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

  • David Polk

    Director of Finance and Operations

  • Ashleigh Arrington

    Database & Analytics Senior Manager

  • Chloé Costello

    Board Relations and Executive Office Manager

  • Luke Mullinax

    Facilities & IT Manager

  • Janeth Saenz

    Staff Accountant

  • Daniel Sanclemente

    Administrative Coordinator

  • Nia Savoy-Dock

    HR & Business Senior Manager

Artistic

  • Kathryn Chase Bryer

    Associate Artistic Director

  • Randy Snight

    Casting Director & Assistant Producer

Theatre for Change

  • Hilda Tijerina

    Theatre for Change Manager

  • Travis Xavier Brown

    Theatre for Change Manager

Access & Inclusion

  • Shanna Sorrells

    Access & Inclusion Senior Manager

  • Hannah Breen

    Access & Inclusion Coordinator

  • Caris Gross

    Access & Inclusion Apprentice

Education

  • Nikki Kaplan

    Director of Education

  • Bekah Elles

    School Partnerships Senior Manager

  • Pamela Freedy

    Education Programs Senior Manager

  • Allison Gee

    Senior Faculty: Elementary

  • Benjamin Kapit

    Manager of Digital Media

  • Torin Lusebrink

    School Partnerships Manager

  • Ashlee McKinnon

    Senior Faculty: Dance

  • Sami Topping

    Education Program Coordinator

  • Enrique Vargas

    Program Management & Facilitation Apprentice

Development

  • Emma Cummings

    Development Manager

  • Gabriella Giegerich

    Development Apprentice

Marketing & Communications

  • Laurie Levy-Page

    Director of Marketing and Communications

  • Shera Sacks

    Marketing and Communications Senior Manager

Patron Services

  • Onnie “J.R.” Watson

    Sales & Guest Experience Senior Manager

  • Darcy Fowler

    Guest Experience Manager

  • Emilee Rae Hibshman

    Registrar

  • Sam Hoderlein

    Field Trip and Audience Development Coordinator

Production

  • Chris Gerling

    Director of Production

  • Topher Gaut

    Lead Carpenter

  • Chad Gross

    Technical Director

  • Josie Guevara-Torres

    Costume Shop Manager

  • Carolyn Hampton

    Scenic Charge Artist

  • Gustavo Lima

    Sound Engineer

  • Sarah Phillips

    Assistant Scenic Charge Artist

  • Jesse Shipley

    Assistant Costume Shop Manager/Props Supervisor

  • Stephen Walkiewicz

    Lighting, Sound, and Video Manager

  • Paige Washington

    Associate Production Manager

  • Mark T. Berry

    Stage & Production Apprentice

  • Felix Clarke

    Lighting & Sound Apprentice

Imagination Stage Board of Trustees

  • Kim W. Barnette, PhD

    President

  • Patrick O’Neil

    Immediate Past President

  • Michelle Johnstone

    Secretary

  • Lara Oerter

    Treasurer

  • Christopher Hertz

    Vice President

  • David Hurwitz

    Vice President, Programming & Engagement Co-Chair

  • Kuri Yasuno Levine

  • Nivedita Misra

    Vice President, Governance Chair

  • Margo Sadow

  • Jessica A. Springsteen

    Vice President, IDEA Co-Chair

  • Shawn Davis-Wilensky

  • Brian Drujak

  • Camille Fesche

  • Bonnie Fogel

  • Julianna Goldman

  • Thalia Goldstein

  • Melinda Holliday McDonald

    Vice President & IDEA Co-Chair

  • Jason Najjoum

  • Lily Qi

  • Jaclyn Cohen Rapaport

  • Janet Stanford

  • LaShelle “Shelley” Franklin

  • Raquel Carson

    Vice President, Programming & Engagement Co-Chair

Board of Trustees (DC)

  • Yasemin Washington

    President

  • Lauren Benning-Williams

  • Candice Tolliver Burns

  • Raquel Carson

    Vice President, Programming & Engagement Co-Chair

  • Jason Fink

  • Bonnie Fogel

  • Bruce Johnson

  • Ivan Lanier

  • Jason Najjoum

  • Nichole Francis Reynolds

  • 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.

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