Our Team – Circadium

Allison Watman, School Administrator; Ben Grinberg, Performance & Artistic Craft Department Head; Nicole Burgio, Acrobatics & Aerials Instructor; Adam Woolley, Aerial Program Department Head; Shana Kennedy, Executive Director; Greg Kennedy, Juggling & Prop-Building Instructor; Susan Deutsch, Movement Instructor; Aidan O’Shea, Acrobatics Instructor; Kyle Driggs, Juggling, Lighting & Costume Instructor

It starts at the top.

Shana Kennedy

Executive
Director

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Shana Kennedy

Shana is the Founder of the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, and the Executive Director of Circadium. She trained as an aerialist and a juggler at Circomedia, in England, and performed for many years in both capacities. She began teaching aerial skills in her home and backyard in 2001. In 2006 Air Play was founded as a performance and teaching company; and it evolved in 2008 to the full-fledged PSCA facility. From 2010-2014, Shana accompanied her husband, Greg, on tour with Cirque du Soleil’s Totem, and brought back a wealth of information and ideas from circus schools around the world. She is actively involved with the American Circus Educators Association, the American Circus Alliance, and the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools, and founded a Directors’ Roundtable of circus school leaders across North America. She is deeply committed to the growing influence of circus artistry and education in the U.S., and to furthering the sector as a whole.

Jesse Kitzen-Abelson

Acrobatics
Instructor

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Jesse Kitzen-Abelson

Jesse was a competitive gymnast for over 15 years. He competed collegiately at Temple University where he was a two-year co-captain and a consistent pommel horse anchor. After graduation, he went on to coach high performance gymnastics in South Africa for 5 years. He was a coach for the national team at the African Championships, Cottbus World Cup, and Commonwealth Games. Since returning to the US, he has gone back to his alma mater at Temple to coach the men’s gymnastics team.

Greg Kennedy

Juggling & Prop
Design Instructor

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Greg Kennedy

Originally trained as an engineer, Greg uses the principles of geometry and physics to create groundbreaking work with original apparatus. As a young juggler he quickly made a name for himself in the juggling community not only by his mastery of traditional juggling technique, but also for creating entirely new forms of manipulation. He is now renowned for his many original contributions to juggling as an art form. Jugglers know him for his award-winning creativity; audiences know him for his entertaining performance, making visual spectacles out of everyday objects.

After performing around the world, winning numerous juggling awards, and being featured on magazine covers and in viral YouTube videos, Greg spent 5 years as a solo artist with Cirque du Soleil’s Totem. In 2014 he returned to Philadelphia to re-start the creation of new work, and launched the show Theorem.

L M Feldman

Director of Circus Writing
& Artistic Craft

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L M Feldman

L M Feldman is a Philadelphia-based circus and theater artist whose work is brave, playful, and personal – wrestling with the world we live in, asking questions, challenging norms, and inviting human connection. She freelances as a performer, playwright, collaborator/deviser, artistic consultant, professor, and coach. Her plays and her circus acts have been seen internationally, and she continues to travel around the country performing, teaching, and playwriting.
She has been nominated for the Wasserstein Prize, Stavis Playwright Award, New York Innovative Theatre Award, Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award, and twice for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She’s been a MacDowell fellow, a Playwrights Realm fellow, a Boomerang grant recipient, an InterAct Core Playwright, and a proud member of Orbiter 3. Currently, she’s a Core Writer (2021-2024) with the Playwrights’ Center. L is an alum of the Yale School of Drama (M.F.A.) and the New England Center for Circus Arts, and she is passionate about the art of crafting live performance. During the year, she teaches playwriting to undergrads, med students, and adults, and she’s a coach at Circadium, where she teaches artistic craft and writing live performance – focusing on the artistic tools of circus as an expressive art form. When she’s not writing plays, making circus, or teaching, she’s devising collaborative theater & circus with ensembles.

Rebecca Starr

Aerial Department
Head

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Rebecca Starr

Rebecca Starr got her start in gymnastics at the age of 3 and has been moving ever since! She studied dance and movement at San Diego State University, while performing with the Fern Street Circus and Cirque de la Mer. She is the co-founder of Lyralicious, a performance duo specializing in aerial hoop, and performed with Cirque Dreams, Quixotic Fusion, “The Girlie Show”, L.A Circus, Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival, San Diego Symphony, Middlebury Opera Company and countless more special events, corporate productions, and galas. She toured with US Armed Forces Entertainment, and has been featured on MTV’s MADE, NY Ink, and CBS This Morning. In the early 2010s Rebecca was an integral part of the emerging world of Pole Fitness; she competed, performed and judged internationally for several years. Since then, Rebecca has been traveling the world as a master instructor, doing tours and residencies at circus schools and studios across the globe. In 2016 she started coaching for the Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour, and joined the faculty of Circadium in 2020.

Amy Schulster

Dance
Instructor

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Amy Schulster

Amy began as a classical ballet dancer, and graduated with a BFA in Dance and Urban Design/Architecture from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She performed for 10 years in NYC, including a National Geographic documentary, the NYC Fringe Festival, the Eglevsky Ballet, Eidolon Ballet, Ess/DanceWorks, Ballet Ambassadors, Gleich Dances, and TranscenDance Group. In 2014, she accepted a place in the Professional Training Program at the New England Center for Circus Arts. After graduating from Circus School, Amy taught and performed with Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance in Boulder, Colorado, Femmes de Flight in NYC, and Aerial Horizon in San Antonio, TX. At AH, she choreographed, directed, and produced her first full length show, Paper Dolls. In addition to her artistic pursuits, Amy is a Certified Personal Trainer, Corrective Exercise Specialist and Barefoot Training Specialist. She focuses on functional movement, injury prevention, mobility and the career longevity of dancers, aerialists, and acrobats.

Jacinta Yelland

Physical Theatre
Instructor

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Jacinta Yelland

Jacinta Yelland is an Australian theatre performer and creator based in Philadelphia, USA. Jacinta has collaborated with companies across Australia and America including David Gordon, Quintessence Theatre Group, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, Tribe of Fools, Visual Expressions, Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre, Elbow Room Productions, and RealTV. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Devised Performance from The University of the Arts led by award-winning Pig Iron Theatre Company, a Bachelor of Creative Industries: Drama from Queensland University of Technology, has completed the Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Company Internship and was supported by Arts Queensland to study at École Philippe Gaulier, Paris. Her projects have been supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Queensland, Network of Ensemble Theaters, and American Australian Association.

Ben Grinberg

Physical Theatre
Instructor

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Ben Grinberg

Ben is a multidisciplinary performing artist based in Philadelphia. He is a co-founder and artistic director of Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, an internationally touring performance company, and a graduate of the Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training. In addition to teaching at Circadium and creating, performing, and producing with Almanac, he co-teaches acrobatics at the Pig Iron School, an experiential learning module at the Wharton Aresty Institute, and has taught theatre to 4-84 year olds. He also works as a freelance videographer and video editor for performing artists and non-profits companies. He is a board member and former finance coordinator for Mascher Space Co-op, a collectively run home for new dance in Philadelphia, and has been an artist in residence at New York Live Arts, Bearnstow, Colgate University, and the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. Around Circus Campus, he coordinates Test Flights and directs the annual Circadium Gala, and is always up for scheming about new performance possibilities.

Jenna Horton

Performance Art
Instructor

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Jenna Horton

Jenna Horton is a performance artist vibrating somewhere between the ordinary and the absurd. She grew up as a white American in Denver, CO in the 90s, and moved to Philadelphia, PA in 2009, where she has been for over a decade. Some past collaborations include: Jenna Horton Live On Zoom with Neofuturist Kurt Chiang, Annie Wilson’s Lovertits, Team Sunshine’s ¡Bienvenidos Blancos! or Welcome White People! and The Sincerity Project ‘14 & ‘16, SwimPony’s The End, Headlong’s The Quiet Circus, The Berserker Residents’ The Giant Squid, and Polyglot’s Ants and Paper Planet. She has acted for companies including Lightning Rod Special, EgoPo, Applied Mechanics, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Theatre Ariel, Inis Nua, and Nature Theatre of Oklahoma. She leads one of Hidden City’s most popular tours, “Subterranean Philly: What Lies Beneath.” She makes sculptures from trash, is an alumna of Brown University and Headlong Performance Institute, and a former writer for thINKingDance. www.jennahorton.com

Michael Cumming

Sound Design
Instructor

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Michael Cumming

Originally from London, Michael Cumming is a recording engineer and sound designer. Based in Philadelphia, Michael has made Rittenhouse Soundworks his home. He has worked with a wide range of artists such as Odean Pope, The Sun Ra Arkestra, Xantone Blacq and Lotus.

Ermiyas Muluken

Free-Standing
Ladder Instructor

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Ermiyas Muluken

Ermiyas Muluken is a professional circus artist with a focus on ladder acts, rolla bolla and juggling. After experimenting with rolla bola using a whiskey bottle, glass, and some wood, Ermiyas fell in love with circus. His professional training includes African Roots Circus School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the guidance of Zekarias Mekuria. Ermiyas has since performed in numerous acclaimed circus productions, including Mother Africa, and more recently, in Cirque du Fringe: D’illusion at the Rochester Fringe Festival.

Joseph Arnold

Alexander Technique
Instructor

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Joseph Arnold

Joseph Arnold is a body awareness and movement expert, violinist, and mindfulness geek. While studying violin at conservatory, chronic pain developed in his arms, neck, and back, he discovered the Alexander Technique, a 100-year-old holistic system of body awareness and movement re-education. Out of the dozens of therapies he tried at the time, it was the only one that taught him to relax his muscles while playing violin. Since then he’s discovered the tools to remain balanced when experiencing difficult emotions, dissolve performance anxiety, and find self-acceptance. The Alexander Technique has also deepened his meditative practices. Plus, he’s now 100% pain-free. He’s an assistant teacher at The Philadelphia School for the Alexander Technique, where he graduated in 2012. He also plays violin, teaches violin lessons, and composes music.

Nick Harden

Unicycle Instructor

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Nick Harden

Nick Harden started training in the circus with the Gamma Phi Circus at Illinois State University. After graduating with a degree in physical education he put his degree in a box and joined the circus. He now lives in Seattle with his wife and performance partner Wendy and their two young children. Together they have traveled the world with companies including Cirque Mechanics, Flynn Creek Circus, Venardos Circus, Zoppe Circus, and Acrobatic Conundrum. When not on stage or in the ring, he loves to teach and share his passion for the circus. He has taught with organizations including SANCA in Seattle, Circus Harmony in St. Louis, and Circus Smirkus in Vermont.

Advisory Board

Bim Mason

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Bim Mason

A pioneer in the physical-theatre scene of the UK since the 1970s, Bim Mason is the Founder and Artistic Director of Circomedia. http://www.circomedia.com

Bim trained with Jacques Lecoq and Desmond Jones. A professional performer since 1978 with pioneering circus-theatre groups Kaboodle and his own Mummer & Dada. He has also acted with the Bristol Old Vic Company and toured three solo physical comedy shows to events such as the London International Mime Festival. Of the many physical theatre shows he has directed, three have received Fringe First Awards at Edinburgh – with Talking Pictures (1989) and with Relects Revenge (1995 & 1997). In 1999 he founded Dark Horse, which won the Herald Angel Award in 2000.

Other directing work includes Welfare State International, Peepolykus, Macadam Theatre, Wall Street Theatre, Green Ginger Microtheatre, solo mimes and large scale international projects. Bim has taught courses in Jerusalem, Rio de Janeiro and British universities. He was one of the original teachers at Fool Time 1986-1993. His writing work includes the book Street Theatre (Routledge 1992).

Tim Roberts

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Tim Roberts

Director of Higher Education, National Centre for Circus Arts (UK), & Vice-President of the Fédération Européene des Ecoles de Cirque Professionelles https://www.nationalcircus.org.uk

Tim was a professional juggler and comedian in Europe who then became involved in the growing higher education sector of circus schools in France. Tim’s contribution to the art form is also recognised internationally through his involvement with the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools (FEDEC) where he held the role of President for six years. With FEDEC he is involved in creating a pan-European teacher training programme for Circus Arts as well as lobbying for increased mobility opportunities for all those involved with the arts; from students to teachers, through to artistic directors, educational directors and administrators.

Gabriel Quinn Bauriedel

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Gabriel Quinn Bauriedel

Quinn is a co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Pig Iron. He has performed, directed, and designed for the company over the last 19 years. Notable roles include Walchak in Hell Meets Henry Halfway, Vincent in Gentlemen Volunteers, Mike/Dr. Michaels in Shut Eye and Spencer in The Lucia Joyce Cabaret. With his fellow Artistic Directors, Quinn received a “Best Choreography” Barrymore for Cafeteria, a Pew Fellowship in Performance Art and a USA Knight Fellowship. In 2007, Quinn was awarded one of 6 national Fox Foundation Actor Fellowships. As part of his fellowship, he directed Welcome to Yuba City, which premiered in September, 2009 at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and was nominated for 6 Barrymore Awards including Outstanding Direction. Quinn received a Henry Luce Fellowship to spend a year in Bali, Indonesia. He is a graduate of Ecole Jacques Lecoq and Swarthmore College and currently teaches at Swarthmore and at the Headlong Performance Institute. In 2011, Quinn assumed the role of School Director for the Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training; visit http://pigironschool.org for more information.

Jay Gilligan

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Jay Gilligan

Head Teacher of Juggling and Object Manipulation, University of Dance & Circus, Stockholm. http://www.doch.se/in-english

Jay Gilligan has performed in 29 different countries, touring solo work and collaborating with companies such as The Gandini Juggling Project, Cie Jérôme Thomas, Les 7 doigts de la main, Cirkus Cirkör, and Cirque du Soleil. He is the head teacher of juggling at the Dans och Cirkushögskolan in Stockholm, Sweden, and has recently published a book about contemporary juggling titled “5 Catches.”

Emmanuelle Delpech

Physical Theatre Curriculum Designer & Instructor

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Emmanuelle Delpech

Emmanuelle Delpech is a theater artist: an actor, director and teacher. A native of France, she works and lives in Philadelphia. She was classically trained at l’École Superieur d’Art Dramatique de la Ville de Paris and then studied physical theatre at l’École Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq. Additionally, she has earned an MFA in Directing from Temple University.

Emmanuelle has performed with the Pig Iron Theatre Company and Second City Chicago, and she has also produced several successful solo shows.

She has won a Barrymore Award, a City Paper Award, a LAB fellowship, and a Philadelphia Magazine Award for Best Theater Artist.

From 2008-2014, Emmanuelle honed her directing skills, bringing shows to life for the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and the Arden Theatre. During that time she was also a clown / mime consultant for The Civilians and 1812 Productions.

Teaching credits include the University of the Arts, Swarthmore College, Temple University, Movement Theater Studio NYC, Headlong Performance Institute and the Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training.

Krzysztof Soroczynski

School Concept & Acrobatic Program Design

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Krzysztof Soroczynski

Krzysztof Soroczynski has nearly five decades of experience in the worlds of sport acrobatics, traditional circus, and contemporary circus.

He was a competitive athlete in sports acrobatics and a professional circus performer from 1977-1989, performing in circuses around the world in acts such as Russian Swing, Banquine, Aerial Perch, Hand-to-Hand, Teeterboard, Russian Bar, and other disciplines. He became a coach in sports acrobatics and the film industry before transitioning to Cirque du Soleil, where he worked as Acrobatic Consultant and Coach from 1991-1999 (Saltimbanco, Mystère, Alegria). From 1990-1999 he was also one of the founders, Co-Director and Senior Coach for l’Ecole de Cirque de Verdun.

From 1999-2013, Krzysztof was the Head Trainer, Casting Agent and Acrobatics Performance Designer at Cirque Eloize. He was integral in the creations of Excentricus, Cirque Orchestra, Nomade, Rain, Nebbia, iD, and Cirkopolis.

He has worked closely with such great circus directors as Franco Dragone and Daniel Finzi Pasca. And he is asked regularly to jury some of the most prestigious circus festivals in the world: SOLyCIRCO Festival in Sylt, Germany: 2011, 2012, & 2013; and the Festival de Cirque Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada: 2012 & 2013.

In addition to his own achievements, Krzysztof has served as mentor and coach to many young artists, including his son, Bartek Soroczynski. Bartek is currently an internationally-acclaimed multidisciplinary circus performer and theater actor.

Krzysztof passionately believes in circus’s deep relevance to society, and its elevation of human potential, and he continues to develop artists and companies to illustrate this.

Board of Directors

Kitsie O'Neill

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Kitsie O'Neill

Kitsie Lundell O’Neill first became fascinated by circus arts during her junior year at Moore College of Art & Design. Her Thesis focused on using traditional circus characters as a visual narrative to discuss individual and cultural identity. She took a sample aerial class in Shana Kennedy’s backyard for a fun stress-reliever during her Thesis development- and she was hooked. In the meantime, she graduated with a dual major in Fine Arts Photography and Graphic Design from Moore. After 5 years working in the corporate design world, Kitsie took the exhilarating circus leap and began working at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts in 2008. She currently serves as the school’s General Manager.

Brett Mandel

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Brett Mandel

Brett is a lifelong Philadelphian, very active in city politics and culture. He was most recently the Executive Director of a non-profit organization working to help finance local public school districts. Previously, he was Executive Director of a Philadelphia citizens’ organization promoting tax, government, and ethics reform. He was Director of Financial and Policy Analysis under former City Controller Jonathan Saidel, and had a few other roles in local government. He has written two books on baseball and one book on Philadelphia government.

Stacy Olkowksi

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Stacy Olkowksi

Stacy is a product manager at Clarivate Analytics, responsible for creating visualizations and analytic tools to help people answer business questions using patent data. Prior to that she worked for Thomson Reuters as a customer trainer and sales engineer and began her career as a librarian at the University of Chicago. Stacy has a MS in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Penn State.

In her spare time she is also a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker.

Stacy jumped into trapeze at the very first iteration of what became Circadium and PSCA back in 2003 — in Shana Kennedy’s back yard.

Julie Goodman

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Julie Goodman

Julie Goodman is an Associate Professor at Drexel University, where she conducts research and teaches courses in arts advocacy, cultural policy, and organizational strategy. She was previously Executive Vice President for the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

She also works on consulting projects with arts organizations and artists such as Spiral Q and Fleisher Art Memorial. Goodman is a board member of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE), Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania, Tribe of Fools, and the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation. She currently serves as Chair of the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council for the Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy. Julie earned a BA in Public Policy from Duke University and an MFA in Dance from Temple University. She is a former member of Trapezius Aerial Dance Company who has also performed with Leah Stein Dance Company, and developed choreography for Dancefusion’s fusion2. Her research examines arts advocacy and the value of arts and culture to individuals and communities. Recent publications include articles in the Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society and the American Journal of Arts Management, as well as the international urban studies website Metropolitics.

Kermit Roosevelt III

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Kermit Roosevelt

Kermit Roosevelt grew up in Washington DC and attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. After graduation, he clerked for Judge Stephen F. Williams on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court. After practicing law for two years in Chicago with the firm of Mayer, Brown, he came to Philadelphia in 2002 to begin teaching constitutional law at Penn. He discovered PSCA in 2013, while looking for summer camps for his then-five year-old daughter, fell instantly in love with it, and has taken classes with his daughter steadily since then.

Sandy Kyrish

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Sandy Kyrish

Sandy Kyrish has more than 20 years of experience in higher education, with a specific focus on finance and administration. At Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY, she was Director of Budget and Planning for academic affairs. Previously, she was Assistant Dean for Administration at Temple University’s Klein College of Communications. Kyrish currently teaches two classes a semester in public speaking and persuasive writing at Temple. She holds a PhD in communications from Temple University, and an MA and BS in communications from the University of Texas at Austin. Before working in higher education, she was in the telecommunications industry for 15 years.

Kirsti Bracali

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Kirsti Bracali

Kirsti Bracali is an architect turned project manager who works with cultural non-profits to manage their construction and exhibit projects. Museum, Theatre and cultural non-profits often hire consultants for the specialized expertise they need to oversee the design and construction phases rather than search for a short term employee. Kirsti builds the team, establishes the budget and monitors the overall schedule. She will oversee grant compliance and has applied for State RACP grants for clients. She enjoys breaking down a complex process into manageable tasks so that all stakeholders can participate in realizing the project success.

Kirsti’s three children have all participated in classes or camps at the Philadelphia Circus School. Her oldest daughter, Mia, loves aerials and now has a silk and a rope hanging (securely) in their yard. Circus has been great for building strength and confidence while providing an outlet for her creativity.

Vanessa Thomas Smith

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Vanessa Thomas Smith

Vanessa Thomas Smith was born and raised in Philadelphia. She graduated from Temple University with a BFA in Dance performance and education. She was a performer for three years at Walt Disney World, dancer and administrator with The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHLADANCO) for a total of 16 years, and toured with American circuses from 1979 -1998. She was the First African American Female Ringmaster in American circus history. She is currently the Business Manager for Your Part-Time Controller, LLC, an accounting firm specializing in nonprofits with offices in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York City, Houston and Phoenix. She continues to teach ballet and Zumba 4 times / week.

Ali Rogers

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Ali Rogers

Ali Rogers is a translation professional with over five years of industry experience translating everything from doctoral dissertations in chemistry to haute couture advertising copy. She is a member in good standing with the American Translator’s Association and has translated for large international corporations, NGOs, international organizations, and the French Embassy to the United States, among others. Since earning her MA in French translation and interpretation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2014, she has continued to reinvent herself both personally and professionally.

Despite spending her college years attending classes in Ringling family mansions in Sarasota, Florida, Ali’s circus journey did not begin in earnest until she wandered into an aerial fitness class in Atlanta in 2015. She was immediately smitten and went on to attend circus schools all over the United States and Europe. Her travels often take her to Ireland, where she has a number of contacts with leading circus professionals and artists, including the Fidget Feet aerial dance company and Taking Flight, an aerial studio in Dublin. Although she is a relative newcomer to this world, she is committed to advancing the profile of circus as an artistic discipline in its own right.

Gregory O. Yorgey-Girdy

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Gregory O. Yorgey-Girdy

Gregory O. Yorgey-Girdy is an entrepreneur, community leader, and an attorney with nearly two decades of experience in compliance, ethics, professional responsibility, and civil litigation. He is a Democratic Committeeperson for Ward 48 Division 8 (South Philly) and a fierce advocate for equality, inclusion, and active community engagement. In 2018, Gregory completed his Master of Business Administration with a focus on strategic management from Temple University Fox School of Business. Prior to obtaining his MBA, Gregory attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Psychology. Thereafter, he served as manger for the Crime Victims’ Compensation Unit at Texas Attorney General’s Office. The experience he gained in that role inspired him to pursue a career in law. He then went on to obtain a Juris Doctor degree from Widener University Delaware Law School and was admitted to the bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He maintains an active agenda of philanthropic undertakings, which include, his role as treasurer and board member of Philadelphia Family Pride (PFP), President of the Philadelphia Texas Exes (University of Texas Alumni Association), and as an active member of the Philadelphia 1st Police District’s Advisory Council (PDAC). In May of 2021, he was elected as a municipal court judge for the city of Philadelphia. His election was historic. He became the first openly gay Black man to be elected as a judge in Philadelphia’s Municipal Court.

Vanessa Gennarelli

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Vanessa Gennarelli

Vanessa Gennarelli is the Chief Operating Officer at Raise.dev, a venture-backed technology platform focused on helping professional developers advance their careers. An instructional designer by training, Vanessa has worked with Mozilla, Scratch, littleBits, Flat World Knowledge, Stellar.org, and Guru to develop content that teaches and delights customers. As the Senior Director at GitHub Education, she led a cross-functional team and a line of business for a company that was acquired by Microsoft. She has her Master’s from Harvard in Technology, Innovation and Education, is a former Research Intern at the MIT Media Lab, and graduate of the LEAD program at Stanford Business School.

Our diverse team contributes unique talent, insight and perspective from the worlds of theater, circus, and education.