Galia Backal

Galia Backal is a director of new works, plays, dance theatre, and musicals. She acted as director and creator for collaborative works including A Very Girly Story (EAT), One Day Older (Theatre Row), Silence (The Tank), Nightcap (Match:Lit Theatre Company), and If I Dare (Layton Studios). Other productions include Latch by Tom Mularz (Samuel French OOB Festival), Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph (Schaeberle), July 7, 1994 by Donald Margulies (Schaeberle), Macbeth the Musical (DTASC Festival), God’s Country by Steven Dietz (DTASC Festival), and Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies (DTASC Festival).

Trevor Boffone, Ph.D.

Trevor Boffone is a scholar, educator, writer, dramaturg, producer, and the founder of the 50 Playwrights Project. He is a member of the National Steering Committee for the Latinx Theatre Commons. Trevor has a Ph.D. in Latinx Theatre and Literature from the University of Houston. He is the co-editor of Encuentro: Latinx Performance for the New American Theater (Northwestern University Press, 2019). His first book project, Eastside Latinidad: Josefina López, Community, and Social Change in Los Angeles, examines the textual and theatrical strategies of contemporary Latinx theater-makers based in Los Angeles.

Kathleen Capdesuñer

Kathleen Capdesuñer is a first-generation Cuban-American from Kissimmee, Florida. She is the current Roundabout Directing Fellow, and a previous McCarter Theatre Center Directing/Artistic Engagement Apprentice. Credits include: SHAME (co-creator, world premiere at Orlando and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals), The Struggle is Real (Orlando Fringe Critic’s Pick, BWW Best World Premiere Nomination), and Constellations (Fred Stone Theatre Award). She directed Detroit (Rollins College Theatre Memorial Award) and helmed a series of community engagement events in collaboration with the playwright, Lisa D’Amour. Kcapdesuner.com

Miranda Gonzalez

Miranda Gonzalez is the Artistic Director of UrbanTheater Company in Chicago and sits on the Latinx Theater Commons steering committee. She was a founding ensemble member of Teatro Luna, has devised, developed and produced plays since 2000 and is a recipient of the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Award. Her current play Back In The Day will be making its World Premiere in the Fall of 2019, a co-production with UrbanTheater and CLATA. Previous directing and development credits include: Crossed, GL 2010, Ashes of Light by Marco Antonio Rodriguez, La Gringa by Carmen Rivera, Sushi-Frito by Melissa Duprey, and Crime Scene Chicago with Collaboraction.

Jelisa Jay Robinson

Jelisa Jay Robinson is a Black American playwright based in Houston, Texas whose places explore relationships between communities of the African Diaspora. Her plays include The Stories of Us, Fae, and Paciencia and Delivery. Her work has been developed and/or presented at the Austin Latino New Play Festival, Teatro Vivo (Austin), Now Africa Festival (New York), The Black and Brown Theatre (Detroit), The Rec Room (Houston), Vision Latino (Chicago) among other places. You can follow her work at Instragram @jelisathewriter1.

Dr. Gina Sandi-Diaz

Dr. Gina Sandi-Diaz is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at California State University, Fresno. She is also, an actor, director and applied theatre facilitator. She earned her PhD and MA in Theatre from the University of Kansas and has a B.A and MFA equivalent in Acting from Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica. Her most recent productions include Octavio Solis’ Lydia and Karen Zacarias’ Just Like Us at Fresno State’s University Theatre. Her areas of expertise are Directing, Latinx Theatre and Performance, Theatre for Social Change and Applied Theatre.