Professional Resume
Creative and Fundraising Consultant
September 2011 – Present
Conceptualize, fund, and execute art projects, particularly projects drawing from participatory traditions and embedded within communities. Assist nonprofits across arts and social justice spheres with fund development, strategy, and partner cultivation.
Creative Highlights
- Created RENT Poet, a month-long business trial of a pop-up "Poetry Store" providing custom, on-the-spot poems based on customer's suggestions and provoking discussion of the value of art by enticing them to "Pay what it's worth".
- Created Bike Odyssey LA, a community bike ride/theatre show which garnered a "Go!" from LA Weekly and a Hollywood Fringe Producer's Encore Award. Secured partnerships and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (via The City of Long Beach), METRO, the City of West Hollywood, Rogue Artists’ Ensemble, Schkapf, and CICLE.
- Created Haus Bausch, an ongoing performance art house party in rotating residential venues, inspired by Butoh and the work of Pina Bausch.
- Led trainings in Theatre of the Oppressed with nonprofit professionals and low-income affordable housing residents. Presented a model for using this work to address urban planning issues at the 2014 Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
- Created Poetry Bomb poetry interventions, facilitating public writing workshops and pop-up gallery spaces on the streets.
- Worked with youth at 826LA to create a social justice-inspired comic book of their stories.
Fundraising Highlights
- 6-month contract with Tim Robbin’s theatre company, The Actors’ Gang - responsible for securing $100,000 of grants, including $50,000 of new funding, handling reporting, creating impact shopping and recurring giving programs, and doubling rates of individual giving in the Year End Appeal.
- ·Worked with The City of Culver City to organize a stakeholder meeting for local theatres and create a fundraising strategy to redevelop a publicly-owned stage.
- Editing and grant writing work for Political Research Associates, Genesis LA, Groceryships, Leadership for Urban Renewal Network, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, Pacific Resident Theatre, Schkapf, and Rogue Artists’ Ensemble, with over 20 grants written and $100,000 funds secured so far.
- Strategic planning and fundraising consulting for Las Fotos Project and Schkapf Performance Incubation House.
Fund Development Associate (Formerly Grantwriting and Media Specialist)
East Los Angeles Community Corporation
April 2012-September 2013
Responsible for raising half of the operating budget for a mid-sized non-profit building health and wealth in East Los Angeles through affordable housing, wealth building, and community organizing. Managed research, writing, and submission of grants. Maintained funder relations and develop special projects within communications and events, . Co-wrote nearly $2 million successful proposals in 2012 as a consultant, and as lead writer in 2013 wrote $1.5 million worth of proposals, with $800,000 secured at time of departure.
Director of Political Theatre Project
NASHE (Shuar Nation of Ecuador) in Makuma, Ecuador
August 2012 – November 2012
Designed and executed three-month workshop series based on Agosto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed with a University of St Andrews anthropologist and indigenous governance, resulting in the creation of the first Shuar indigenous theatre company, Teatro Politico Imiaru. Created political theatre against foreign oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with performances for regional and national leadership, as well as Forum Theatre for the community. Presented this work at the 2013 Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference at Miami University, Ohio.
PR & Marketing Consultant
Artworks Theatre and Studios in Hollywood
May 2012 – August 2012
Responsible for filling seats and garnering reviews for one of LA's premier small theatres for experimental works. Created press releases, social media presence, and media relationships on a show-to-show basis. Managed website, mailing, and press relations for Hollywood Fringe 2012. Renovated web site, wrote and disseminated five press releases, and designed and created promotional materials, including logo and 'passport'.
Founder/Artistic Director
Tabula Rasa Productions in St Andrews, Scotland
2007 – 2011
Founded an award-winning experimental physical theater company in association with the University of St Andrews and served as artistic and executive director. Liaised with the university’s funding body, creating proposals and defending decisions in front of the board. Selected shows, found venues, raised funds, created budgets, and oversaw casting and scheduling. Led teams of seven to 30 actors, dancers, writers, designers, and technicians over ten shows, including five world premieres. Created print and online marketing.The company made a profit and raised funds for the university and various charities, including Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International, as well as garnering awards for Best Director (2008) and appearing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2011).
Education
University of St Andrews
MA Honours Sustainable Development, First Class (top 5%)
Interdisciplinary degree focused on environmental systems. Large projects undertaken include a social audit of Coca Cola, a literature review of global tobacco crop substitution, and a dissertation (MA Honours) on the applications of popular education and Theatre of the Oppressed to the environmental movement.
Prizes
Dean's List 2011
Honorary Life Membership, University of St Andrews Student's Union 2011
Commendation for Innovative Research in Sustainable Development 2011
Prize in Philosophy 2008
Publication
Was Thoreau a Deep Ecologist? (published 2011 Aporia Philosophy Journal, University of St Andrews, Scotland)
MA Honours Sustainable Development, First Class (top 5%)
Interdisciplinary degree focused on environmental systems. Large projects undertaken include a social audit of Coca Cola, a literature review of global tobacco crop substitution, and a dissertation (MA Honours) on the applications of popular education and Theatre of the Oppressed to the environmental movement.
Prizes
Dean's List 2011
Honorary Life Membership, University of St Andrews Student's Union 2011
Commendation for Innovative Research in Sustainable Development 2011
Prize in Philosophy 2008
Publication
Was Thoreau a Deep Ecologist? (published 2011 Aporia Philosophy Journal, University of St Andrews, Scotland)