It has been quite the year since March 2020. So we’ve invited back panelists from previous Creating Change Conversations to talk about it! What have we seen change over the past 365 days? What still needs to change?
Rachel Finley is an award-winning spoken word artist, actor, director, playwright, and voice & dialect coach who teaches Voice & Speech for Arizona State University. She has taught Acting, Voice for the Actor, and Speech for the Actor at the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University, Voice & Speech at Lynn University, and Theatre Appreciation at Broward College. Rachel also privately coaches numerous actors and public speakers. She enjoys working with dedicated students of all ages and skill levels and has experience working with beginners, film and television actors and Tony Award winners alike. Rachel is an associate member of the Stage Director and Choreographers Association, Actor’s Equity Membership Candidate, member of VASTA, Florida Association of Theatre Educators, and Florida Higher Education Arts Network. BFA, Carnegie Mellon University; MFA, Florida Atlantic University
Tara Moses (she/her) is a citizen of Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, director, playwright, Artistic Director of telatúlsa, and co-founder of Groundwater Arts. She is the co-Artistic Director of Red Eagle Rising Youth Theatre. She is a 2020 Cultural Capital Fellow with First Peoples Fund; fellow with the Intercultural Leadership Institute (18/19); member of DirectorsLabChicago (2018); member of the Directors Lab at Lincoln Center (2017); recipient of the Thomas C. Fichandler Award (2016); associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society; and Dramatists Guild member. She holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Tulsa and will attend Brown University/Trinity Rep as an MFA Directing Candidate in the fall of 2021. Twitter/Instagram: @taratomahawk www.taramoses.com
Rosa Lisbeth Navarrete is a writer and mother living in El Sereno, California. She is a Peruvian immigrant and storyteller. Her family’s journey north is a monumental story that inspires many of her creative works; essays, poetry, and short scripts. In 2020, Rosa’s short bilingual play Chabuca, Susana, Mami & Me was part of Chicanas, Cholas, y Chisme Playwriting Festival - Womxn In Herstory. Then Rosa was part of the inaugural cohort for the Black, Indigenous, People of Color Sci-Fi Screenwriting Lab with Justice for my Sister. Later, Rosa completed the program Art of Leadership: From Individual Voice to Collective Impact with the Los Angeles County Arts Ed Collective. Rosa values open anti-racist conversations about the shift in consciousness happening right now in our various communities. Last summer she gave a talk to California State University, Fullerton students and faculty of the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, as part of an online conversation about Social Justice themes in theater; facilitated by Professor Celia Martinez-Sáez. Rosa is a Board Member with Casa 0101 Theater & Community Engagement Associate for Invertigo Dance Theatre. More info: www.rosastory.com
Peter Ruiz (They/Them) is an Orlando raised, Indiana based Actor. They are currently in the third year of their MFA Acting Candidacy at Indiana University. Peter has a passion for both classical text and new play development. Self-described as a Queer, Quirky, Multi-Racial, Multi-Ethnic, Mess, they believe it is in the multiplicity of their/others identities and the celebration of those identities in rehearsal rooms and onstage that the creation of radical spaces of empathy and connection are created thus transforming Theatre from a form of entertainment into a political act. Insta:peter_j_ruiz Website: www.peter-ruiz.com venmo: Peter-Ruiz-13
