Andrea Ambam (Playwright) is a storyteller and truthteller whose roots sprout from Cameroon. As a politically-engaged writer and performance artist, Andrea seeks to reflect the times and generate new timelines via critical commentary, unruly imagination, and multi-modal creations that interrogate how we get free. She has developed her multi-hyphenated artistic practice through fellowships and residencies with New York Theatre Workshop, PEN America, Hi-Arts, Anna Deavere Smith, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, The Playwrights Realm, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Signature Theatre, and EmergeNYC; and collaborations with JACK, Classical Theatre of Harlem, The Billie Holiday Theatre, NYU Verbatim Performance Lab, Harlem9, and others. Currently, she is the Director & Host of Programming at Level Forward – a public-benefit entertainment studio – where she produces the Anthem Award-winning audience engagement platform, More To Talk About. Andrea has a Master’s degree in Art & Public Policy from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. www.andreaambam.com

Shariffa Chelimo Ali  (Director) is a Kenyan-born, South African-raised director, producer, and academic committed to creating socially engaged art. Based in New York since 2013, she has directed productions at institutions such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Classic Stage Company, and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. Her film/VR work has been featured at Sundance, Zeitz MOCAA, and the Pan African Film Festival. Shariffa teaches at Princeton University and has also held teaching roles at Yale, NYU, and Brooklyn College. She has collaborated with Cynthia Nixon and served as executive consultant on And Just Like That (HBO Max). Honors include the New Frontier Fellowship (Sundance), Elizabeth M. Swayzee Artist in Residence (Miami University), and Artist in Residence (OSF). Her film You Go Girl! was nominated for a Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2022. She holds a BA with honors in Theatre and Performance from the University of Cape Town.

Kai Heath (JADE/JASPER) (she/her): hails from Harlem, New York. Favorite Off Broadway credits include: Kofa in Amani (National Black Theatre), Leticia in Blooms (Ensemble Studio Theater), The Rowdy in On Sugarland (New York Theatre Workshop), Messenger in Much Ado at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. Regional credits: Averie in Dot (People’s Light Theater). Sade in Furloghs Paradise (Alliance Theater)

Patrice Johnson Chevannes (CASSANDRA/KATHY) is an award-winning, actress, writer, filmmaker, director, and executive producer of God-and-all-o-wee Productions and Ubigwitus Records. THEATER (edited): The Crucible (Broadway); ‘Othello’ – Desdemona opposite Sir Patrick Stewart (Shakespeare Theater); Tamburlaine I & II (TFANA); Endgame (Irish Rep).

NOMINATIONS: 2025 Elliot Norton Award for ‘The Grove’; 2023 Lucille Lortel for ‘Endgame’; 2020 Drama Desk & Drama League nominations for Mfoniso Udofia’s ‘runboyrun/In Old Age’, 2020 Audelco for Stephen Adly Guirgis’, ‘Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven’.

TV: POSE, SHRILL, EVIL, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The First Lady, The Good Fight. Patrice has written and directed three independent films: Kings County, NY’s Dirty Laundry and Hill and Gully. She is on faculty at The New School in The School of Drama. Patrice also teaches public speaking to the Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University. Patrice is a proud member of The Actors Center. 

Mia Sterbini (Stage Directions) is an actor & cultural worker living in Harlem. Recent theatre: La MaMa, The Brick, Daryl Roth II, Playwrights Realm, Cell Theatre, A.R.T NY, The Flea, Dogtown & Breaking the Binary Theatre. Recent film: Rustin (Netflix), Ladies First (Netflix) & Dola Rashad’s Gemini. Beyond acting, they are a writer, organizer & muralist, using whatever creative tools necessary to facilitate community-led liberation. Graduate of Point Park University Acting.

Sherry Wang (Stage Manager) (she/her) is a stage manager based in New York City and currently pursuing her MFA in Stage Management at Columbia University. She has stage-managed and occasionally production-managed a variety of theatrical productions and corporate events across the U.S. and abroad, with recent credits including Cankersore Paradise, My Way, The Orangery,Passion Play, and more. Drawn to the deeply human, collaborative, and community-driven nature of theatre, she finds purpose in helping bring a shared vision to life

Anton Volovsek (Set Designer) (he/him) is a scenic designer, artist, and theater maker currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Recent design credits: Off Broadway: Bowl EP (Vineyard) Regional: Our Town, Life is a Dream, Everything That Never Happened, Akeelah and the Bee (Baltimore Center Stage), Little Shop of Horrors (People’s Light) Curse of the Starving Class (PTP, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Mr. Burns (Brown/Trinity), Off-off Broadway: Hype Man (The Flea Theatre), Princess Phooey (TADA! Youth Theater). Collegiate: Real Housewives of the Restoration, King Charles III (NYU Grad Acting and Design), Spring Awakening, Jesus Christ Superstar (Montclair State University), Indecent (Central Michigan University), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (City College of New York). MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. BFA from the University of Michigan. Go Blue! You can find more of his work at www.antonedward.com.

Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) is a grassroots advocacy campaign created and led by formerly incarcerated people. They work to end the racist law-and-order policies that have more than doubled the number of elders behind bars over the past 20 years, to expand the use of parole, compassionate release, clemency, and to end life imprisonment. By advocating to free incarcerated elders—women and men who have served decades in prison for crimes including those of violence; who have taken responsibility, transformed their lives, developed profound skills and abilities, and who pose little if any public safety risk—we strike at the system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color. Learn more here.

Rad Pereira (Moderator) is a trans (im)migrant cultural worker from Pindorama (Brasil), building consciousness between healing justice, system change, reindigenization and queer futures based between Lenapehoking (Brooklyn) and Haudenosaunee territory (upstate NY). They are building a two-spirit Haudenosaunee led food sovereignty project: Iron Path Farms. Their book Meeting the Moment: Socially Engaged Performance, 1965-2020, By Those Who Lived It is available through New Village Press. They are Director of Engagement & Impact at NY Stage & Film. They are on the co-leadership team at Network of Ensemble Theaters, their focus is on building shared benefits for cultural workers. Rad was most recently seen in Becoming Eve (NY Theater Workshop) The Creator (20th Century Studios), Bad Things (Shudder), BETTY and High Maintenance (HBO). They have been part of stories at CBS, NBC, La Mama etc., Signature Theater, Shakespeare Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Bushwick Starr and many more. Proud alum of EMERGENYC.

Roslyn D. Smith (Panelist) is the Program Manager for V-Day, a nonprofit dedicated to ending violence against women, girls, and the planet. She facilitates a writing group for formerly incarcerated women, empowering them to share their stories and reclaim their voices.

As the Brooklyn community leader for the Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) campaign, Roslyn advocates for the release of elderly individuals from prison. In her role with Brooklyn Law School’s Rethinking Justice Project, she serves as a community liaison, connecting grassroots advocacy with academic research to promote innovative reforms in the criminal justice system.

Drawing from her own experience of long-term incarceration, Roslyn is a passionate advocate for criminal justice reform. Her work highlights the importance of equal rights and social justice, inspiring others to join the movement for equity and change. Through her leadership, Roslyn D. Smith continues to make a significant impact in her community.

Tara A. Nicolas (Panelist) is a Washington, D.C. native with Haitian roots who now calls Brooklyn home. Her journey into the arts began at the age of three in Lomé, Togo, and hasn’t slowed down since. After earning her B.A. from UPenn, she followed her passion to the bustling streets of New York City. You might recognize her from commercials, leading workouts on Netflix’s Nike Training Club, in episodes of the CBS series FBI, or Godfather of Harlem on MGM+.A multi-hyphenate, Tara’s artistic career spans acting, singing, and dancing mediums, leading her to work with some of the most illustrious names in the business, including Beyoncé, Queen Latifah, Forest Whitaker, Giancarlo Esposito, Fatima Robinson, and Megan Thee Stallion, among others. Beyond the spotlight, an unexpected life event led Tara on a lasting wellness journey, fueling her roles as a Global Nike Trainer, Reiki Master, and Meditation Instructor. When she’s not programming a spicy workout, Tara dedicates the rest of her time to community healing. A known face within Brooklyn, Tara hosts and supports wellness events geared toward women and communities of color, including one of her more popular events—Tea Time with T. For more about Tara and her work, visit her wellness company, Avocho.co.

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