Hartford Stage Announces New Members of the Board of Directors and Stage One Emerging Leaders

The Hartford Stage Board of Directors at their Annual Meeting held on Tuesday, June 20 announced the one-year extension of current Board President, Jack Sennott, who will continue to work alongside Artistic Director Melia Bensussen and Managing Director Cynthia Rider leading Hartford Stage.

In addition to Sennott's term extension, Elease Wright (Vice President), Human Resources & Leadership Consultant, Devon C. Francis (Treasurer), Partner & Senior Consultant at Fiducient Advisors and Chair of the Finance Committee, and Michael D. Nicastro (Secretary), Chief Executive Officer of Coppermine Advisors, will all continue to serve in their respective leadership positions.

Newly appointed members to the Hartford Stage Governing Board of Directors include Douglas Adkins, Alana Curren, Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin, Annie Hildreth and Andy Pace.

Douglas Adkins is a retired Human Resources Executive for ESPN, Inc. He began his career as a Staff Attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit of Pennsylvania and served as a labor attorney for the National Association of Government Employees, before joining Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman (Hartford) as a litigation associate. He serves as the President of the Congregational Church in South Glastonbury, where he lives with his family.

Alana Curren is a West Hartford resident who is joining the Governing Board following her tenure as Chair of Stage One (Hartford Stage's emerging leaders board). After graduating with a degree in communications and public relations, she took her career to NYC where she spent a decade in agency-based roles, directing media management for some of the world's leading consumer brands. She now uses her skills as an independent brand strategist for mid-stage startups and cares for her family.

Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin serves as the first Executive Conference Minister of the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ. He currently serves on multiple boards under the United Church of Christ umbrella, including the UCC Board, the UCC Council for Health and Human Services Ministries, and the Global Ministries Board. Darrell is a candidate in the San Francisco Theological Seminary's Doctor of Ministry program where he is analyzing the use of group spiritual direction as a strategy for the retention of African American men in the United Church of Christ. He recently relocated to Bloomfield with his husband Kentavis Brice Goodwin, who serves on Hartford Stage's Stage One Board.

Annie Hildreth is a Managing Director and Market Executive for Bank of America Private Bank in Greater Connecticut. Prior to this position, she led the Northeast Team as Philanthropic Market Executive and was COO for Philanthropic Solutions. In addition to her interest in the arts, she also serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Hartford and lives in West Hartford with her family. 

Andy Pace is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Conning and Company. He is a Hartford native, UCONN alumnus, and has been a resident of Simsbury for the last 21 years. He is a lifelong parishioner of St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church, where is sits on the Finance Council. He and his wife, Jennifer, are Founding Board Members of the CT Brain Tumor Alliance. 

Individuals returning to the Governing Board after having served as Honorary board members are Hartford resident Sibongile Magubane, retired Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicle Commissioner and former Aetna executive, West Hartford resident, Barri Marks, patient-instructor at the University of Connecticut Medical School, and Simsbury resident Patty Willis, retired from American Airlines.

Long-time Governing Board Member, Sherwood Willard was elected as a Life Director. For nearly four decades, Willard has served in leadership roles across the organization, on various committees and leading campaigns for the theatre. He was the former General Counsel at Pirelli Tire. He now volunteers principally at Hartford Hospital and CHRIS. He is also a fact finder and arbitrator at the Superior Court in Hartford.

In addition, Hartford Stage appointed nine new members of Stage One, the emerging leaders arm of the Governing Board. Stage One develops, educates, and empowers the next generation of corporate and community leaders, while building the pipeline for future non-profit board members and leaders. Stage One members are encouraged to engage and participate in Hartford Stage's Stage Pass, a subscription model and community group for theatre goers aged 19-35 and observe and participate in the Board of Directors' governance of the organization. Stage One members join committees within the organization, attend board meetings, and serve as organizational ambassadors in the Hartford community.

The newly appointed members of Stage One are Cordelia Brady, Brennden D. Colbert, Brittnee Johnson-Colbert, Oliver Kochol, Greidy Miralles, TJ Noel-Sullivan, Claire Stermer, Nathan Sykes, and Alia Walwyn-James.

Cordelia Brady is a clinical social worker at Villages for Families & Children, and is a Hartford native, who recently returned to the area after studying and working in New York City and Rhode Island. She is a proud Harc Inc. sibling and serves on their Committee for Public Policy and Advocacy.

Brennden D. Colbert is the Training Program Coordinator for Advancing Connecticut Together (ACT), where in addition to developing and nurturing strategic partnerships and facilitating trainings and workshops of the ACT team and community allies, he champions the DEI initiatives for the organization. He has served as an economic development commissioner for the Town of East Hartford, District 4 Chairman for the Town of East Hartford, and a voting member of the East Hartford Black Caucus.

Brittnee Johnson-Colbert a licensed social worker in the Manchester Public School System and is a writer, producer, director, and award-winning actress focusing on art that represents and discusses social issues. She has served on the Hartford Symphony Orchestra's FORTE Advisory Board and is currently attending UCONN for her master's in social work and a certificate in Arts Administration.

Oliver Kochol is Senior Coordinator of Programming at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center. He was a former staff member at Hartford Stage, working in the box office pre-pandemic. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree at UCONN in Arts Leadership and Cultural Management. In addition to his work and studies, he also serves on the board of Castle Craig Players in Meridan, CT.

Greidy Miralles is a Research Development Assistant at the Institute for Collaboration on Health Intervention and Policy at UCONN, where she graduated from in 2018. She immigrated to the US from the Dominican Republic in 2011 and attended Hartford Stage as a student during high school.

TJ Noel-Sullivan is a filmmaker and the founder of The Hartford Film Company. He was born and raised in Hartford, a graduate of Classical Magnet, and graduated with a degree in Film and Media Studies from Yale. His debut feature film, MIDAS, was filmed in Hartford during the summer of 2022 and is expected to premiere in late 2023.

Claire Stermer is a Human Resources Generalist at Connecticut Trial Firm in Glastonbury. She is a graduate of Rutgers University with a double major in Theater Arts and Human Resources Management and is currently pursuing a Juris Doctorate at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is returning to Hartford Stage having been the Development Apprentice in 2019.

Nathan Sykes is the founder of The Student Film Awards (formerly known as the Maine Student Film Festival) currently located and supported by Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida when he was in high school. He is also a current undergraduate student and 1823 Scholar at Trinity College in Hartford. He has presented at TEDxBarry with a talk entitled “Creating Environment for Teen Entrepreneurs” and has published multiple articles on software development, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship. 

Alia Walwyn-James is a Manager of Business Process Management with Travelers Insurance where she has been for eight years.She is a diversity, inclusion, and equity advocate, serving on committees within the Travelers Insurance organization. She is a Connecticut native, residing in Newington with her boyfriend and her dog, Delilah.

 

About Hartford Stage 

Hartford Stage has been led by Artistic Director Melia Bensussen and Managing Director Cynthia Rider since the summer of 2019. The theater's mission is to enlighten, entertain, and educate by creating theatrical programming of the highest caliber that has a transformative impact on audiences, the community, and its field. Under Bensussen's artistic vision, the theater has reimagined classics including Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! which reopened the theater to great acclaim following the pandemic and brought more work celebrating the Latine heritages in the region, including Quixote Nuevo, the virtual American Voices New Play Festival, Kiss My Aztec!, and Espejos: Clean. Hartford Stage has presented various world premieres including the Broadway successes Anastasia and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (winner of four 2014 Tony Awards), and Quiara Alegría Hudes' Water by the Spoonful (winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). Hartford Stage's vast education programs engage students of all ages from across the state through student matinee performances, in-school programs, theater classes, and youth productions. Hartfordstage.org 

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