Maitrayee Bhattacharyya & Sara Kasen Join Wilbury Theatre Group's Board Of Directors

Wilbury Theatre Group has added two members to the Board of Directors: Maitrayee Bhattacharyya & Sara Kasen.

"We couldn't be more excited to welcome Maitrayee and Sara to our Board of Directors," said Wilbury's Artistic Director, Josh Short. "As we continue navigating this time of artistic and organizational growth, we're thrilled to have their leadership and community involvement experience in our corner. Sara's extensive experience in the arts world and Maitrayee's work in the humanities and higher education are sure to be invaluable in this next stage of our evolution, and I'm very excited for them to be a part of the Wilbury team and help us continue to grow and contribute in the Wilbury Group's role as a leader in Rhode Island artistic community."

Maitrayee Bhattacharyya earned her A.M. and Ph.D. in Sociology at Princeton University and an A.B. at Brown University with concentrations in International Relations and French Studies and a C.E.P. at L'Institut D'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). Maitrayee recently returned to consulting and currently convenes the executive committee and research team for the Edmund W. Gordon oral history project as a research affiliate with the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study at the Teachers College of Columbia University. Maitrayee previously served for 17 years an academic dean at Brown University, most recently as the Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Office of the College at Brown University, where she built programs, policies, systems and structures in collaboration with hundreds of colleagues across divisions, faculty across departments, and students of diverse backgrounds across campus to advance inclusion and equity for Brown undergraduates by tackling systemic and structural barriers encountered by students. She holds the distinction of launching Brown's first faculty seminar on advising best practices, the College's first Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), the College's first financial advising and supplementary emergency and co-curricular financial assistance programs, and also serving as Director of the Brown University - Tougaloo College Partnership (2011-2016). Before Brown, Maitrayee was the Acting Director of the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH), providing grants to community nonprofits for hundreds of programs that facilitated public access to and understanding of the humanities. Maitrayee serves as an executive member of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). She has also served on the Board of Trustees and Trustees Committee of the Moses Brown School, the College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) Higher Education Advisory Committee, the Nominations and Awards Committee and the Board of the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni (APGA), has served as the Vice President of the Brown University Class of 1991, a member of the Multicultural Alumni Committee (MAC) of the Brown Alumni Association, and as a founding member of the Asian/Asian American Alumni Alliance (A4).

Sara Kasen received her BA from Baruch College in Visual Arts Administration/Gallery Studies and is currently an MFA Acting candidate at Brown University. She has appeared on stages in Buffalo, New York City, and Providence, and is passionate about storytelling that centers identity, belonging, and community. Sara is a member of the Ambassador Council at Roundabout Theatre Company and brings a strong background in both nonprofit and for-profit fundraising, with experience in donor engagement and mission-driven campaign work. She is the producer of the feature-length documentary Thank You for Thinking of Me, a recipient of the CAAM Building Bridges Documentary Post-Production Grant, and is currently directing and producing a personal hybrid-documentary feature on her Korean adoption. She has produced and performed in films with Queens Bird Films and is a frequent collaborator with True Intent Productions. In 2024, she was selected to participate in the Justice Film Festival/UnRival Network's Film Lab.

Wilbury Theatre Group's 2025/26 Main Series Season kicks-off on September 18 with the World Premiere of From Here to Where with book by Umberto Crenca and music by The Gillen Street Ensemble. For more information on tickets, memberships and programming, visit www.thewilburygroup.org