Board

J. Chris Babb (he/him/his) is President of The Group Tour Company; a family business founded in 1975. Born and raised in Washington, DC he is a graduate of James Madison University. Following graduation, Chris embarked on a career in theatre management working at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Theatre and Source Theatre Company. Chris resides in Washington’s historic Shaw neighborhood with his partner and serves on the Boards at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Leadership Greater Washington (LGW) and the National Tour Association (NTA).

Kaiti Saunders (she/her/hers) is Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at Verizon where she leads a team responsible for developing and implementing regulatory strategy relating to broadband deployment, network transformation, and strategic transactions. Prior to joining Verizon, Kaiti was a litigator at Latham & Watkins in Washington, DC, and at Jenner & Block in Chicago, IL, with substantial trial experience in commercial litigation and intellectual property cases. Kaiti graduated from Johns Hopkins University, and received her J.D. from the University of Michigan, both with honors. She also serves on the boards of Appletree and The SportsBra Project, and is an appointed pro bono Guardian ad Litem in Washington, DC.

Nancy Hartsock is a Financial Advisor and Financial Planning Specialist with The Hasenberg Hartsock Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Washington, DC. She specializes in Wealth Management, Financial Planning, and multi-generational family work. Prior to her career as a Financial Advisor, she worked for 25 years in the health care industry with the last 10 years in senior management as a business owner. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and English from Southern Illinois University and her Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois.

Clarence J. Fluker (he/him/his) is a public affairs strategist, organizational change leader and equity & inclusion advocate. At the Association of American Medical Colleges he serves as Director of Community Engagement, leading their efforts to create deeper and wider relationships with the government, nonprofit and business sectors in Washington, DC. In his prior position with the Obama White House Council on Environmental Quality he helped push forward an inclusive public lands agenda and played a meaningful role in raising the visibility of the National Park Service Centennial. Previously, he worked for two Washington, DC mayors, a national political action committee and several nonprofit organizations managing communications, fundraising and program initiatives. He earned his undergraduate degree in speech communication from Morgan State University and graduate degree in public communication from American University. He began his exploration of theater as a small child and learner at Karamu House on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest African American theater in the United States. Today he continues that exploration as Board Member of Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC.

Scott Schreiber (he/him/his) sees the playwright and theater as an agent for social change and building community in our pluralistic society. He is particularly keen on the playwright’s ability to communicate with the audience and move the audience by creating empathy. He is a Partner at Arnold & Porter LLP and joined the Board at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in May of 2009. He was born and raised through Junior High School in the Lower East Side of Manhattan before he moved to Washington, DC. He is a graduate of Bates College, received his JD from The Columbia University School of Law and remains an avid theater attendee.

David Sharman (he/him/his) is a long time DC-area resident (although still tainted by an English accent) and joined the Woolly board in 2015. His passions include theatre, sailing, almost anything outdoors, photography, ski racing, sailing, and his two daughters – one is studying acting at NYU Tisch, the other working in NYC. David was until recently the chief executive officer of a $1bn revenue digital marketing company, and has an MA in mathematics and theoretical physics from Cambridge University, England.

Avani Gala (she/her) hails from the Deep South. She is a graduate from Mercer University (go bears!) and the University of Virginia (wahoowa!). Avani first moved to the DC area over a decade ago to begin her career in public accounting. As a CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner, she's conducted white-collar, forensic investigations around the world and developed ethics and compliance programs for media companies. Avani enjoys creating (sewing, cooking and gardening) and consuming (time with loved ones, food and stories). She has nurtured a love of storytelling in its many forms—word of mouth, print, music, audiovisual and live performance—and humbly contributes to this lifelong passion through the Woolly community.

Barbara Strack is a lawyer by training who has worked in the public and private sectors over a 34-year career in Washington.  She has practiced law, worked for a Senate subcommittee staff, led a project on immigrant integration at a leading nonprofit, and focused on immigration policy and refugee resettlement at the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. Barbara was introduced to theatre at an early age and became a regular theatre-goer when she returned to DC after law school.  Her first Woolly production was New York Mets in the summer of 1986, in a church basement on F Street, and she has been a fan and supporter over the years.  She  joined the board in 2015.

Swati Agrawal (she/her/hers) is CEO of Firmseek, a national company providing integrated marketing and technology solutions to professional service firms around the country. She has worked for some of the most successful professional services companies in the world, helping them improve their competitive positioning and grow market share. Prior to Firmseek, Swati spent many years as an attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a leading New York law firm. It was Swati’s business and creative spirit that drew her away from legal practice to the world of entrepreneurialism. And those same forces brought her to the board of Woolly Mammoth. A National Truman Scholar, Swati received a J.D. from Yale Law School (where she continues to serve as class secretary) and a B.A. with high distinction and high honors in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Colin K. Bills (he/him/his) is a Washington, DC, based Lighting and Set Designer.  He is a Company Member and member of the EDI Working Group at Woolly Mammoth where has lit over fifty productions and designed several sets, including lighting for Fairview, Gloria, Botticelli in the Fire, An Octoroon, Black Side of the Moon (also set design), Stupid Fucking Bird, The Convert, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, A Bright New Boise, Oedipus el Rey, Clybourne Park, and Dead Man’s Cell Phone. As a Conspirator with the devised theater company dog & pony dc, he collaborated in the writing, direction and design of A Killing Game and Beertown, and has designed the sets and lighting for Courage and Punch…that’s the way we do it. In the DC area, his favorite designs include The Originalist and Oliver at Arena Stage; Once and Colossal at Olney Theater, Hairspray, A Little Night Music, Threepenny Opera and Midwestern Gothic at Signature. His designs have been seen nationally (and internationally) at Arena Stage, Asolo Rep, The Berkshire Theater Festival, CENTERSTAGE, Chicago’s Second City, Constellation Theatre, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Court Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Everyman Theatre, 59E59, Ford’s Theatre, Forum Theatre, Imagination Stage, Intiman Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Marin Theatre Company, Metro Stage, Olney Theatre Center, Opera Lafayette, Opéra Royal Versailles, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Round House Theatre, The Smithsonian, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre, Synetic Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Theater J, The Washington Revels, The Welders, The Wilma Theater, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Colin has won three Helen Hayes Awards and is a recipient of a Princess Grace Fellowship in Theater. He is the Director of Production for the Washington Revels, has taught lighting and set design at Howard and American Universities, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Jon Bouker (he/him/his) is Co-Leader of the Government Relations practice at Arent Fox LLP. He represents clients before the government of the District of Columbia, Congress, and the White House and federal agencies. He is also Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. Jon previously served as chief counsel and legislative director to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). He was the Democratic staff director for the House Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, where he played a central role in developing and passing historic legislation to spur the District’s revitalization. He also served as Congresswoman Norton’s lead staff person in shepherding the District’s annual budget through the House and Senate. Jon is the chair of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke Law School; co-chair of the District of Columbia Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission; co-Chair, along with DC Attorney General Karl Racine, of the Council for Court Excellence task force on securing local control of the District’s prison populations; and current pro bono counsel to the District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission. Jon is also a Trustee of the Federal City Council and a member of the Mayor’s legal advisory team for DC statehood.

Fishkin worked at the Brookings Institution in the delivery of information technology services and during her time there served as Chief Information Officer/ Vice-President. Jane served on the boards of a variety of relevant organizations, including The Computer Ethics Institute, E.Gov Knowledge Management, and PaperFree Systems. Jane assumed a leadership role in Knowledge Management through conferences at Brookings and elsewhere. She was a frequent speaker on technology and Knowledge Management issues, including involvement with EDUCAUSE, Snowmass Academic Computer Directors Seminars, Washington Area Computer Consortium, Women Administrators in Higher Education and Women in Technology. Jane currently serves on the board of N Street Village where she has been involved with every aspect of the organization. She has served as Board Vice Chairman, Audit Chair, and on the Building, Capital Campaign and Governance Committees. Additionally, Jane formed the Ambassadors Council, now consisting of 50 Ambassadors, the purpose of which is to further outreach. Jane also serves on the advisory board of Doctors Speak Out at Georgetown University Medical Center and is a found member of the Russian Cultural Board. Her husband of 44 years, Nathan, is an independent consultant specializing in mixed-use real estate development. Her son, Justin, is Chief Strategy Officer for Local Motors, Inc., specializing in automobile innovations and the producer of the first 3-D printed car.

Michael Fitzpatrick (he/him/his) is Head of Regulatory Advocacy at General Electric Company, where he leads GE's engagement on energy, aviation, digital and transportation regulating issues. Prior to joining General Electric, he served for three years in the White House where he helped to lead the Obama Administration’s development of regulatory policy and White House review of significant regulations. He was also appointed by the President to serve on the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). During his time at the White House, Michael served as the Administration’s lead on regulatory cooperation issues with the EU, Canada, and Mexico. Previously, Michael was a partner at Akin Gump, an Assistant United States Attorney, and a Senior Advisor on regulatory matters in the Clinton White House. Michael is a proud Washington native, supporter of the arts, and historian of the city. He served for ten years on the Board of Cultural Tourism DC (six as Chair). Michael received his B.A. from Brown University, M.A. from University of Virginia, and J.D from Stanford University.

Sari Horistein (she/her/hers) was born and raised in Montreal, but also lived in London and the Netherlands before moving to the US in 1983. In addition to teaching college history, Sari served as the Executive Director at ArtStream - an inclusive theatre company and currently serves on their Board of Directors. She has authored and edited numerous books and writes extensively on issues related to people with disabilities. Sari is an outspoken advocate for people with disabilities and currently serves on the Board of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Advisory Board of the Institute for After School Development, an affiliate of the All Stars Project, that focuses on after school and youth development; and the Quality Advisory Committee of SEEC, a DDA licensed agency that serves adults with disabilities in Maryland. Sari graduated from McGill University (BA 1978), the London School of Economics (MSc 1980) and Leiden University (PhD 1985).

Linette S. Hwu (she/her/hers) is the Board President at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC, where she has been on the board since 2005. As Board President, she has overseen the company’s most recent strategic planning process, its historic transition from Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Howard Shalwitz to new Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes, and its selection of new Managing Director Emika Abe. Ms. Hwu graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and German Studies, and received her Juris Doctor with honors from The University of Chicago Law School. After spending 20 years as an in-house lawyer in the cable industry, she is now teaching yoga and consulting with nonprofits.

Mary McIntosh (she/her/hers) is Principal and President of Princeton Survey Research Associates International, a nonpartisan survey research firm. She specializes in international public and elite opinion on a range of socio-economic topics in developing countries, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In addition surveying on topics ranging from democratization to social unrest to religious beliefs and media usage she has conducted evaluation and audience research for arts organizations. Mary has lived in Washington, DC since 1987 and has followed DC theater with a passion. On their second date with her now husband Mary attended Douglas Gower’s play Luna Vista at the Woolly on Church Street in 1988.

Pete Miller (he/him/his) became an enthusiastic playgoer after a high school class brought him to the Folger Library to see a production of Love’s Labours Lost. He volunteered as a stage manager while an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. During his seven years in the Air Force, theater availability varied – pretty good in Austin, Texas, not so easy to find English language plays in Kaiserslautern, Germany, great DC theater available during his final tour at the Pentagon. Continued to see a lot of DC theater while working for KPMG for four years, during which time he moved into the District. Worked for AOL for eleven years, mostly in network operations, at the same time working his way up within Woolly Mammoth from volunteer usher to board member. With his long time partner Sara, co-chaired the Breaking New Ground capital campaign. Took a brief hiatus from board membership while living in Portland, Oregon then rejoined upon his return to DC. While resident in DC, Pete averages around 100 evenings of theater per year.

Sara Mindel (she/her) is owner and practitioner at Embodied Psychotherapy LLC, who specializes in Trauma, Sexuality and Somatic Psychotherapy. Sara is trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and EMDR and has a long history and experience working in and for the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities. For the almost two decades Sara has been providing therapeutic trauma and somatic healing. She received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work and a BS in Human Development and Family Studies from Lesley University. In addition to her current work, she has held clinical positions at Whitman-Walker Health, SMYAL (Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League), and The Lambda Center at The Psychiatric Institute of Washington, Sara has lectured and presented throughout the area on issues of both Trauma and Working with LGBTQ clients and Sexuality. As for her time with Woolly, Sara has been a friend of the theater for the past ten years. Enjoying the shows and attending fundraising and theater events. Not only has Sara been connected to the theater through the arts but also has supported the theater through her mental health work on multiple occasions, which has propelled her to offer her support services to the regional DC Theater Consortium. Creating safe spaces and supportive community for the actors cast and theater community.

As founder and principal of Edgewood—a theatrical production company and fundraising consultancy— Dale A. Mott (he/him/his) advances projects celebrating the intersection of innovation, accessibility, creative expression, and social justice. Edgewood's stable of bold theatrical works includes award-winning American composer/creator Nolan Williams, Jr.'s new productions: GRACE (World Premiere, Ford’s Theatre, March 2022), STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA, and DEVINE HAMER GRAY; Kennan Scott II’s THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN (Opening Broadway's Golden Theatre Fall 2021); and, Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning new musical, A STRANGE LOOP (Woolly Mammoth 2021). Previously, Dale co-produced for Broadway the critically acclaimed play, THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT. Dale is a member of the board of directors of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, DC. He and his husband, Ken Hyle, split their time between Washington, DC, and New Orleans, LA.

Liz Norton (she/her/hers) was a freelance television producer for over ten years, with a focus on public policy issues. Those programs included several Fred Friendly Seminars for PBS and youth violence programming for MTV News. Liz founded Stone Soup Films in 2008 in response to the gap in the communications capacity of the nonprofit sector. Since then, the organization has grown nearly 2,000%, has completed over 100 films and has a roster of nearly 700 industry volunteers. During the Clinton Administration, Ms. Norton was a research director in the White House Office of Communications. In that role, she served as a link between the president, the press and the public, primarily on the issues involving crime and drug policy. For twenty-five years, Ms. Norton has been a director of the Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation. In addition to joining the Woolly board in 2016, she also serves on the board of The Environmental Film Festival and lives in Washington DC with her husband and two teenage children.

Michael E. Ramirez (he/him/his) has been an enthusiastic Woolly fan since 1990. Recently retired from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Amtrak, Michael enjoys all forms of theatre: film and stage. His career in Human Resources spans 25 years, most recently as the Senior Director for Workforce Planning and HR Operations, where he lead Amtrak’s human resources operations in developing and implementing nation-wide recruitment and staffing, strategic workforce planning, and HR business strategies and programs. Defining and emphasizing managerial roles in optimizing human capital, Michael implemented strategies linked to organizational goals and short/long range objectives and established and maintained the organization’s succession planning programs. Prior to his appointment at Amtrak, Michael served as the Associate Director, Personnel Operations Administration, District of Columbia Office of Personnel. He was responsible for the management, direction, coordination, evaluation and administrative control of personnel responsible for providing analytical and technical human resource management functions in agencies and departments under the personnel authority of Mayors Sharon Pratt, Marion Barry and Anthony Williams, respectively. Michael has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master’s degree in Social Work/Public Administration from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs, also at the University of Texas.

Julie Rios has been a Woolly fan since the late 1980s. Now retired, Julie enjoys all forms of performing arts and attends over 100 performances a year. In her 34 year career with the U. S. Postal Service, she had responsibility for key marketing, IT, web, operations, strategy and energy initiatives. A California native, she has lived on Capitol Hill for the last 28 years. She received her BA in Studio Art from the University of California and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Eric Ruffin’s most recent regional theatre directing credits include 2-2 Tango at Studio Theatre, A Raisin in the Sun at Crossroads Theatre, Old Settler for The African Continuum Theatre Company, Gutta Beautiful at New Federal Theatre, New Kid for Imagination Stage, and the critically acclaimed New Jersey premiere of Topdog/Underdog for Luna Stage. He has also directed Venus, Passing Strange, and Cut Flowers at the Ira Aldridge Theatre in addition to In The Blood, Antigone, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, Jesus Hopped the “A” Train and Our Lady of 121st Street for the Rutgers Theatre Company. Other credits include Public Ghosts/Private Stories at the George Street Playhouse, Romeo and Juliet at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, The Piano Lesson for The African Globe, My Children! My Africa! at Luna Stage, Waiting to be Invited for The Black Theatre Troupe, and The Story for the Howard Players. He founded “The Acting Studio” at the Newark School of the Arts, a professional training program for actors, and was the founder and Artistic Director for the Newark Youth Ensemble, Newark, NJ. Additionally he has served as the Artistic Director for The New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Young Writer Workshop and has taught acting and performance theory courses at various schools including Howard University, Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. Ruffin holds a B.F.A.  in Theatre Arts from Howard University and an MFA in Directing from Rutgers University. He is a Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers Associate, a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and a 1999 recipient of the New York Drama League Directing Fellowship. He has also been honored with a Shakespeare Theatre Acting Fellowship, and the Princess Grace Grant for Dance.

Born and raised in Pawley’s Island in the Gullah/Geechee Lowcountry of South Carolina, Sheldon Scott now lives and works in Washington, DC. His fine-art practices plays in the intersection of Race, Sexuality and Economics, while impugning mythologies of Black Male supernaturality, and includes works of Performance, Sculpture, Installation, Photography, Spoken word, Creative Nonfiction, Objects and Ephemera. Scott has exhibited at the WPA Select Auction, Arlington Arts Center, Delaware State University, Goucher University, Art Miami, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, National African Art Museum, Katzen Art Museum, David C. Driskell Center, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and has been recently acquired by the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Scott’s works has been collected by other esteemed institutions including J.P. Morgan Chase and private collections globally. He has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Blouin Art Info, Art 21 and Hyperallergic and has been recognized as by Americans for the Arts’ Best Public Art Program in 2017 and as a Finalist for the National Portrait Gallery’s 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Scott has been a featured presenter at TEDx Mid- Atlantic, ArtTable, CreativeTime Festival, College Arts Association Conference, Washington Ideas Festival, and the Smithsonian Long Conversation. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Teaching for Change, Transformer Arts, and the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum. Scott is the Founder of ProjectUnlearn and also currently serves as the Director of Culture at Eaton DC. Scott’s Fine-Art practice is represented by ConnerSmith Gallery.