Educational Theatre Association Announces Chief Relationship Officer

The Educational Theatre Association, home of the International Thespian Society, has announced that Hans Weichhart will join the Association in a new role as Chief Relationship Officer, charged with leading member, chapter, and business development for the Association.

Weichhart is a highly accomplished executive with a history of building strategic relationships and organizational leadership. He is currently at the National Association of College Auxiliary Services where he leads a team that runs association operations, along with the education foundation and regional chapters.

Concurrent to his full time role there, Weichhart serves as the Executive Director of the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival in Sacramento, California. Managing a team of volunteers remotely, Weichhart has honored the 60-year history of the Festival while leading its growth in attendance, operational advancement, and program quality.

Personally, Weichhart is an accomplished actor and director, performing onstage, on screen, and in theme parks, as well as co-directing the award-winning production of In the Heights at Broadway by the Bay in Redwood City, California. He is a member of AGVA and AEA. He has a B.A. in Theatre Arts, Acting and Stage Management, from California State University and was part of the Emerging Leaders management training program at Disneyland.

EdTA Executive Director Julie Cohen Theobald says, "I observed Weichhart at the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival in Sacramento in February as he was meeting with teachers, artists, and business partners, and what impressed me most is his ability to make connections with warmth, energy, and authenticity with everyone he meets."

EdTA is an international organization devoted to honoring student achievement in theatre, through the International Thespian Society; supporting theatre teachers; and influencing public opinion that theatre education is essential. EdTA publishes Dramatics magazine for students, and Teaching Theatre journal for educators, and produces the International Thespian Festival. It currently has more than 100,000 members and ITS has inducted more than 2.2 million theatre students since its founding in 1929.

Weichhart will be moving to Cincinnati from Virginia in July.

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