Heather Raffo is an award-winning playwright and actress who’s work has been seen off Broadway, off West End in regional theater and in film. She is the author and solo performer of the play 9 PARTS OF DESIRE (Lucielle Lortel and Susan Smith Blackburn awards, … FULL BIO
Reem Alsayyah was born in Damascus, Syria as the third of eight children. She studied networking engineering at the University, and in 2012, with only three exams left until graduation, … FULL BIO
Jumana Al-Yasiri was born in Damascus, Syria. She is the daughter of an Iraqi filmmaker and a Syrian-Palestinian actress. As a child, she enjoyed accompanying her mother to rehearsals; this is how she first learned that theater can bring understanding and answers to political and social issues, … FULL BIO
Caitlin Nasema Cassidy was born in a suburb of Boston and raised between there and the Arab world. She is the daughter of seven-sea-sailing hippies Tom Cassidy Jr., the eldest of a large Irish Catholic family, … FULL BIO
Chankethya “Kethya” Chey was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The daughter of political figures, Kethya dreamt of being an ambassador or prime minister, but not a dancer. She began to study classical dance at the age of five, … FULL BIO
Velani Dibba is a theater director and multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on the collision of cultural mindsets. Born to Gambian and Tongan parents in Northern California, she grew up living with different guardians and moving between California, … FULL BIO
Asif Majid was born outside Baltimore, MD. His mother grew up in Tanzania on the shores of Lake Victoria, and later became an avid gardener and public health expert. His father grew up in northern Pakistan as a poetry enthusiast and budding engineer. … FULL BIO
Devika Ranjan is a first-generation Indian-American. Born in Nashik, Maharashtra and raised all over the United States, Devika found her roots in her family as they moved from the mountains, … FULL BIO
Manuel Francisco Viveros is a Colombian theatre director, performer, educator, and researcher whose work explores the intersections of Black performance, folklore, memory, and cultural transmission across the African diaspora. Born in Cali, … FULL BIO
Gideon Jeph Wabvuta was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, the oldest son of an electronics technician and a former teacher. He grew up in Mbare, a ghetto in Harare, where his love for the arts was born. … FULL BIO
Joanna Sherman is the Artistic Director of Bond Street Theatre. As director, choreographer, musician and actor, she has participated in company performances and projects globally. The company primarily works in post-war and disadvantaged communities, … FULL BIO
Kate Seelye is Sr. Vice President of the Middle East Institute, where she oversees MEI’s communications and programs, including MEI’s growing arts and culture program. She also serves on the board of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University. … FULL BIO