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Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage Board & Staff

Jason Najjoum

Managing Director

Jason Najjoum is an organizational engineer who achieves transformational objectives. He is guided by a deep-seated curiosity of people and systems, a value of reciprocity, and over 12 years of management experience across sectors. Previously, he was the Managing Director of Synetic Theater, leading it to financial stability, improved artist and audience experience, and innovative […]

Jason Najjoum is an organizational engineer who achieves transformational objectives. He is guided by a deep-seated curiosity of people and systems, a value of reciprocity, and over 12 years of management experience across sectors. Previously, he was the Managing Director of Synetic Theater, leading it to financial stability, improved artist and audience experience, and innovative […]

Jason Najjoum is an organizational engineer who achieves transformational objectives. He is guided by a deep-seated curiosity of people and systems, a value of reciprocity, and over 12 years of management experience across sectors. Previously, he was the Managing Director of Synetic Theater, leading it to financial stability, improved artist and audience experience, and innovative community programming during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason has held roles at Yale Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, ABC Television, and on Broadway. His arts experience is augmented by several transformative experiences in the private sector, including at McChrystal Group, a global organizational development firm, and at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s leading hedge fund. A member of Leadership Greater Washington, Jason earned an MFA/MBA in Theater Management from Yale University and co-chaired the Equity Committee of the National Landing Business Improvement District. Jason resides in the Eckington neighborhood of Washington, DC with his partner and two pups.

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Janet Stanford

FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Janet Stanford is the 2017 winner of the Harold Oaks Award for Innovation in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). Since 1993, Janet has heightened the profile of professional theatre at Imagination Stage by commissioning more than 50 new works, adopting an Actors’ Equity contract, and successfully advocating for the inclusion of TYA productions in the Helen Hayes Awards. Janet has brought many

Janet Stanford is the 2017 winner of the Harold Oaks Award for Innovation in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). Since 1993, Janet has heightened the profile of professional theatre at Imagination Stage by commissioning more than 50 new works, adopting an Actors’ Equity contract, and successfully advocating for the inclusion of TYA productions in the Helen Hayes Awards. Janet has brought many

Janet Stanford is the 2017 winner of the Harold Oaks Award for Innovation in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). Since 1993, Janet has heightened the profile of professional theatre at Imagination Stage by commissioning more than 50 new works, adopting an Actors’ Equity contract, and successfully advocating for the inclusion of TYA productions in the Helen Hayes Awards. Janet has brought many distinguished artists to the theatre including artist/activist Rebecca Rice and playwrights David S. Craig, Charles Way, Karen Zacarias, Joan Cushing, Eric Coble, Barry Kornhauser, and Psalmayene 24. Under her leadership, the theatre has created educational plays for teens about biotechnology, introduced Theatre for the Very Young to audiences in the USA, co-produced and co-commissioned with other top TYA theatres both in the USA and abroad, and partnered with Health & Human Services organizations to bring theatre experiences to non-traditional audiences. Janet has traveled on grants from S. America, to Europe and Asia in search of new partners and inspiration for Imagination Stage programs. She has twice been nominated for Helen Hayes Awards for Best Director and has written several plays for children including The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, Aladdin’s Luck, and Dickens’ Davy Copperfield.

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Joanne Seelig Lamparter

Artistic Director Education & Theatre For Change

Director of Education and Theatre for Change she has led the organization’s school and community partnerships, theatre arts training programs, and the development of new work based on youth voices

Director of Education and Theatre for Change she has led the organization’s school and community partnerships, theatre arts training programs, and the development of new work based on youth voices

Joanne Seelig Lamparter joined Imagination Stage in 2014. As Director of Education and Theatre for Change she has led the organization’s school and community partnerships, theatre arts training programs, and the development of new work based on youth voices . Under Joanne’s leadership Imagination Stage’s youth programming has been featured at international festivals, national conferences, at local universities and even on Capitol Hill! An arts educator with over 18 years of experience she has administered programs for Smithsonian, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The National Building Museum and Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Joanne has a passion for arts education research and was a Research Assistant on the Cultures of Thinking project at Harvard’s Project Zero. Joanne has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, Theatre Communications Group, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Maryland State Arts Council. She has taught in a variety of educational settings including theatres, museums, public schools, and juvenile detention centers. Joanne currently serves as a theatre education advisor for the PBSKids series, Pinkalicious. She holds a Masters in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Washington University.

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Founder

  • Bonnie Fogel

Administrative Staff

  • Ashleigh Arrington

    Database Manager

  • Chloé Costello

    Executive Assistant & Board Liaison

  • Luke Mullinax

    Facilities & IT Coordinator

  • Janeth Saenz

    Staff Accountant

  • Daniel Sanclemente

    Administrative Associate

  • Nia Savoy-Dock

    HR & Business Manager

Artistic

  • Kathryn Chase Bryer

    Associate Artistic Director

  • Randy Snight

    Assistant Producer

Theatre for Change

  • Triza Cox

    Associate Artistic Director for Theatre for Change

  • Hilda Tijerina

    Theatre for Change Coordinator

Access & Inclusion

  • Shanna Sorrells

    Access & Inclusion Senior Manager

Education

  • Nikki Kaplan

    Associate Director of Education

  • Hannah Breen

    Education Apprentice

  • Bekah Elles

    Education Coordinator

  • Pamela Freedy

    Education Program Manager

  • Allison Gee

    Senior Faculty: Elementary

  • Torin Lusebrink

    Education Program Coordinator

  • Ashlee McKinnon

    Senior Faculty: Dance

  • Dillon Mitcham

    Education Apprentice

  • David Stern

    Director of Digital Media

  • Sami Topping

    Education Program Coordinator

Development

  • Brenda Segal Bochner

    Director of Development

  • Taryn Carone

    Development Apprentice

  • Emma Cummings

    Development Manager

Marketing & Communications

  • Laurie Levy-Page

    Director of Marketing and Communications

  • Heather Leary

    Education Marketing Coordinator

  • Rebecca Malachowski

    Theatre Marketing Manager

  • Shera Sacks

    Marketing and Communications Senior Manager

Patron Services

  • Onnie “J.R.” Watson

    Sales & Guest Experience Senior Manager

  • Alexus Crockett

    Guest Experience Coordinator

  • Emilee Rae Hibshman

    Sales & Registration Coordinator

  • Sam Hoderlein

    Field Trip and Audience Development Coordinator

Production

  • Chris Gerling

    Director of Production

  • Breanna Dunbar

    Production Apprentice

  • Topher Gaut

    Resident Carpenter

  • Chad Gross

    Technical Director

  • Josie Guevara-Torres

    Acting Costume Shop Manager

  • Robert Hamilton

    Assistant Technical Director

  • Carolyn Hampton

    Scenic Charge

  • Courtney Naughton

    Production Apprentice

  • Jesse Shipley

    Assistant Costume Shop Manager/Props Supervisor

  • Stephen Walkiewicz

    Master Electrician & A/V Supervisor

  • Paige Washington

    Assistant Production Manager

Imagination Stage Board of Trustees

  • Kim W. Barnette, PhD

    President

  • Patrick O’Neil

    Immediate Past President

  • Michelle Johnstone

    Secretary

  • Lara Oerter

    Treasurer

  • Cathy Bernard

    Vice President

  • Christopher Hertz

    Vice President

  • David Hurwitz

    Vice President

  • Louisa Imperiale

    Vice President

  • Nivedita Misra

    Vice President

  • Margo Sadow

    Vice President

  • Carolyn Schugar

    Vice President

  • Jessica A. Springsteen

    Vice President

  • Katie Chowdry

  • Shawn Davis-Wilensky

  • Brian Drujak

  • Claire Duran

  • Camille Fesche

  • Bonnie Fogel

  • Julianna Goldman

  • Catherine Leggett

  • Lynne Lightfoote, MD

  • Melinda Holliday McDonald

  • Jason Najjoum

  • Mike Patel

  • Lily Qi

  • Jaclyn Rapaport

  • Janet Stanford

  • José Antonio Tijerino

Board of Trustees (DC)

  • Nichole Francis Reynolds

    President

  • Yasemin Washington

    President-Elect

  • Chris Taylor

    Treasurer

  • Lauren Benning-Williams

  • Candice Tolliver Burns

  • Bonnie Fogel

  • LaShelle “Shelley” Franklin

  • Bruce Johnson

  • Jason Najjoum

  • Janet Stanford

  • Maura White

Presidents Emeritus

  • Jane Fairweather

  • Frank Allen Philpot

  • Gail L. Jacobs

  • Barbara J. Gottschalk

  • Jerry Morenoff*

  • Nancy T. Greenspan

  • Mita Schaffer

  • J.J. Finkelstein

  • Robert G. Brewer, Jr.

  • Sally Rosenburg

  • Stephen A. Hayes*

  • Wayne Hunley

  • Mark Richardson

  • Susan Lacz

  • Kim Greenfield Alfonso

  • George Little

  • Patrick O’Neil

Presidents Emeritus (DC)

  • Kim Barnette

  • Kim Greenfield Alfonso

Legal Counsel

  • Lerch, Early & Brewer, Chtd.