory committee for the Agency of Arts and Heritage in Flanders.

Dennis Redmoon Darkeem is a multimedia artist based in the Bronx. Reflecting his Indigenous and African American heritage, Dennis' work explores themes of institutionalized racism and classism, jarring stereotypes, and displacement of people of color.

Kumi Naidoo, a renowned South African human rights and environmental activist, began his impactful journey at fifteen, organizing school boycotts against apartheid education. Targeted by the Security Police, he lived in exile in the UK until 1990. Returning, Kumi played a pivotal role in legalizing the African National Congress in KwaZulu Natal.

He served as the spokesperson for the Independent Electoral Commission, overseeing South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. Internationally, Kumi made history as the first person from the global South to lead Greenpeace International (2009-2016) and later served as Secretary General of Amnesty International (2018-2020).

In education, Kumi lectured at Fossil Free University and held a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship until early 2022. Currently, he is a Senior Advisor at the Community Arts Network, a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Stanford University, and a Professor of Practice at the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Kumi represents global interests as a Global Ambassador for Africans Rising for Justice, Peace, and Dignity. He holds positions as a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University and an Honorary Fellow at Magdalen College. His family established the Riky Rick Foundation for Artivism, honoring his late brother.

Kumi, an award-winning author, penned "Letters To My Mother" (2022), earning the NHSS 2023 non-fiction award.

Meera Dugal is a program associate for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation, a social justice foundation making grants in the arts and humanities. Meera previously held positions at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, globalFEST, The New York Public Library for Performing Arts, Shared_Studios, and The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, through which she curated and produced public programming highlighting local and international artists preserving and innovating musical traditions from around the world. She is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Habibi Festival, an annual celebration of traditional and contemporary music of the Southwest Asia, North Africa (S.W.A.N.A) region. 

Meera holds a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she concentrated on music and identity in diasporic communities. She has also participated in the Art & Cultural Heritage Law Executive Education Program at Georgetown Law and the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Emerging Leadership Institute. Meera currently serves on the advisory board of musicians' collective Brooklyn Raga Massive.

Thimali Kodikara is series producer and co-host of the groundbreaking podcast, Mothers Of Invention on feminist solutions to the climate crisis.

Alongside her co-hosts - former Irish president Mary Robinson and comedian Maeve Higgins - Kodikara has interviewed BIPOC women, girls and their allies, located across the globe, on their groundbreaking innovations to avert climate catastrophe at its frontlines. As showrunner, Kodikara has researched, developed and overseen the show's editorial and social impact strategies. And as social impact producer, she has evolved the project into a reputable source for stakeholders to connect with BIPOC feminist climate leaders around the world.

In her media work and through her role as event producer, public speaker and moderator, Kodikara is focused on platforming BIPOC women climate leaders so their leadership is front and center in the global climate movement, which has, for far too long, ignored their expertise. She has a track record of successfully drawing global or high-profile attention, or monetary awards, to their critical work. Public events she organized include a conversation with Senator Bernie Sanders days after the 2020 US presidential election; curating the first all-women climate justice programming at the American Museum of History New York featuring musician Patti Smith; and forging a collaboration with British fashion designer, Stella McCartney.

In her commitment to ensuring women and climate justice become integral to climate storytelling in mainstream media, Kodikara has advised on BAFTA'S climate education program for British film and television professionals, Edinburgh TV Awards' Climate Impact Award submissions criteria, and a chapter of Good Energy's Climate Storytelling Playbook directed at Hollywood comedy writers.

A programming veteran with a background in arts administration, Amy Cassello worked in development, marketing, publicity, and general management for the City of New Haven’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Arts & Ideas Festival, and Doug Elkins Dance Company before becoming general manager for Urban Bush Women, where she went on to become executive director. She also helped develop the careers of nora chipaumire and Souleymane Badolo, among other independent choreographers. Cassello joined BAM in August 2012 in a newly created position as the associate producer for the Next Wave Festival. She was promoted to producer in 2018, and became BAM’s associate artistic director in November 2020.

Ellada Evangelou, PhD, was born and raised in Cyprus. She has studied in Cyprus and the United States. She has worked as a dramaturg, theater director, workshop facilitator, and independent consultant, in collaboration with theater companies, NGOs, and international organisations, including UNDP and the Anna Lindh Foundation. She teaches theater and dramaturgy courses in higher education in Cyprus and the United States.

She is co-founder of Rooftop Theatre, was a member of the Leadership Circle of the IMPACT Project (2017-21), a 2020-21 Global Fellow of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) and a 2021 Global Faculty in Residency, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, NYU. She was the Artistic Director of the Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival in Cyprus, from 2019 to 2022. In 2023, she co-curated her first exhibitions at the Prague Quadrennial for Stage Design, Prague, and at Gallatin Galleries, NYC. She is interested in the relationship between theater/dramaturgy and identity, and works in the intersection of aRtivism and scholarship in post-colonial, post-conflict communities.

She is currently the curator for the artists residency program ‘Boundary Crosser’, at CYENS Center of Excellence, Lefkosia, Cyprus.

Juan Pablo Lopez Otero is a journalist with a master's degree in Cultural Development and International Project Management from the University of Lyon in France. He began his professional career as an advisor to the Secretary of Culture of Cali, later he served as Cultural Director of the French Alliance of Cali for 10 years and recently worked as an advisor to the Office of the Minister of Culture between 2011 and 2018 He has been coordinator of Palco, the Performing Arts Platform of the Ministry of Culture, Coordinator of performing arts for the France - Colombia year in association with the French Institute and was co-director of the Southern Cultural Industries Market, Micsur 2016, held in Bogota. Since 2012 he has been the artistic director of the Cali International Dance Biennial and since 2021 he has been the programming director of the Dance and Choreography Center of Valle del Cauca La Licorera in Cali.

Low Kee Hong is Creative Director at Factory International the landmark cultural space being developed in the heart of Manchester, which will open in summer 2023.

Kee Hong oversees the Curatorial team at Factory International and alongside John McGrath, the organisation’s Artistic Director & Chief Executive, works to develop the artistic programme for Factory International and Manchester International Festival (MIF) and will lead on the Festival’s 2025 programme.

Appointed to the role in early 2022, Kee Hong was previously Head of Theatre, Performing Arts at the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong, responsible for formulating the district’s artistic direction and strategies for Contemporary Performance, Dramatic and Theatre Arts. Earlier roles include Artistic Director and General Manager of the Singapore Arts Festival, Founding Director and General Manager of the Singapore Biennale and Associate Artistic Director of TheatreWorks (Singapore). 

Kee Hong oversees the work of the Creative Engagement programme which brings opportunities for people from all backgrounds, ages and from all corners of the city year-round; the international department collaborating with venues, festivals and other cultural organisations globally, whose financial and creative input helps to make MIF and Factory International projects possible and ensures that work made in Manchester goes on to be seen around the world.

Mark Russell has worked in the downtown dance/performance and theater world for over 35 years. From 1983-2004 he was the Executive Artistic Director of Performance Space 122. He brought the space from a low-tech artist rental space to a world-renowned presenting institution committed to developing the work of New York City artists. In January 2005 Russell launched the Under the Radar Festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse. UTR focuses on theater-based contemporary performance. The festival moved to the Public Theater in 2006 and became a centerpiece in the New York City theater season; mixing international performances with national and local artists. Russell has been involved with many artists over his career, creating opportunities for them to grow and reach wider audiences. He is now involved in re-imagining the Under the Radar Festival for a new generation.

Nima Dehghani is an Iranian writer, director, and interdisciplinary artist based in San Francisco and Tehran. He holds a BA degree in architecture from IUST (Iran 2010) and an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, with an emphasis on digital media and performance art (US 2016).

Nima is the founder and director of the Re-Connect online performance festival (2019) and Ctrl+Z theater group (2008).

He works predominantly in the field of experimental theater, Digital media, VR, and video projection design for live shows. He also teaches a "Digital storytelling workshop" specifically designed for refugee children and underserved communities in collaboration with nonprofits in the US, Germany, Turkey, and Iran. He is presently working on developing collaborative initiatives that serve as alternative platforms for connecting and empowering independent artists and social activists.

Sahba Aminikia is a San Francisco-based composer, musically exploring the dichotomy of light and dark. Trained classically and influenced globally, Aminikia’s work has been widely performed around the world and commissioned by theatre troops, contemporary classical ensembles, film scores, Persian traditional music groups as well as jazz bands including Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Symphony Parnassus, San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble, Mobius Trio, Delphi Trio and Living Earth Show. He has recently been the artist-in-residence at Kronos Festival 2017, an annual festival held by legendary Kronos Quartet at San Francisco SFJAZZ throughout which ten of his works including four new pieces were performed. Aminikia is also the Artistic Director for Flying Carpet Festival, a mobile music festival which serves children in need in war zones. He also serves as the Musical Director for Sirkhane, a non-profit organization based in Mardin, Southern Turkey which serves around 400,000 children through circus arts and music.

Brett Pyper is an interdisciplinary South African arts practitioner, cultural scholar and former festival director. Since the early 1990s, he has combined critical arts practice with academic study at local, national and international levels. He grew up between Johannesburg and Pretoria/Tshwane, where his background as a classical musician informed his efforts to work with festivals to open up programming at the former performing arts councils as a young arts organiser. 

He holds an MA in Interdisciplinary Study from Emory University in Atlanta and a PhD in Ethnomusicology and Popular Music Studies from New York University. He was Head of the Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg from 2014 to 2021, where he is currently an Associate Professor in Curatorial, Public and Visual Cultures.

Natalia is the head of the Arts for Rural Development Foundation which is the main organiser of 2 festivals and partner of further 4 festivals as an umbrella organisation. The mission of the Foundation is to develop rural areas, boost regional recovery, sustainable local tourism and to contribute to infrastructural development with festivals organized in smaller villages. Therefore, Natalia is a director of two Hungarian multi-genre festivals held in smaller villages throughout Hungary. Kerekdomb Festival is held in September, in the eastern side of the country, in Tokaj and is a 3-days-long festival. This festival was launched in 2016. Her major festival is a 33-year-old greater festival held in end July in Kapolcs (Balaton Uplands). It is a multi-genre festival with 40 stages which include a major 8000 cap. venue as well as a small church for classical music with a capacity of 140 people. The festival boasts not only with its program, but with its sustainability policies as well. With the changes implemented the festival managed to diminish the waste of the festival from 49 tons to 32 tons, while only the 15% of this waste was recyclable in 2018 and this smaller amount became 35% recyclable already in the first year, in 2019 and the numbers are even improving since then.

Natalia started her career at the Palace of Arts, the greatest Venue of Hungary in 2005. She also spent two years (2011-13) at an international organisation while working for the Valley of Arts on a freelance basis. After she founded the Arts for rural development Foundation in 2013 and started a new festival, Kerekdomb in 2016 along the Valley of Arts, she started her City Events Ltd. in 2020 which organises the Startup Safari Budapest, Advents and Family festivals in Budapest. Apart from her core business Natalia is the chair of the Festival Section of the Music Hungary Association since 2017 which is the main lobby organization of the music industry in Hungary. She also the chair of the Hungarian Tourism Program Foundation as well that conducts research in the field of cultural, business and sports events, organises monthly knowledge-sharing meetings (MeetUps), a Restart industry yearly conference and provides grants for those who would choose the events industry as a field of study.

Anthony Richter is director of Special Initiatives at the Open Society Foundations. He joined Open Society in 1988 and established more than 20 of the foundations in the Open Society Foundations network throughout Eurasia, the Middle East, and South Asia. He also developed programs such as the Central Eurasia Project, Eurasianet, and Revenue Watch and led Open Society’s work backing the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and other significant culture and arts programming. He previously was regional director of the Middle East North Africa and Southwest Asia and headed Open Society’s work in the former Soviet Union. Richter was founding chairman of the Revenue Watch Institute, and served on the boards of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and the Open Government Partnership.

He has written for the New York Times, the World Policy Journal, and other publications. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Richter received his BA from Wesleyan University in Russian language and literature and a graduate degree in Slavic languages and literature from Columbia University. His languages include Arabic, French, Persian, and Russian.

Christine van Winkle is a professor of Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba. As a former festival coordinator and attraction consultant, Christine brings both practical experience and theory-based research to inform practice. Christine is committed to community-based research that explores visitor experiences at events. Throughout her career she has explored learning at events, information and communication technology at events and event emergency management. Christine’s work is widely published in event, leisure and tourism journals and she has received numerous Emerald Literati awards for her work published in the International Journal of Event and Festival Management.

Dena Davida has been a contemporary dance curator, performer, educator, writer and researcher for 45 years.  She has lived in Montréal since 1977, where she co-founded the Festival international de nouvelle danse and the Tangente dance performance space (1980-2019). She taught dance practice and theory in the Dance Department at the Université du Québec à Montréal (1979-2010) where she completed a doctoral dissertation with an ethnographic study of meaning in a contemporary dance event (2006).

Her writing on dance and culture and live arts curation has been widely published in magazines, journals, and books. She co-edited the anthologies Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the worlds of dance (2012), and Curating Live Arts: Critical perspectives, essay and conversation in theory and practice (2018). Her current project: co-creator and managing editor of Turba: The Journal for Global Practices in Live Arts Curation.

As Director of the TED Fellows program, Lily leads this dynamic community of over 500 Fellows from over 100+ countries. She works with emerging leaders -- astrophysicists to artists, entrepreneurs to activists -- to help them strategically communicate their big ideas and amplify them on the global stage. She curates their work on TED’s platforms and nurtures a robust global community by connecting Fellows to resources, professional development, and strategic planning, with the goal of helping them create greater impact with their work.

She has 15+ years of experience building meaningful communities, and directing, curating and producing global events -- from conferences to films, installations to theater performances -- with the goal of having audiences and participants radically imagine and create new possibilities for the future.

She is a director, artist, and teacher, endlessly fascinated by the (im)possibilities of theater and film. She received her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, is a two-time recipient of the Princess Grace Award (honoring extraordinary emerging artists), and a participant of numerous residencies and fellowships.

Oussama is a cultural and management consultant based between Berlin and Beirut. Oussama provides advisory services to cultural organizations, international and national foundations, private corporations and governmental bodies. He is a board member of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and is supporting the development and operation of various similar regional cultural funds internationally. Oussama has managed the development and implementation of national /regional cultural strategies and directed museum development projects in architecture, curation and economic impact analysis. He leads the design and implementation of various public art programs and commissions and develops /implements fundraising strategies for non-profits in Africa, Europe and the MENA region. 

Dr. Raegan Truax is a performance artist and scholar who makes durational performances to bend, suspend, and manipulate assumptions about time and the body. She received her PhD from The Department of Theater and Performance Studies at Stanford University and holds an MA in Performance Studies (NYU) and an MA in Gender Politics (NYU). She is the founder of ON DURATION, an intergenerational and international platform that supports durational artists to engage in collective creative research and public praxis.

Truax’s work has been included within The Marina Abramović Institute’s Immaterial archive and presented at Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik (ZK/U Berlin), Cité internationale des Arts (Paris), Grace Exhibition Space (NYC), Artist’s Television Access (San Francisco), SOMarts (San Francisco), and Grueentaler9 (Berlin). Her recent performances include Citation, which was performed for 37-consecutive-hours at CounterPulse in San Francisco, Sloughing— which included 35 performers and occurred across 19 different locations in the Bay Area over 28-days— a 76-day piece, Stay in Place that was performed in her living room at the onset of COVID-19, and Recitation a 13-hour performance on collective grief. 

She is currently finishing her manuscript Durational Performance: The Untimely Body in Performance Art since 1960 and recently published “A Period Piece that Endures: 28 Reflections on Sloughing”(PRJ: Performance Research). She has taught courses in Performance Art, Performance Theory and Practice, and The Art of Duration at Stanford University, California College of the Arts and Haverford College and offers workshops on kinesthetic awareness, empathy, live art, duration, and socially engaged art for institutions and cultural centers in the U.S. and abroad.

Taiwo Afolabi is a theatre-maker, scholar, theatre manager, and entrepreneur. His interest is in amplifying voices and experiences and re-centring governance models, strategies and systems on the margin through the lens of decolonization, equity and anti-oppressive approaches. His experience in over a dozen countries across four continents in a variety of contexts focused on socially engaged and community-based creative practice for transformational change. Through storytelling and devised theatre, he works with communities on social issues pertinent to them, and his research continues to advance broad-minded thinking within the art and culture sector. He is the Canada Research Chair in Socially Engaged Theatre and serves as the Director of the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET) at the University of Regina. He is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and the founding director of Theatre Emissary International (TEMi) in Nigeria and Canada. He is a Royal Society of Canada College Member.

Aguibou Bougobali Sanou (known as ‘Bougobali’) is a dancer, choreographer, musician, storyteller, and Director of the In-Out Dance Festival in Burkina Faso. His work is a mix of West African Mandingo traditional dances, Brazilian capoeira, and theater expressions drawn from his work with influential European stage directors. His training in sacred and profane African traditional dance in his native country combines with other forms of expression to create a unique theatrical statement.

Sanou hails from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and is a dancer, choreographer, musician, storyteller, and Director of the In-Out Dance Festival in Burkina Faso. He is a winner of the highly selective and prestigious US State Department Scholarship Fulbright 2018-2019 where he taught "History and Appreciation of World Dance". He has also developed the African Traditional and Contemporary Dance curriculum at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, CT. In 2016, he was a semi-finalist of Africa’s Got Talent. Sanou trained with choreographers and theater directors such as Salia Sanou, Carolyn Carlson, Thierry de Mey, Luca Fusi GM, and Régine Chopinot Alexandre de la Caffinière.

Sanou's work is a mix of West African Mandingo traditional dances, Brazilian capoeira, and theater expressions drawn from his work with influential European stage directors. His training in sacred and profane African traditional dance in his native country combines with other forms of expression to create a unique theatrical statement. Sanou is currently pursuing his MFA at The University of the Arts (UARTS) Philadelphia. He has won several choreographic awards including the bronze medal in the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie in Nice, France; 2nd prize of SNC 2012; and Delphic Laurel Award in the 2009 Delphic Games in South Korea.

In the past ten years, Sanou has developed a dynamic performance and teaching presence which has led him to work assignments in Mexico, Israel, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Morocco, France, France, and the United States. He has also created a dance program in a prison in Burkina Faso and has worked with more than 70 prisoners in order to help them reenter society. Sanou is a visiting faculty member at Bennington for Fall 2022.

Elad Schechter is a Jerusalem native dancer and choreographer. A graduate of the Jerusalem High School for the Arts served in the IDF Theater department and danced in many professional companies, such as ‘Charleoi Danses, Brussels’, ‘Vertigo Dance Company’ ׳Kibutz Contemporary Dance Company’ and more. In 2012 he founded the c.a.t.a.m.o.n Dance Group in Jerusalem. Schechter has been creating works since 2009. He is the recipient of the silver medal at the international choreography competition of Beijing in July 2011. Alongside his artistic work, Schechter is developing Jerusalem-based projects that aim to develop dance, art, and culture scene in the city. Elad founded 'From Jaffa to Agripas' festival – Dance in Machne Yehuda market curated and developed 'Alliance House' – A home for creative communities, for 'New-Spirit' organization and curating 'Dance in Masie' – The complete dance series in Jerusalem at 'Beit Masie' Theater, between 2012-2016. Schechter is an LGBTQ activist in Jerusalem and is a father to his son and daughter who are being raised in shared parenthood alongside two women.

Fuyuko Mezawa Dance company Baobab was Born in 1988 in Tokyo. I lived in The Netherlands and Luxemburg for 10 years in my childhood. I had practiced dance such as Classic ballet, Jazz dance, and Street dance in my teenage. After coming back to Japan, I learned Contemporary dance at Oberlin University and became a member of Dance Company Baobab choreographed by Wataru Kitao. After graduating, I started working in actors’ agency. And I change my career to be an administrator of an international dance program in public theaters and festivals. Now, I organize the international choreographer's showcase in YPAM(Performing Arts Market in Yokohama) and other dance programs for teenagers. She is a member of Asia producers’ platform.

Now I prepare to establish my own company to produce dance programs and studio in Japan. I want to be one of the international presenters.

Jin Yim is an independent producer and researcher based in South Korea. She has worked on a wide range of art projects including performance, theatre, and multidisciplinary arts in public spaces. Her main interests are in the role of arts in public spaces and new ways of international mobility for performing arts. Jin started her career as a producer for Hi Seoul Festival’s international program in 2010. After working in Hi Seoul Festival for 3 years, she got to work as a programmer in Ansan Street Arts Festival (2013-15), ACC International Fringe (2017), Gwacheon Festival (2019-20), and Pohang Festival (2018-Current). Jin had been working for Street Arts Market in Seoul for 3 years (2016-18) as an executive producer, programming showcases and networking programs for street arts professionals. After working as a collaborative connector of PAMS (Performing Arts Market in Seoul) for 2 years, she recently joined the PAMS office as an associate director.

Tom Creed is a theatre and opera director, festival director and independent producer based in Dublin. His productions have been seen all over Ireland and at prestigious theatres, opera houses and festivals in over 30 cities on three continents. He has previously been Festival Director of Cork Midsummer Festival and Theatre and Dance Curator of Kilkenny Arts Festival. 

He is a member of the steering committee of Ireland's National Campaign for the Arts, the Expert Advisory Committee of Culture Ireland, and the boards of GAZE Film Festival and Theatre Forum (Ireland). He has participated as a speaker and moderator in the Atelier for Young Festival Managers Düsseldorf and three editions of Festival Readings for the Festival Academy, and was on the inaugural EFFE jury in 2015.

Yasmeen Fahim is the Executive Manager of Orient Productions in Egypt, producing projects such as the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF) and the Arab Arts Focus (AAF), as well as managing several other projects and spaces in and around the performing arts. She studied anthropology and theatre; two disciplines which teach the importance and magic of community. Thus, her approach is always community and audience-focused, and her passion lies in the transformative power of the arts and culture.

Yasmeen lives and works in Cairo; her lifelong home and source of inspiration. Having always been obsessed with the city’s visual culture, she considers herself lucky that her job takes her to Downtown Cairo everyday, where forces of absurdity and contradiction are always at play. After all, what better reminder of the kind of world that we live in than a 100 year old building’s storefront being covered up with bright yellow plastic cladding for a new fried chicken shop?

Brett Pyper is an interdisciplinary South African arts practitioner, cultural scholar and former festival director. Since the early 1990s, he has combined critical arts practice with academic study at local, national and international levels. He grew up between Johannesburg and Pretoria/Tshwane, where his background as a classical musician informed his efforts to work with festivals to open up programming at the former performing arts councils as a young arts organiser. 

He holds an MA in Interdisciplinary Study from Emory University in Atlanta and a PhD in Ethnomusicology and Popular Music Studies from New York University. He was Head of the Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg from 2014 to 2021, where he is currently an Associate Professor in Curatorial, Public and Visual Cultures.

Natalia is the head of the Arts for Rural Development Foundation which is the main organiser of 2 festivals and partner of further 4 festivals as an umbrella organisation. The mission of the Foundation is to develop rural areas, boost regional recovery, sustainable local tourism and to contribute to infrastructural development with festivals organized in smaller villages. Therefore, Natalia is a director of two Hungarian multi-genre festivals held in smaller villages throughout Hungary. Kerekdomb Festival is held in September, in the eastern side of the country, in Tokaj and is a 3-days-long festival. This festival was launched in 2016. Her major festival is a 33-year-old greater festival held in end July in Kapolcs (Balaton Uplands). It is a multi-genre festival with 40 stages which include a major 8000 cap. venue as well as a small church for classical music with a capacity of 140 people. The festival boasts not only with its program, but with its sustainability policies as well. With the changes implemented the festival managed to diminish the waste of the festival from 49 tons to 32 tons, while only the 15% of this waste was recyclable in 2018 and this smaller amount became 35% recyclable already in the first year, in 2019 and the numbers are even improving since then.

Natalia started her career at the Palace of Arts, the greatest Venue of Hungary in 2005. She also spent two years (2011-13) at an international organisation while working for the Valley of Arts on a freelance basis. After she founded the Arts for rural development Foundation in 2013 and started a new festival, Kerekdomb in 2016 along the Valley of Arts, she started her City Events Ltd. in 2020 which organises the Startup Safari Budapest, Advents and Family festivals in Budapest. Apart from her core business Natalia is the chair of the Festival Section of the Music Hungary Association since 2017 which is the main lobby organization of the music industry in Hungary. She also the chair of the Hungarian Tourism Program Foundation as well that conducts research in the field of cultural, business and sports events, organises monthly knowledge-sharing meetings (MeetUps), a Restart industry yearly conference and provides grants for those who would choose the events industry as a field of study.

Thomas O. Kriegsmann (President) specializes in new work development and touring worldwide. His past work includes projects with Kaneza Schaal, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Brook, Daniel Fish, Victoria Thiérrée-Chaplin, Yael Farber, Anna Deavere Smith, Annie-B Parson & Paul Lazar, Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen, Peter Sellars, Julie Taymor, John Cameron Mitchell and Tony Taccone. Recent premieres include Justin Peck & Sufjan Stevens’ ILLINOIS, 600 HIGHWAYMEN’s A THOUSAND WAYS, nora chipaumire’s NEHANDA, Sam Green’s 32 SOUNDS w/ JD Samson, Bryce Dessner’s TRIPTYCH (EYES OF ONE ON ANOTHER) directed by Kaneza Schaal, John Cameron Mitchell’s THE ORIGIN OF LOVE, Kaneza Schaal & Christopher Myers’ CARTOGRAPHY, Sam Green & Kronos Quartet’s A THOUSAND THOUGHTS, Big Dance Theater / Mikhail Baryshnikov’s MAN IN A CASE, Toshi & Bernice Johnson Reagon’s PARABLE OF THE SOWER and Nalaga’at Deaf-Blind Theater’s NOT BY BREAD ALONE. Ongoing collaborations include Bryce Dessner, Sophia Brous, 600 HIGHWAYMEN, Sam Green, Timothy White Eagle, Andrew Schneider, Big Dance Theater, John Cameron Mitchell & Amber Martin, and Compagnia T.P.O. Premieres include Sufjan Stevens & Justin Peck’s ILLINOISE, Bryce Dessner & Kaneza Schaal’s UNTITLED OCEAN VUONG PROJECT, Sam Green’s UNTITLED TREES DOCUMENTARY PROJECT, and Penny Arcade’s autobiographical epic THE ART OF BECOMING. He is a founding member of CIPA (The Creative & Independent Producer Alliance).

Sami Pyne is an independent producer invested in decluttering and demystifying the process for creators. Recent new work producing credits include Jeesun Choi’s To the Ends of the Earth / 땅끝까지 at JACK, Alex Hare and Julia Izumi’s Capricorn 29 at The Tank, Jen Pitt’s TRASH BODY MONKEY HOUSE at New Ohio’s Ice Factory Festival, Christina Tang’s TRAFFIC at The Brick’s Exponential Festival, and Keenan Tyler Oliphant’s Kyk Hoe Skyn die Son [Look how the Sun Shines] at Clubbed Thumb’s Winterworks. Additionally, she’s had the pleasure of producing work with companies such as 600 Highwaymen, The Arts & Climate Initiative, New York Theatre Workshop, Aeon, Prelude (festival producer 2019, 2020), The Play Company (PlayCo), Theatre Development Fund (TDF), and HERE Arts Center. WP Producers Lab Fellow 2022-2024. Columbia MFA Theatre Management & Producing 2020. Proud member of the Creative & Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA).

Elizabeth is currently Vice President and Senior Producer at BAM, where she leads on programming strategy and operations. Elizabeth has worked for theaters, artists and productions around the world including St. Ann’s Warehouse, The Public Theater, Palissimo Inc., SITI Company, The Secret City, Soho Rep., Berkeley Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and many others. She has served as a guest lecturer at NYU, Ithaca College, and Columbia University, and earned her BA in Theatre & Rhetoric at Bates College, in her home state of Maine.

Jessica Cortez (she/her) is a Chicana theatre artist from San Diego, CA currently living and creating in Brooklyn, NY. In 2020, Jessica graduated from the CUNY School of Professional Studies MA in Applied Theatre program where she was awarded the Graduate Apprenticeship for Diversity in Applied Theatre. Over the past six years, she has worked as a teaching artist with arts organizations including the Creative Arts Team, Ping Chong + Company, Girls Leadership, Teatro Izcalli, and the San Diego Opera. Jessica received her BA in both Ethnic Studies and Theatre Arts with a certification in Leadership/Nonprofit Management from the University of San Diego.

She is passionate about centering people of color in all of her creative work and views theatre as a tool for community building, education, and activism. Jessica has performed as an actor, stilt walker, ballet folklorico dancer and fire spinner. Most recently, Jessica was awarded a scholarship to participate in Sandglass Theater’s puppetry intensive and has been exploring ways in which puppetry can be utilized for storytelling and celebration. Jessica is currently a fellow in the Laundromat Project’s Create Change Fellowship program.

Thom Loubet (He/Him) grew up playing Blues guitar in the mountains of New Mexico. After graduating from Wesleyan University with a high-honors in Music and American Studies, he moved to New York City, where he began his career as a non-profit leader, touring musician, educator, and social justice advocate. Over the next twenty-five years, he became Executive-Director of the Free To Be Foundation, managing the vision and legacy of the iconic collection of children’s educational stories and songs Free To Be...You And Me, distributed to families and educators all over the globe. He also taught music to children and grown-ups of every age, including six years as a professor at Bennington College. Thom also toured as a guitarist internationally with several award-winning artists including Alice Smith, Tamar-Kali, and Burnt Sugar. He continues to integrate the arts, education, and community well-being in his leadership role with The People’s Creative Institute.

Clare Newman serves as the President and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island (TGI), charged with delivering on its mission to serve as a resource for New Yorkers. Previously, Clare was the Chief of Staff and EVP of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation where she implemented projects to create high-quality jobs and foster development. Clare was previously a senior leader at Bloomberg Philanthropies and a Vice President at NYCEDC. Clare received a Masters of Urban Planning from GSAPP at Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Economy from Williams College.

Juan Pablo Siles is a Bolivian curator and creative producer currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. He currently works at the Trust for Governors Island as Associate Curator & Producer. Juan Pablo founded and led a performance series titled region(es) from 2019-2021, as artistic director and creative producer. The series focused on presenting, commissioning, and producing work created by artists with links to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Craig T. Peterson, currently the President and CEO of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, has served in numerous leadership positions at arts and cultural institutions over the past three decades. For six years he was the Vice President of Visual and Performing Arts at Henry Street Settlement and the Executive Artistic Director of the Abrons Arts Center. Previously he was the Director of Programs at Gibney Dance. From 2009 – 2013, Peterson was the Director of the annual Philly Fringe Festival, and during this time he also launched and directed the Live Arts Brewery (LAB), a research and development program supporting long term residencies for local and national artists. For ten years he served on the staff of Dance Theater Workshop and for four years he served as the organization’s Co-Artistic Director. He is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program of Columbia University’s School of Business and he received a BA in Theater and Dance from Bard College.

Kasie Kirkland is a Bronx native with extensive hands-on experience in New York’s underground music scene as a curator, promoter and performer. A recipient of VH1’s Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame scholarship, she attended New York University where she majored in Sociology and minored in the Business of Music, Entertainment and Technology. With an emphasis on strengthening youth and contributing to the arts community of her hometown, she has gone on to program and stage manage numerous projects with Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education. Before joining LMCC, she helmed the ground team for Rooftop Films first ever Drive In season as their Venue Manager for their Brooklyn Army Terminal and New York Hall of Science locations. She wishes to continue her close work in sustaining and uplifting creatives of all disciplines at LMCC – an organization she truly feels defines the ethos of “for the community, by the community”.