The Welders Announce Board of Directors

The Welders, a DC-based playwrights' collective whose mission is to establish an evolving, alternative platform for play development and production, today announced the members of its Board of Directors. The nine-member board of area professionals will advise, lead, and counsel the collective of DC playwrights.

"We're immensely gratified to be working with such an extraordinary group of people," says Core Welder Renee Calarco. "And we're looking forward to learning from their leadership and wise counsel."

"I am thrilled to be part of this kinematic platform," says Gail Prensky, Founding Producer and Director of the Ju?dische Kulturbund Project. "These artists are radically changing the definition of what a theater company can be."

The Welders' Board of Directors are leaders in business, government, education, and the arts in the metropolitan Washington area. The Welders' Board of Directors members are:

- Carolyn Crouch, Founder, Washington Walks
- Virginia Diamond, Lawyer, District of Columbia
- Michael Kharfen, Director, DC Department of Health, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Administration
- Tiane Mitchell Gordon, Senior VP, Diversity & Inclusion, AOL
- Gail Medford, Professor of Fine and Performing Arts, Bowie State University
- Gail Prensky, Founding Producer and Director of the Ju?dische Kulturbund Project Jocelyn Prince, Connectivity Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
- Sam Sweet, Executive Director, Atlas Performing Arts Center
- Christie Walser, Executive Director, Project Create

In addition, two Core Members of The Welders will serve on the Board of Directors on a six-month rotating basis. For the next six months, these two Core Members are:

- Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Professor of Theatre, American University
- Gwydion Suilebhan, Writer and Digital Communications Strategy Consultant

The Welders - playwrights Bob Bartlett, Renee Calarco, Allyson Currin, Caleen Sinnette Jennings, and Gwydion Suilebhan and Executive and Creative Director Jojo Ruf - will write, develop, and produce new plays over the course of the next three years. After their three- year term is complete, the five playwrights will give The Welders' operations to a new generation of five playwrights.