When being introduced at the Arts Education Partnership Annual Convening to share her research on the benefits of theatre education, Julane was described as a “magical unicorn, both a theatre and education professional, with research and organization skills, and a logical mind who can show others what is possible.” A fierce advocate for theatre education, Julane has dedicated her 20-year career to uplifting the lives of children and their families.

From 2019-2025 Julane led theatre classes and camps for youth and teens in the Capitol Hill neighborhood as the Associate Director of Learning for Shakespeare Theatre Company. Under her leadership classes grew an additional 100 registrations per school year, and Camp Shakespeare 2024 was the largest in STC’s history. Julane transitioned STC’s internships into a robust training program for emerging Teaching Artists and mentored 30 volunteer college students.

Prior to STC Julane was the Associate Artistic Director for Commonwealth Theatre Center (now merged with StageOne) where she directed over 20 productions including (Anon)ymous, Camino Real, and Romeo and Juliet. From 2017-19 she served as the Drama Chair for Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts. She currently teaches twice-weekly performance classes for K-6 grades at Pinecrest School in Annandale, VA. Julane is a proud military spouse, mom of two boys, and driven problem-solver who aspires to unite communities through theatre.

Jen is a Director, Actor, Singer, and Overall Creator. Originally from New Jersey, she is now a Capitol Hill resident and considers the DMV her home. After finishing her Directing Fellowship with Shakespeare Theatre Company in 2021, Jen joined the Learning staff part-time (creating a school workshop for Patrick Page’s All The Devils Are Here), became a Teaching Artist (also with Theater J and Levine Music School), and has taken on a variety of production roles, including Young Performer Supervisor for Evita, The Jungle, Once Upon A One More Time, and Our Town.

Recent directing credits include Safe Hands: A New Musical (Off-Broadway-SheNYC), Drown The Muse (Capital Fringe), Finding Nemo Jr. (Murch Elementary), Annie Jr. (Churchill Road Elementary School), Stop and Think, Please (Mosaic Theatre Company- New Play Reading Series), and Stef and Arno (Spooky Action Theater-We Are Not Alone Reading Series). She has also worked as Associate Director on Over Her Dead Body (dir. Kevin Place) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, new play workshop Postmortem (dir. Sheryl Kaller) at Mosaic Theatre Company, Cabaret (dir. Jenna Place) at Montgomery College Dinner Theatre, the world premiere production of The Chameleon (dir. Ellie Heyman) at Theater J, and The Cherry Orchard (dir. Aaron Posner) at STC Academy.

She graduated with a BA in Drama and History (Honors) from Vassar College, and completed LAMDA’s Classical Acting Semester Program and New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Summer Training Program in Directing.

Patti is an experienced non-profit leader, theater director and teaching artist. Patti is a co-founder and served as the Founding Executive Director for ArtStream from 2005 to 2014 and as the Artistic Director from 2014 to 2015. She also served as the Interim Executive Artistic Director from February to September 2024. She currently holds the role of Founding Executive Director/ Advisor at ArtStream.

She has taught drama at the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, Shakespeare Theatre Company, ArtStream, Educational Theatre Company, Theatre Lab, CHAW, Imagination Stage and several other theater and education programs in the DC area. She has also directed, written or choreographed over 50 plays and is a Registered Drama Therapist (RDT).

She received the Community Award from Montgomery County Executive’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities in 2013, the Bank of America’s local hero award for Washington D.C. area in October 2009 and the EP Maxwell Schleifer Distinguished Service Award from EP Global Communications, Inc., publisher of Exceptional Parent magazine for advocacy on behalf of people living with disabilities in June 2008.

Raine (they/them) is currently the Lead Drama Teacher at Two Rivers Public Charter School in Washington, DC where they teach performance and arts integration classes for grades 2-5. Raine holds a BFA in Theatre from The University of Utah and an MA in Theatre Education from The Catholic University of America. They were born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and relocated to the DMV in 2019 to work as the Education Apprentice for Olney Theatre Center. They also worked as the Learning Programs Manager for Shakespeare Theatre Company where they taught young people ages 6-18 in camps, classes and in-school workshops and residencies. Raine has also worked as a Teaching Artist for Lexington Children’s Theatre, Imagination Stage, BlackRock Center for the Performing Arts, Alexandria Children’s Theatre, and University of Utah Youth Theatre. 

Thalia is a former professional actress, dancer, and lifelong theatre nerd. She is currently an associate professor and director of the Applied Developmental Psychology program in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University, where she directs the Play, Learning, Arts and Youth Lab (PLAYlab), and codirects the National Endowment for the Arts Lab, the Mason Arts Research Center (MasonARC).

Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, The John Templeton Foundation, Arts Connection, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Psychological Foundation, among others. With her students and colleagues, she has published more than 70 papers on the effects of pretend play, imagination, theatre, and other art forms (dance, marching arts, video games, literature) on child and adolescent development. She earned her BA at Cornell University, her MA and PhD at Boston College, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University.

Since 2017 she has been the coeditor of the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, the Division 10 journal for the American Psychological Association, where she has also won several awards and was recently named fellow. She lives outside of Washington, DC with her family.