KARLA PUNO GARCIA - Bio ➝

Karla was one of six ‘Broadway Bound choreographers’ selected to present at the 2018 DANCEBREAK showcase. She is currently the choreographer of a brand new show OTHER WORLD, written by Hunter Bell, Jeffrey Bowen, and Ann McNamee. Karla is also the Associate Choreographer for an upcoming Broadway show Days of Wine and Roses. She has presented for BC Beat, Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS, and Katie’s Project. She is on the theater faculty at Broadway Dance Center. @karlapunogarcia www.KarlaGarciaDance.com

KAREN SIEBER - Bio ➝

Karen is known for the world premiere of HOLMES, THE LEGEND (Karlin Theatre, Prague), WE ARE AMEENA (New 42st Studio); INTO THE WOODS (TUTS, Houston); the film campaign RESISTDANCE; the film series DANCES; regional theatre, films and commercials in both the US and Europe. Karen is a proud DLNY alum. www.karensieber.com

YUSHA-MARIE SORZANO - Bio ➝

Yusha-Marie Sorzano is originally from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. As a choreographer, Ms. Sorzano has created works for Santa Barbara Dance Theater, New Century Dance Project, The Ailey School, The Joffrey Ballet School, and Los Angeles’s Windward School. Currently a member of Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Ms. Sorzano has also been a member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Morphoses, TU Dance, and BODYTRAFFIC. Ms. Sorzano is currently a New York Public Library Performing Arts Fellow.

ARI AFSAR, COMPOSER/LYRICIST - Bio ➝

Ari Afsar is a singer/songwriter with placements on ABC, Disney, and Amazon. A graduate of Ethnomusicology from UCLA, Afsar released her EP, "Somewhere I Thought I'd Be." She has opened for Michelle Obama, performed in the U.S. Institute of Peace, presented before Gloria Steinhem, and opened at the ACLU national conference. She was the original Eliza in Chicago's Hamilton, Miss California 2010, top 10 at Miss America 2011, and top 36 American Idol Alum. She is the co-founder of "Until We Do It" providing masks to communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19. ariannaafsar.com

LAUREN M. GUNDERSON, BOOKWRITER - Bio ➝

Lauren Gunderson has been one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015 topping the list twice in 2019/20. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and John Gassner Award for Playwriting, and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School. More on LaurenGunderson.com

JEANNETTE RANKIN, THE INSPIRATION - LEARN MORE ➝

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women's rights advocate, and the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916, and again in 1940.

A lifelong pacifist, she was one of 50 House members who opposed the declaration of war on Germany in 1917. In 1941, she was the only member of Congress to vote against the declaration of war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

A suffragist during the Progressive Era, Rankin organized and lobbied for legislation enfranchising women. While in Congress, she introduced legislation that eventually became the 19th Constitutional Amendment, granting unrestricted voting rights to women nationwide. She championed a multitude of diverse women's rights and civil rights causes throughout a career that spanned more than six decades. To date, Rankin remains the only woman ever elected to Congress from Montana.