Educational Theatre Association Adds Four New Board Directors

Four new board directors will join the Educational Theatre Association's (EdTA) governing board this summer, bringing a unique cross-section of educator experience to the national organization serving more than 6,000 theatre teachers and 5,000 schools across the country.

Krista Carson Elhai of Claremont, California, was elected the association's next vice president/president. Elhai will serve a five-year term. She is a theatre educator at Claremont High School and past president of the board of the California Educational Theatre Association. She has been a California State Thespian Board member for 27 years, 11 as chapter director. Elhai previously served two terms on the EdTA national board and is a trustee of the Educational Theatre Foundation.

Joannarae Ibañez of Pico Rivera, California, and Mary Schuttler of Greeley, Colorado, will serve three-year terms as elected board directors. Ibañez is an educator, director, and arts administrator with a foundation in theatre arts. She designs accessible, inclusive arts education programming. She has worked with various L.A. arts nonprofits and is founder and director of artist collective Moonlightvsn. Schuttler is head of theatre education at University of Northern Colorado, and a former EdTA vice president, president, and past president. She previously served as chair for the Colorado Model Content Theatre Standards and co-chair of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards for Theatre.

Leslie Johnson of Long Beach, California, was appointed to serve a four-year term. Johnson is executive vice president of the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and has three decades of experience in arts education, nonprofit management, and cultural leadership. She previously led educational, community, and audience engagement programming for Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's largest regional theaters. Johnson also helped set statewide policy priorities for arts education as board chair of the California Alliance for Arts Education.

"EdTA's top priorities are to honor students, support educators, and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organization. These board members' varied perspectives and backgrounds will help shape the association's future beyond the pandemic," said EdTA Executive Director Julie Cohen Theobald.

The EdTA board consists of eight elected and three appointed members. These board members' terms will begin July 1, 2021.