| The Ariel Group has
over forty certified facilitators in the United States and
Europe. All Ariel facilitators have professional theater training
as well as experience in business and education.
 ANDREA ARDEN has been
living and working as an actor, director and teacher in the
New York City area since 1987. She has devoted her life to
exploring the power of theatrical storytelling and what makes
theater a vital link to our humanity in modern society. For
The Ariel Group she has facilitated programs for clients including
Royal Bank of Scotland, Capital One and American Express.
Andrea was cofounder and Artistic Director of the theater
company Pendulum, where she directed and performed work that
toured throughout the New York area and to the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe. In 2003 she founded the theater company JOS, which
performed at The Blue Heron Arts Center in New York City.
Andrea has worked with such companies as the New York Shakespeare
Festival, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Primary Stages,
American Stage Company, the National Playwrights’ Conference,
the Women’s Project and Productions, New Jersey Repertory,
the Shoestring Players (winning the coveted Fringe First Award
at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and Cafe Theater, Inc.,
in residence at George Street Playhouse. JOS recently merged
with The Wake Up Artists to create THEATRE LÎLA. She
traveled through Europe and Russia in an original duet performance
piece, Eggs in a Briar Patch, and created and performed
her one-woman show, The Cry of the Children.
Andrea spent a year in residence with Théàtre
dû Solèil in Paris in conjunction with the Experimental
Theatre Wing, New York University. She received her B.F.A.
in drama from the Experimental Theater Wing, NYU, and her
M.F.A. in directing from Rutgers University. Andrea is an
adjunct faculty member of Drew University and Artist-In-Residence
at the Somerset County Performing Arts Conservatory. She is
also a certified Feldenkrais “Awareness-Through-Movement”
teacher.
 VICTOR BARBELLA is an accomplished actor
and teacher, as well as a corporate facilitator and coach. As a corporate facilitator and trainer, he has worked with clients at General Electric, Booz Allen, Lockheed Martin, AT&T, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, leading programs in communication, leadership, cultural diversity, and business relationships. As a teaching artist and consultant, he has worked extensively leading long-term arts residencies and sociodrama and drama-therapy workshops throughout New York City, the East Coast, and California. He has worked with such notable organizations as the Roundabout Theater Company, American Place Theater, I.D.E.A.S., and National Artists for Mental Health.
Victor's acting experience ranges from Off Broadway productions in New York City, to regional theaters throughout New England and the East Coast in plays by Miller, Odets, Gurney, Shanley, and Shakespeare, as well as original works. He appeared at the Lyric Theater in London, as well as fringe productions throughout the West End. He has been in independent films, commercials, soap operas, and industrials. He has had the pleasure of working with actors such as Danny Aiello, Matthew Arkin, and Dennis Boutsakaris. He holds and MA from the London Academy of Performing Arts and is a member of Actors' Equity Association and Screen Actors' Guild.
 KATE
BENNIS is an actress, corporate trainer and clinical
social worker. She currently works as an Executive Coach and
facilitates programs in leadership presence with The Ariel
Group for corporate clients including Revlon, The Federal
Reserve Bank and Columbia University.
As an actress, Kate founded Keep Me Company Theater and was
a member of the Circle Rep Lab in New York City. Kate has
acted in hundreds of plays including Steel Magnolias,
Twelfth Night, and The Importance of Being Earnest.
Kate has taught theater in the New York Public School System
for the National Actors Theater and was an artist in residence
at the Cleveland School for the Arts for ten years. As a clinical
social worker, Kate works as a psychotherapist with children
and adults.
Kate has a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a master's degree
in social work from Smith College. She is a member of Actors
Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.
 JOE BILL has more than 20 years of experience as a consultant, facilitator,
and trainer. He brings highly specialized expertise in presentation skills, assessment tools (Myers-Briggs, Keirsey 16 types,
Bolton and Bolton People Styles) and their application and Socratic process as it applies to selling, negotiating, dialoging, and facilitating. Joe also has vast experience in customizing programs to meet special client needs.
h
From 1995-2005 Joe worked as an esteemed faculty member for Communispond, a leading training company specializing in presentation, business writing, and selling skills. He also has spent more than 20 years teaching improvisation all over the world and is currently on the faculty of the Second City and Improv Olympic in Chicago. He has taught, coached, or directed performers and writers that currently work for Saturday Night Live, Mad TV, Conan O'Brien, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He is an expert in creating a safe and focused classroom environment that lends itself to confidence building, learning, and application of skill sets.
Joe's dream is to continue to work in both the entertainment and corporate worlds and help the people he trains to find confidence and excellence on the stage and on camera, in the office, and in the boardroom, no matter how daunting the task.
 BOBBI BLOCK, Affiliate
for The Ariel Group, has been designing and facilitating professional development workshops for more than a dozen years. She began her training career by teaching team-building skills to corporate groups utilizing improvisational theatre techniques she acquired through producing, performing, and teaching with ComedySportz Improvisational Theatre Company. She then worked for Team Builders Plus, a small professional development firm outside of Philadelphia, where she complemented her interactive theatre methodology with all forms of experiential learning approaches. At Team Builders Plus Bobbi worked extensively with communication assessment tools (specifically, the DiSC) and served a variety of client levels and industries. Ultimately, her extensive performing arts and training experience led her to work as an affiliate of The Ariel Group.
Bobbi received two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, one in English and one in Child Development through Creative Expression. She received a Masters degree in Theatre from Villanova University and studied with countless improvisational theatre gurus in Chicago and NYC. In addition to co-founding and performing with the Barrymore Award-winning ComedySportz Philadelphia for 15 years, Bobbi currently performs with the longform improv group, LunchLady Doris (10 years); performed with the interdisciplinary improv company Playback Philadelphia for 4 years; and co-founded and performed with the body percussion troupe People Percussion Project for 3 years. Bobbi has taught Improvisation at numerous theatres and universities including The Wilma Theatre, University of the Arts, Villanova University, and Temple University. She works extensively with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, teaching playwriting to young people and training teachers and teaching artists on the integration of theatre in the classroom, and from whom she received the Adele Magner Memorial Award for excellence in Collaborative Teaching.
Bobbi is a small business owner (the award-winning ComedySportz Philadelphia, part of a national franchise), so she understands firsthand the challenges of leading and inspiring a company of 30 employees—temperamental artist employees at that! Because of Bobbi’s combined experience as a theatre artist, improv comedian, business leader, teacher and corporate consultant, participants in Bobbi’s programs feel expertly guided and supported in a fun, comfortable environment.
JOSH BRODER is a facilitator,
actor and writer. He has over twenty years’ experience
teaching, coaching and consulting in the corporate, not-for-profit
and public sectors. Josh has facilitated programs at organizations
like Hewlett Packard, Citibank, Pfizer, AOL and Columbia University’s
Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.
Josh has acted extensively. After making his professional
debut at the New York Shakespeare Festival he toured the Soviet
Union and performed at theaters across the country. Josh has
done much improvisation and has appeared in such films as
Silence of the Lambs. In addition to teaching and performing,
Josh adapted and directed Franz Kafka’s Amerika,
and was the Artistic Director of “Mad River Radio,”
which broadcast on a network of New England radio stations.
He co-conceived and directed Spoonbread and Strawberry
Wine, Norma Darden’s one woman autobiographical
show, which featured a full-meal prepared on stage for the
audience. That show had productions in New York, Philadelphia,
Annapolis, Washington, D.C., and Flagstaff.
Josh is also an accomplished writer. His work has appeared
in the Washington Post and Travel & Leisure
magazine. He is currently researching a work of fiction set
in the aftermath of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Josh
lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and their son.
 ELIZABETH
CALLAHAN brings more than twenty-five years of
teaching and acting experience to her work. She has facilitated
leadership training workshops for organizations such as General
Electric, Capital One Services, Inc., CVS Corporation, American
Express, and the Harvard Leadership Institute. As a teacher
she has developed an intensive week-long Shakespeare workshop
and is co-creator of the Art of REAL Communication program.
Elizabeth has also taught theatre to inner-city youth and
English at the middle- and high-school levels.
As an actress she has worked on stage, in films and on television.
She has appeared in films such as Good Will Hunting
and has appeared regularly on television stations such as
WGBH-TV and WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts.
She has studied acting extensively in New York City and Boston,
and holds an M.A. in theatre arts from Catholic University
in Washington, D.C. Elizabeth is a member of Actors Equity,
SAG and AFTRA.
 NICOLAS CHAGRIN has more than 15 years’ experience facilitating, coaching, designing, and leading workshops for the corporate, public, and not-for-profit sectors. He has delivered programs in presentation skills, stress in the workplace, outplacement counselling, career guidance, and interview skills in such diverse companies as Booz Allen Hamilton, American Express, Royal Bank of Scotland, Boston Public Schools, the Universities of Bristol and Bath, bg PLC, Computacentre, Berks Pharmaceuticals, SmithKline Beecham, Ericsson, Mars, and Rank Xerox.
Having started work in film and TV at the age of 11, Nicolas’s 40-year career includes film, TV, theater, and now interactive internet. As a young dancer, he joined England’s first Jazz Ballet Company which was the hit of that year’s Edinburgh Festival before appearing in London’s West End for a season. He has guest-starred in numerous TV shows for the BBC and independent TV companies like NBC, where his credits include Murder on the Orient Express. His international film work includes Zefirelli’s Young Toscanini with Elizabeth Taylor and C. Thomas Howell and Wings of Fame with Peter O’Toole and Colin Firth. He has had several stints in London’s West End theaters and spent the first six months of 2007 at England’s Royal National Theatre.
Nicolas loves the balancing act of combining arts and business together, with each contributing to the other. He and his wife make their home in England’s beautiful County of Dorset.
 EDWARDYNE COWAN brings a unique background to her role as a facilitator,
with more than 15 years of experience
in business, training, and theater. She infuses enthusiasm, sensitivity, and humor into her work to help clients improve their leadership presence. She has coached executives, attorneys, scientists, educators, and financial service professionals in more than twenty industries.
As an actress and singer, Edwardyne starred opposite Richard Chamberlain in the Broadway and European productions of My Fair Lady. She played Christine in the German production of Phantom of the Opera and appeared as both Mother and Emma Goldman in the final tour of Ragtime. She was a principal actress in the film Fermat's Last Tango and may be heard on that show's cast recording. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Off-Broadway, and in theaters across the United States. At the New York Aquarium, Edwardyne worked with dolphins and beluga whales where she learned the art of operant conditioning and the importance of positive reinforcement in all training situations. Edwardyne graduated magna cum laude with a double major in Mathematics and Political Science from the College of New Rochelle. She lives in NYC with her husband, director Tim Bennett, and their twin daughters.
 GRETA
COWAN is a senior facilitator and executive coach.
She has facilitated leadership-development workshops for companies
such as American Express, Revlon, General Electric, Capital
One and JPMorgan Chase. She brings a dynamic blend of humor,
compassion, honesty and rigor to her work with business professionals—helping
them to expand their presence and become more authentic, inspirational
leaders. Greta teaches and lectures at Columbia Business School,
under the auspices of the Executive Education and Executive
MBA Departments, and the Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.
She has worked nationwide and abroad with a wide variety of
executives from both the corporate and non-profit sectors.
She was a member of the Boston-based Guilty Children Improv
Company for five years and toured with Guilty Children to
theatres, clubs and colleges nationwide. Greta has taught
improvisation to professional actors, non-professional adults
and children. In 1986 she performed in Robert Wilson’s
Alcestes at The American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and at The Festival D’Automne in Paris,
France. Greta’s film credits include the female lead
in the independent feature The Imported Bridegroom,
directed by Pamela Berger. Greta holds a B.F.A. in acting
from Emerson College.
 NAN
CRAWFORD has a diverse background in performing,
directing, training and facilitation. For more than 15 years,
Nan has helped pioneer the integration of workplace wisdom
drawn from the arts. Cultivating leadership, innovation, collaboration
and communication, she leverages strengths to increase productivity.
Nan delivers dynamic presentations and experiential training
that help individuals and organizations thrive. Her work aligns
actions with values and builds sustainable relationships of
trust and respect. Her creative approach as both a trainer
and a keynote speaker is sought after by such clients as AAA,
Hewlett Packard, IBM, Inc. magazine, Office Depot,
Target and UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Business. Nan
has been featured in Fast Company, Training
magazine, the New York Times and the book Orchestrating
Collaboration at Work.
Nan is the Founder and Artistic Director of the improvisational
ensemble Pacific Playback Theatre, based in San Francisco.
Playback Theatre is an interactive improvisational format
designed to build bridges of understanding by celebrating
the universality of our stories. The theatre's goal is to
illuminate diverse perspectives and discover common ground
through creative expression. In addition to being a director
and choreographer, Nan is an accomplished actor as well. Favorite
roles include Desdemona in Othello and Kate Nickleby
in Nicholas Nickleby with Compass Theatre Company in
Denver, Maria in Vaclav Havel's The Memorandum and
Pompey in Measure for Measure with Contemporary Shakespeare
Co. in San Francisco.
Nan Crawford is a cum laude graduate of The University of
Texas, with a B.F.A. in theatre, and holds an M.A. in organization
development & transformation from the California Institute
of Integral Studies.
 BYRON
DARDEN is an Affiliate for The Ariel Group
with a background in professional theater, in addition to
being an accomplished skating coach. He has conducted leadership
development programs for organizations such as Booz Allen
Hamilton, Harvard Business School, CVS, Praxair Gases, American
Express, AT&T, Staples, Capital One and the Executive
Education program at Columbia University Business School.
He has coached and trained professional coaches, athletes
and officials in addition to having extensive experience delivering
leadership seminars and consulting in the public and private
sector.
Byron continues a thriving professional career as an actor.
He has honed his craft in the performing arts, focused mainly
in musical theater and television, where has appeared in the
series "Against the Law" with Rita Moreno. Byron
continues to work as an actor with a concentration on voice-overs,
corporate training and industrial video.
Byron is a former columnist and continues to write articles
in industry publications and develop educational programs
for coaches and athletes. He is a member of Actor’s
Equity Association and the Professional Skaters Association,
where he served on the Education Committee.
 PAUL
GIRAGOS brings warmth, humor, directness, and corporate experience to his work as a facilitator and coach. He has traveled the world facilitating Ariel Group workshops for American Express, Royal Bank of Scotland, Booz Allen Hamilton, Merrill Lynch, Tufts University, and others. He has also taught in executive education programs with the business schools at Harvard, Duke (Fuqua), and Northwestern (Kellogg).
A 1997 cum laude graduate of New York University School of Law, Paul practiced law at Kirkland and Ellis in New York and at Fish & Richardson in Boston. Highlights of his legal career include appearing before permitting boards on behalf of developer clients, going to trial in federal court for consumers defrauded by a pyramid scheme, and helping two brothers from Kosovo gain asylum in the United States. Paul has ceased active practice, spending his time leading workshops for Ariel and acting. He also leads team-building programs to groups of 30 to 300.
Paul is a regular in Boston’s professional theater scene. Recent roles include Oscar D’Armano in The Wild Party and Harry Houdini in Ragtime, both at New Repertory Theatre; LeFou in Beauty and the Beast at Reagle Players; and Fuentes in Kiss of the Spiderwoman at Speakeasy Stage. He performed, improvised, and original written sketches with South City Theatre for two seasons. His voice-over work is featured in numerous recordings for Houghton Mifflin and Thomson Learning. He is also the host of the Medical Economics magazine podcast.
JOEL GLUCK is a Design
Coordinator and Affiliate for The Ariel Group. He
was the first affiliate selected to lead The Ariel Group’s
theater-based workshops in leadership communication, beginning
in 1994. Since then, Joel has partnered with The Ariel Group
as a trainer, coach, program designer and consultant, serving
leading organizations throughout the world, including General
Electric, Deloitte & Touche, The Chubb Group, Société
Générale and The Federal Reserve. Joel has also
provided services for top consulting firms, city and state
agencies, not-for-profits and educational institutions including
MIT, Columbia University Executive Education, the Kellogg
School of Management at Northwestern University and Boston
University.
Prior to his work in executive education, Joel was the sole
proprietor of a successful software consulting firm, providing
services for the Putnam Companies, E.F. Hutton, Security Pacific
Merchant Bank, Recording for the Blind and other organizations.
Joel holds a degree in Literature and Writing from Columbia
University, and is a graduate of the two-year intensive acting,
directing and play writing program at Trinity Rep Conservatory
in Providence, RI. He has directed and performed in professional
theater productions throughout North America and is currently
completing a master’s degree in education, specializing
in drama therapy.
 AMY
GOLDFARB is a skilled facilitator, trainer, coach
and instructional designer who has been facilitating experiential
workshops for business and non-profit leaders for over ten
years. She has delivered programs in teambuilding, leadership
development, presentation skills, coaching and communication
skills with clients such as Capital One, Merrill Lynch, Boston
Consulting Group, The Federal Reserve, GE, KPMG, Booz Allen
and Fidelity.
Amy is an accomplished improv actor and teacher, and has
taught improvisational theater both in Boston and on the North
Shore of Massachusetts. While traveling in South America,
Amy began using theater techniques to teach English as a Second
Language to business executives at the Harvard Institute of
English in Quito, Ecuador.
She has studied improvisational theater for fifteen years
and has performed with troupes such as Guilty Children and
Pilgrim Theater Research and Performance Collaborative. Most
recently Amy has been working in commercial theater doing
voice-overs for radio and television advertising. She is a
member of both the Screen Actor’s Guild and the American
Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Amy studied Comparative Literature and received a B.A. from
SUNY New Paltz and later received her master’s degree
in social work from Simmons College. She uses her study of
human behavior and the effect of the systems in which they
function to help her understand how an individual is affected
by his or her work environment.
 RON
GOLDMAN is an Affiliate at The Ariel Group,
a psychologist and a management consultant. For The Ariel
Group, he has conducted leadership development programs for
organizations such as Mercer Management, Putnam Investments,
General Electric, American Express and Hildebrandt International.
He helps organizations and individuals better fulfill their
potential by developing emotional intelligence and greater
understanding of group dynamics. Prior to establishing his
own business, for many years Ron held a senior management
position at Boston University, where he worked in faculty
and staff development, recruiting, marketing and grant writing.
Ron has been teaching for over thirty years. He has taught
at Boston University's College of Communication and Lesley
College's Creative Arts in Education program. He is currently
a Professor of General Education at Berklee College of Music
where he teaches Effective Communication and a theater workshop.
Ron’s acting experience includes award-winning public
radio plays and dramatic readings. He has trained with Shakespeare
and Company to broaden his range. Recently, he co-wrote (with
Marjorie Zohn) a one-person play that he has performed in
Boston and New Mexico. He has an Ed.D. from the University
of Massachusetts in humanistic education and Psychology, an
M.A. from Fordham University in international relations and
a B.A. from Hunter College in speech and drama, political
science and history.
 HARVEY
GREENBERG, Affiliate at The Ariel Group,
is an innovative, thoughtful and experienced business leader,
executive coach and consultant committed to creating effective
workplaces. He has facilitated workshops in Capital One, the
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the National Association
of Chain Drug Stores. His more than 20 years of operations
experience in technology and manufacturing senior management,
coupled with 15 years in training and development, organization
development, employee relations and senior Human Resources
management, has equipped him with a pragmatic, realistic approach
to solving business problems from the human and organizational
perspectives. His work with individual leaders and teams focuses
on assuring alignment of organizational objectives, clear
organizational structures and responsibilities, appropriate
systems and processes and productive, results-driven interpersonal
relationships.
An actor with many roles to his credit, Harvey draws on his
theater experience to make both the classroom experience and
individual coaching sessions more interactive, alive and effective
for clients. He holds a B.S. in engineering from Rochester
Institute of Technology, an MBA from Boston University and
an M.S. in human resource development from American University.
LORRAINE GROSSLIGHT is
a performer, director, educator and coach who delights in
the art of improvisation, creating original works and helping
others be more fully expressive and engaging. She brings to
The Ariel Group over 15 years of teaching experience in theater
arts at establishments including The Boston Conservatory,
Emerson College, New Theater Conservatory and The Shantigar
Foundation. She was previously employed by Digital Equipment
Corporation as a trainer until returning to post-graduate
study and a research position in human development at Harvard
University. Lorraine has facilitated programs for Merrill
Lynch, Columbia Business School and American Express, among
other clients.
Her background includes numerous leading stage roles and
collaborative productions, writing, touring with comedy troupes
and creating shows with physically disabled youth. She is
an original and current member of The International Action
Theater Ensemble, a group dedicated to the art of compelling
physical, vocal and narrative improvisation. She also performs
with True Story Theater, spontaneously translating audience
stories into stage for the purpose of broadening community
and deepening connections.
Lorraine has always enjoyed the "right-left" balance
of artistic and analytic pursuits and holds a B.A. in mathematics
and a master's degree in education. She continues to be fascinated
by concept formation, cognition and emotion, and their relation
to action.
 DONNA
HALEY is a facilitator, corporate trainer and coach
and has conducted leadership programs for General Electric,
Deloitte Consulting, American Express, Merrill Lynch, Harvard
Executive Education, Royal Bank of Scotland, and US government
agencies. As Director of her own acting school in New York
for the past ten years, she has developed courses in voice,
movement, improvisation, character building, writing, and
self-confidence and creative growth. Based on her training
in the classics and improvisational theater, Donna has helped
hundreds of individuals—from actors and composers to
company executives, doctors, lawyers and political leaders—strengthen
their creativity using communication skills.
Donna is an accomplished Broadway, television and film actress
and has had the pleasure of working with Neil Simon, Mike
Nichols and Arthur Miller, among others. Her Broadway credits include Blanche
in Brighton Beach Memoirs and Frankie in Frankie
and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. She is a member of the
award winning Off-Broadway company MCC Theater in New York
and has performed the classics extensively, particularly Shakespeare,
in prominent theaters across the country. She has also been
seen on many soap operas and commercials and has had a running
role on "Law and Order," as well as playing with
Vanessa Redgrave in the film Playing for Time. She is also
the creator and Director of Jabberwalk, her Improvisation
Theater Company in New York.
Donna is an award-winning painter whose work can be seen
in galleries and private collections in the US and Canada.
She is a member of Actor’s Equity, Screen Actors Guild
and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Donna holds a B.A. from Clarke College and graduate degrees
from both the Universities of Michigan and Minnesota, where
she also taught acting. She lives with her two daughters,
Haley and Sarah, in Warwick, New York.
 DAVID HALL is based in London. For more than 15 years he has been working in the spheres of teaching, acting, voice-over, presenting, and story-telling. He brings extensive knowledge, passion, and experience to his work.
In industry he has worked as a facilitator and role player with British Telecom, Accenture, Vodafone, Marriott, Pearson, Barclays, the Ministry of Defence, TGI Fridays, and many more. He has also facilitated diversity training courses for the RAF, Hospital Trusts, and police services across Britain.
As an actor David trained at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theater School. He has performed in theaters across Britain and beyond, including Shakespeare's Globe, the Young Vic, and in London's West End. He frequently tours with his inspirational and educational one-man shows on Sir Isaac Newton and IK Brunel. His TV, film and commercial credits include Toyota, Midland Mainline, the British soap EastEnders, and Tales From the Crypt. David has extensive experience in Shakespeare. He has worked with the innovative Trestle Mask Theater and was a member of the Original Shakespeare Company.
David has an honors degree in Chemistry and Psychology from Durham University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Exeter University.
 LEILANI RASHIDA HENRY, M.A. and licensed Educational Kinesiologist is a demonstrated thought leader in the field of Organizational Development, as cited in national publications and organizations such as the Fetzer Institute and new visions in business. Her experiential processes bring excitement and lightening-speed results to tough personal, leadership and organizational challenges such as workplace burnout, communication and creativity. Fast Company named Leilani as RealTime Model and Mentor, and she is also the recipient of a fellowship for her work in dialogue and facilitation at Regis University’s Institute on the Common Good.
Former director of training and development with Jones Intercable and sr. organizational development specialist at Honeywell and Lockheed Martin, her work has ignited transformation at organizations such as AT&T, Ariel Group, Colorado University, HP, HBO, Intuit, Kraft Foods, Lucent Technologies, Seagate, University of North Carolina, Rockefeller Foundation, Time Warner, and the federal government. A powerful designer and facilitator in any field of excellence, Leilani has assisted talented leaders from opera singers to corporate executives to social activists on their success journey.
Leilani is Founder and Director of National Playback Theatre. Her ensemble puts a new face on leadership development by using improvisation to build bridges between people with different perspectives and experiences. Her lifetime experience in musical theater and as a professional dancer is integrated into her unique approach to innovation, leadership, and performance. She is a host for Connections on KGNU.org, a highly regarded community radio station in Boulder, CO.
 MELODIE
HICKS is a senior corporate trainer and executive
coach. Over the last eight years she has designed and delivered
programs in communication and leadership skills for organizations
such as Harvard Business School, Deloitte Consulting, Merrill
Lynch, KPMG, Heidrick & Struggles, Cisco Systems, The
Royal Bank of Scotland and the National Science Foundation.
Within that time she has trained and coached approximately
two thousand associates and associate partners at management
consulting firms.
Before working as a corporate trainer, Melodie worked for
Harvard University, producing science education videos. The
project, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution and
the Annenberg Corporation for Public Broadcasting, received
awards in broadcasting and education from the International
Film and Video Foundation.
During Melodie’s career, she has worked extensively
in the theatre to integrate the arts into the traditional
academic curriculum. She received a Rockefeller Foundation
Fellowship for her work in integrating the arts and technology
into science education.
Melodie has worked extensively in theatre as an actress and
director. She has played roles such as Gertrude in Hamlet,
Belle in Beauty and the Beast and The Elvin Queen in
The Hobbit. She has also appeared in television commercials
and films such as The Witches of Eastwick. Melodie
founded the Belmont Children’s Theatre in Massachusetts
and conducted numerous Theatre-Artist-in-Residence programs.
Melodie holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard
University.
 CAROLYN
HOLLAND is a senior corporate trainer and executive coach who combines business experience with professional theater training. She spent seven years at Morgan Stanley, where she facilitated meetings of senior managers and developed and delivered a software implementation program. She has facilitated programs for leaders at American Express, Booz Allen, General Electric, and Merrill Lynch, and has led workshops at the Executive Education Programs at Harvard, Duke, and Columbia business schools. She developed and taught the Introduction to Improvisation Workshop at the Eastern States Theatre Association Festival in Rome, NY, and has been involved in several presentation workshops around the globe.
Carolyn’s professional acting training includes schools in Boston and the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Her favorite stage credits include Agnes of God and The Dining Room. She has several years’ experience in comedy improvisation as a longstanding member of the Wingnuts and a regular cast member of The Sunday Night Jam, also in NYC. She has performed improv at private parties, done role plays for educational workshops and has appeared in a number of independent films. She spent a semester in French Studies in Paris and holds a BS in Physics from Tufts University. She currently makes her home in Cambridge, Mass.
 STEVEN
HOLT consults in a variety of roles to individuals,
groups, organizations and corporations to build capacity,
improve performance and effectiveness and meet or exceed goals
and objectives. With a results-oriented approach, he provides
services in leadership, management and team development, as
well as organizational development, strategic planning, project
and change management, and executive coaching.
Steven has served as Senior Consultant, Workforce Effectiveness
Group, BankBoston, and as Senior Human Resource Consultant,
Learning and Development, FleetBoston Financial. He has worked
with individual clients, teams, companies and organizations,
including American Cancer Society, AstraZeneca, Bentley College,
Capital One, Genzyme, Harvard
Business Review, MIT Sloan School of Management, Pfizer, SkillSoft, Union of Concerned
Scientists, Velcro, American Express, Boston Consulting Group, Hearst, Volkswagen of North America and Wellesley
College.
Steven has acted and directed professionally, including work
in the Upstate Repertory Company (Rochester, NY). He studied
mime with Tony Montanaro at the Celebration Mime Theater
and improvisation with Martin deMaat from Second City and
co-created a theater company focused on improvisational theater
for children and young adults. He mostly recently appeared
in the Blue Sky Theater’s production of The Laramie
Project.
Steven received his undergraduate degree in psychology from
the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY). Steven lives
in coastal Maine, where he is also an avid gardener and
an accomplished photographer.
 JEFFREY
KORN is an accomplished business consultant and
has been an Affiliate for The Ariel Group for seven
years. He has conducted Ariel senior executive programs for
corporations such as General Electric, the Boston Consulting
Group and Bausch & Lomb, as well as for American Express.
He has also taught leadership development at the Harvard Business
School and the Columbia Business School’s Senior Executive
Program. Jeff has owned and managed successful design firms
in New York and Boston with such clients as Time Life Pictures,
AT&T and Pepsi, and has provided Internet design for Barnes&Noble.com
and everbank.com.
Jeff is also an accomplished actor and performer. He has
performed off-Broadway in New York City and around the world
from Russia to South Africa to Western Europe. He has been
pleased to share the stage and screen with such fine performers
as Gregory Hines, Sally Field, Cher, Ben Vereen, Glenn Close,
Bob Newhart and Paula Poundstone, and has appeared as a repeat
guest performer on "Late Night with David Letterman"
on CBS. Jeff was trained in London (BADA, Royal Academy of
Music), and holds an honors degree in Psychology from Harvard.
He has trained with Juilliard at the Saratoga Performing Arts
Center, at the Eugene O’Neill Center and at the Eastman
School of Music.
 SHARON LECKIE is a teacher, business professional, theater director, and actor. She works in Organizational Development and Effectiveness with particular focus on employee engagement programming. She has also worked as a program facilitator with clients such as Harvard Executive Education, the Sloane Fellows at Beth Israel Deaconess, Columbia Corporate Education, Jack Morton, WGBH, and Medtronic.
Sharon has performed in improvised comedy theater in Boston, New York, and Chicago, in plays at the Boston Center for the Arts, and in film. The most recent independent film she appeared in was shown at Harvard University as part of the Turkish film festival. Sharon recently received artist certification from the city of Boston in recognition of a three-year body of performance and written work. She has taught and directed throughout Boston; she is a guest director at Newton South’s Southstage, an award-winning theater program in Boston, and regularly teaches at ImprovBoston Theater.
Sharon heralds as an expatriate of the UK, has lived and loved in Australia, and currently lives with an alarmingly intelligent Jack Russell terrier in Boston. She is currently pursuing Negotiations Management and Organizational Development at Harvard.
RASHERYL MCCREARY is
an experienced corporate trainer, a nationally recognized
educator and a critically acclaimed theater artist. As a corporate
trainer, Rasheryl has over 15 years of experience. She has
designed and taught training programs in the areas of public
speaking, leadership, and performance techniques for lawyers
and business professionals. Clients have included National
City Bank, Community Shares, Southwest General Health Center,
M&T Bank, the Department of Defense Accounting System
(DFAS) and Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
As an educator, Rasheryl has been featured on National Public
Radio as the founding director of a project which develops
educational and cultural programs for young people, using
theater and oral history as a tool to address social issues.
As a performer, Rasheryl is an award-winning actress, having
appeared in television and film and on stage in New York,
Los Angeles and Cleveland. She is a three-time nominee for
and 2001 recipient of the Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement.
Highlights of Cleveland stage credits include the world premiere
of Forest City and The Amen Corner (Cleveland
Play House), In the Blood and TRUTH (Dobama
Theatre), and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
and SCAT! (Playhouse Square and Cain Park).
Rasheryl is a graduate of Hathaway Brown School and has studied
extensively at New York University. She has a B.A. from Case
Western Reserve University and is also a 2004 graduate of
the Artist as Entrepreneur Institute, created by COSE and
the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture. In 2005 Rasheryl
was named an American Marshall Memorial Fellow. She is the
first artist ever selected for this prestigious international
fellowship, whose focus in on foreign policy and developing
transatlantic relationships.
 LARRY
MCCULLOUGH brings over 25 years of organization
consulting experience to his work with The Ariel Group. His
consulting work has focused on leadership and management development,
sales and service training, change management and business
process improvement. In his career he has worked with Fortune
500 companies as well as governmental, non-profit and international
organizations. His clients have included AT&T, Boston Gas,
DuPont/DuPont Mexico, Fidelity Investments, GE, Hewlett-Packard,
KPMG, Lotus, MIT, MTU/Deutsch Aerospace, Prudential, Polaroid,
Sara Lee/Douwe Egbert, State Street Boston Corp., Traveler's,
U.S. Postal Service and Verizon. He has a special interest
in using organization skills to support business leaders and
corporations in addressing issues of concern to the global
community.
Early in his career, Larry studied dance and improvisational
theater in New York. He eventually formed a small experimental
dance theater company, the Performing Arts Circle, in Toronto
that performed in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. During this
time he taught dance and theater improvisation at six Canadian
universities and led numerous theater and dance workshops
in the U.S.
Larry holds a doctoral degree in behavioral sciences, focusing
on the arts, human development and adult learning, from the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In addition to his
work with The Ariel Group, Larry has recently completed renovations
on a 200-year-old farmhouse and two barns at Pinetree Farm
in Eliot, Maine. There he continues his dance and theater
work and sponsors workshops in adult development which use
the arts as an integrative medium.
 PATRICIA
MULHOLLAND has been an affiliate with The Ariel
Group since 1993. She has conducted leadership development
programs for clients such as AT&T, Deloitte & Touche,
General Electric, Praxair Gases, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tom’s
of Maine, M.I.T., Société Générale,
The Federal Reserve and the Executive Education Programs at
Northwestern and Columbia Universities.
Patricia has a background which includes management, teaching,
curriculum design and theater performance. She holds a master
of arts degree in performance studies from Northwestern University
and has trained extensively with the Roy Hart Theatre in France.
She has presented several voice workshops through the Women
in Management Conference in Portland, Maine, and is also adjunct
faculty at Maine College of Art. She has performed widely
in southern Maine, including an original one-woman show,
Emily Dickinson: The Woman, The Poet, and appeared as
Alice James in Susan Sontag’s esoteric play Alice
In Bed, a production for which she received a special
project grant from The Maine Arts Commission. She may be heard
on the audio book I Only Say This Because I Love You,
by Deborah Tannen. In addition to her work with The Ariel
Group, she is affiliated with The Saltwater Institute in Portland,
Maine. She also has a consulting practice coaching individuals
in voice and presentation preparation and delivery.
Patricia recently relocated to Boston from southern Maine.
She is the mother of two sons, who attend college in New York
City.
 KATE
NUGENT is a director, consultant, coach and teacher.
She has conducted leadership development programs for organizations
such as Revlon, General Electric, Deloitte Consulting and
Merrill Lynch. She has taught acting and improvisation for
over 10 years to youths and adults and has been a guest artist
at many universities and theaters, including UMass Amherst,
SUNY New Paltz, Boston University, Sonoma State University
and New World Theater.
As an actor, Kate has performed at WOW Café and the
Public Theater in New York, Chicago’s Organic Lab Theater
and the Boston Baked Theater. She is the recipient of a Rod
Parker Playwriting Award; her plays and collaborations have
been featured at the Boston Women on Top Theater Festival
and the New York and Philadelphia Fringe Festivals. She has
appeared in several educational films for PBS. She holds an
M.A. in theater education from Emerson College.
 JENN
PINA is an actor, director, acting teacher and
corporate trainer. She currently facilitates programs in leadership
presence for clients including American Express, General Electric,
Shell Corporation, Revlon and the Columbia Business School
Executive Education Program. She has designed and led workshops
for adults and teens using theatre-based exercises to build
presence, communication, conflict resolution, violence prevention
and teambuilding skills.
As an actor and director, Jenn is passionate about creating
new work and has premiered numerous plays around the United
States. Jenn has taught theatre extensively to students of
all ages. She has designed and delivered programs empowering
educators to use theatre to support classroom curricula and
address social issues.
Jenn studied at New York University in the Tisch School of
the Arts’ Experimental Theatre Wing. She graduated from
Boston College with a degree in economics. A member of Actors’
Equity Association, she lives in Hull, Massachusetts with
her husband, Mark, and their children.
 CLEO
PIZANA has been conducting training in various
capacities for over 10 years. He has facilitated leadership
programs for senior executives at organizations such as Deloitte
Consulting, Merrill Lynch, American Express and the Executive
Education program at Columbia University Business School.
He began training volunteers in 1985, as the Assistant Director
for the United Network Ministries in Boston, Massachusetts,
and has continued training and facilitating organizations
in areas ranging from business development to on-camera acting
techniques.
Cleo has also been working in the environmental field for
the last 13 years while staying active as a professional actor
in the Washington, D.C., area. He has appeared in national
commercials, corporate training films, and various theatre
productions in the D.C. area, such as Shear Madness
at the Kennedy Center. He has also appeared in television
shows such as “Spenser: for Hire,” “Homicide:
Life on the Streets” and HBO’s “The Corner.”
Cleo received his B.S. in mass communications from the Boston
University School of Public Communications and his M.S. in
environmental science and management from the Tufts University
School of Civil Engineering.
 ELSA POWEL is a singer, coach, project coordinator, and research consultant. She integrates her wide variety of experience to create a dynamic, engaging and rigorous approach to leadership development.
Passionate about music, she has been performing and studying opera and cabaret for more than 10 years. Her career includes performances in Carmen, Madame Butterfly, and The Gondoliers with Opera Providence. Aware of the power that music has to affect us deeply, Elsa uses singing to provide life review therapy for senior citizens with memory loss and Alzheimer's disease and teaches therapeutic breath release work. She is an active member of the board of directors of the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists. Throughout her performance career, her purpose has been to stir the hearts and imaginations of her audiences. She now brings this intention into the classroom to coach executives and managers how to connect with their teams and clients.
As a project coordinator for an international engineering firm and as an independent researcher, Elsa's work has included: coordination of the USTDA-sponsored Post- Disaster Financing conference in Bangkok, Thailand (a workshop designed for the countries hit by the 2004 tsunami), consulting to Tufts New England Medical Center on data analysis for a study on IV drug use patterns, and collaboration with the Indian Medical Association Blood Bank in Kerala, India to promote and deliver HIV prevention seminars.
Out of her desire to preserve and support the health of the planet, Elsa volunteers for the Pachamama Alliance as a facilitator of a multimedia symposium on the interconnection of environmental sustainability, social justice, and psycho-spiritual fulfillment. Elsa graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University with a BA in Community Health.
 KENNY
RASKIN has been an associate of The Ariel Group
since 1998, and has facilitated executive training workshops
for such diverse companies as Deloitte and Touche, General
Electric, American Express, Société Générale,
Boston Consulting Group and Capital One, as well as the business
schools of Columbia University, Northwestern University and
Harvard University. He has been an accomplished actor and
teacher for over fifteen years, serving on the faculties at
Boston University, New York University, University of Nevada,
Las Vegas, and Emory University. He has also appeared in over
eleven films and countless commercials, corporate and industrial
training films and live shows.
Kenny continues to work as an actor and has made a name for
himself as one of the leading physical comedy performers in
the United States. He starred as the lead clown, Monsieur
Everyman, in Cirque du Soleil's critically acclaimed production
of Nouvelle Experience, and he spent two-and-one-half
years on Broadway as Lefou in Disney's musical Beauty and
the Beast, a role that he originated. Kenny holds a degree
in American studies from Brandeis University.
ARCHIE ROBERTS is a consultant
to business leaders around the world in the areas of organizational
change and development, leadership team performance and appreciative
inquiry. Clients have included American Express, General Electric,
KPMG, Capital One, Guidant, the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States
and others. A graduate of MIT, published poet and former actor,
he brings a unique blend of rigorous science, creative imagination
and dedicated humanism to his work as a coach and consultant.
Archie is on the adjunct faculty in the Graduate Program
in Holistic Counseling at Salve Regina University, and at
Cambridge College. He has been invited to present his work
to audiences at The Esalen Institute, The Boston Globe, MIT
and other organizations around the world.
He studied acting with Uta Hagen, Terry Schreiber and Adrian
Hall. He appeared in regional theatre, off-Broadway and television,
and has written about the lineage that connects European theatre
with the Gestalt school. He earned his undergraduate degree
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his master’s
degree in counseling psychology from Lesley College.
 MARA SIDMORE is an actor, teacher, consultant, and coach. She has more than ten years’ experience training leaders of all ages in corporate, non-profit, and educational settings. Mara has created theater-related workshops and curriculum for both young people and adults to develop presence, self-awareness, communication, teambuilding skills, and conflict resolution. Recent clients include the Bok Center for Teaching & Learning at Harvard University and WGBH-TV.
An accomplished Boston-based stage actor, Mara has performed at the American Repertory Theater, the Huntington Theater Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Moscow Art Theater, and Boston TheaterWorks, among others. She has been on the theater faculty of a wide variety of schools, universities, and theater companies.
Mara holds a degree in Education and English from Gordon College and received an MFA in Acting from the Moscow Art Theater School/American Repertory Theater’s Institute for Advanced Theater Training in residence at Harvard University. She has also studied theater at Northwestern University, Shakespeare & Company, and Yale University. She resides with her husband
in Boston.
 MAGGIE STEIG is a performer, educator,
and business professional in the field
of corporate events. With 20 years' experience selling creative ideas to corporate clients, Maggie greatly enjoys helping others to present an idea concisely and with impact. She has worked extensively with the international organization YPO, a group of CEOs who hold events for idea and information exchange. Other event clients include: Lego Corp., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, International Data Group, and the American Institute
of Architects.
Her performing background is grounded in improvisational comedy. She performed with ImprovBoston and co-founded the beloved Boston troupe Guilty Children in 1983. Maggie toured award-winning shows throughout New England on the topics of chemical dependency, domestic violence, and racism with Performers Ensemble. A favorite stage role was Frieda from Athol Fugard's Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act.
Maggie has taught improvisation and acting to adults and children and brings the joy of spontaneity to her work. She was drama coach for the national television show Zoom in 2004. Maggie graduated summa cum laude from Boston University with a BFA in Metalsmithing, winning the prestigious Royal Society of Arts award. She is a member of Actors' Equity, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
 CARA STONER is a dedicated facilitator, actor, and executive coach with an extensive background in theater, business, and communications. She has delivered programs in leadership development, presentation skills, organization, action writing, and meeting management for Fortune 500 companies nationwide.
Her executive training dates back to 1995 when she developed, implemented, and managed a training program for more than eleven indirect sales channels on Nextel's new digital network. Prior to this she enjoyed success as an outside sales representative for the company. When she relocated to New
York City in 1998, she gained valuable marketing experience with the Estee Lauder Companies where she developed and implemented new processes
for development of all new "Gift With Purchase" programs.
She has enjoyed success as an actress in theater, film, and television for more than 17 years. She has appeared Off-Broadway and has numerous regional credits to her name. She has extensive film, television, and commercial credits. Her acting work has allowed her to travel extensively within the United States as well abroad. Her most recent film, End of the Spear, appeared in theaters nationwide in 2006. She holds bachelor's degrees in Theater and Speech Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
 ANJA
STRUCHHOLZ is a facilitator, trainer and coach
based in Hamburg, Germany. Over the last 10 years, Anja has
delivered programs in leadership development, presentation
skills and communication for companies in the United States
and in Europe, including AT&T, Pacific Bell, Société
Générale, Boston Consulting Group, American
Express, Capital One, Cadbury/Schweppes and Mercer. She has
also coached business professionals and non-profit leaders
throughout Europe, focusing on presence and presentation skills.
Anja studied dance, movement, theatre and voice with master
teachers from the U.S. and Europe. She trained extensively
with the Roy Hart Theatre of the Voice, France, and has performed
in dance and theatre projects in Germany, France and the US.
As a teacher, Anja has over 15 years of experience instructing
students of all ages in her own approach to Movement, Voice
and Acting.
Anja holds a masters of education degree from the University
of Hamburg and an additional master's degree in theatre from
Lesley College in Cambridge, MA. The focus of her academic
studies and ongoing research is the impact of theatre arts
on the development of self esteem and personal growth. She
has taught at The University of San Francisco, The University
of Vancouver, Lesley College, The University of Hamburg and
the State Academy for Cultural Education in Wolfenbüttel,
Germany.
As a wife and mother of two young girls, Anja is a perpetual
student of the art of work/life balance, and is especially
interested in how the skills of the performing artist apply
to this modern-day high-wire act.
 JOHANNES THERON is a
professional theatre director, actor and educator. He has
delivered executive education programs in Europe, the United
States and the Middle East to a variety of multinational organizations
including Banque Nationale de Paris, Société
Générale, Royal Bank of Scotland, PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
Prudential, Renault, Dior, AT &T, Lucent Technology, Bayer
SA, Harvard Business School, Cadbury/Schweppes and American
Express. He has taught in universities and colleges in Europe,
the USA, Mexico, South Africa and Israel, and is a senior
teacher with the Roy Hart Theatre.
He has considerable experience in coaching not only actors
and artists, but individuals of many nationalities and from
all walks of life. He trained at the Webber Douglas Academy
in London and has worked in the theatre for more than thirty
years. He holds a degree in political science from the University
of Pretoria in South Africa. He is based in Paris and is fluent
in French, English and Dutch.
 TIM
VAN NESS is an actor, director, consultant, educator
and corporate trainer who has designed and led training programs
and unique processes for utilizing interactive improvisational
theatre as a tool for behavioral, cultural and transformational
change. He has done so with such innovative organizations
as IBM, Lucent Technologies, Harvard University, Merrill Lynch,
Bristol Myers-Squibb, State Farm Insurance and Liberty Mutual
Insurance. Tim has facilitated leadership development workshops
for The Ariel Group in organizations across diverse industries
including financial services, professional services and technology,
and facilitated senior executive education programs at premier
business schools.
Tim has extensive training and experience in improvisational
Playback Theatre and has been the director of three Playback
Theatre companies. He has taught acting and improvisation
to youths and adults for over 15 years, working with teens
from all backgrounds, including multicultural youth at risk
in various communities throughout Massachusetts, and used
improvisation to develop teen-written plays based on personal
experiences. As an actor Tim has been performing since he
was a child. He has worked professionally for the Hampshire
Shakespeare Company, the Pioneer Valley Summer Theatre and
in many plays and interactive scenarios for corporations,
hospitals and family businesses around the country. He has
also acted in corporate training films and worked as a voice-over
artist.
Besides his work in consulting and theatre, Tim is a classically
trained musician and accomplished singer, songwriter and performer.
Once a music teacher in the Boston Public Schools, he has
sung with highly acclaimed choruses on both U.S. coasts, including
the California Bach Society in San Francisco, the Back Bay
Chorale in Boston and the Cambridge Madrigal Singers in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and has toured numerous times throughout Europe.
 ROBERT
WALSH is an accomplished actor, director, manager,
executive coach and facilitator. He has led large group workshops
on “Shakespeare and Leadership,” as well as facilitated
Ariel programs in leadership presence in the United States,
Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has been coaching corporate
leaders for a number of years and has delivered leadership
programs at GE, IBM, Time Warner, The Brookings Institution,
American Express and Columbia Business School Executive Education
Program.
He is currently an Artistic Associate with the Actors' Shakespeare
Project, where he supervises the production aesthetic for the company.
He has also served as the Producing Artistic Director for the American Stage
Festival.Robert is an Artist-In-Residence on the theater
faculty at Brandeis University, Boston University and the
American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA. He has also been
a guest instructor at MIT, the University of Connecticut,
Purdue University, Boston University, The Riverside Shakespeare Company in
NYC and American Repertory Theatre, a professional company in residence at Harvard University.
Robert has appeared in off-Broadway premieres and regional
theatre productions all over the country. He has acted in
soap operas, corporate videos, commercials and such feature
films as Mystic River, State and Main, Amistad,
The Spanish Prisoner, Eight Men Out, In Dreams,
Evening and Turk 182! His professional directing
credits include Othello, Misalliance, The
Norman Conquests and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well
and Living in Paris. As a fight director, he has staged
fights for a tour of Romeo and Juliet, produced by
Joseph Papp, the pre-Broadway run of August Wilson’s
Seven Guitars and all of the major theatre companies
in New England. He had the distinct pleasure of directing
all of the on-field ceremonies for the 1999 All-Star Game
in Boston’s Fenway Park. Robert attended Denison University
and graduated from Ohio University, having majored in theater.
He earned his master of fine arts degree in directing from
Purdue University.
 NAT WARREN-WHITE is a management trainer, actor, teacher, and director. He currently designs and facilitates programs in areas such as leadership, presence, teambuilding, and coaching for corporate and not-for-profit clients around the world. His clients include Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, McKenzie & Co., BCG, Norsk Hydro, Société Générale, General Electric, Capital One, The Federal Reserve and the Senior Executive Programs at Columbia, Harvard and Northwestern Universities.
In the non-profit arena, Nat has most recently created drama therapy programs for the Suffolk County House of Correction, and at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged and the Wingate Nursing Home in Boston. He has extensive experience as a teacher and has instructed students in acting, movement and improvisation at Emerson College, College of the Atlantic, Lesley College, the Boston & New England Conservatories and with the Babson MBA Creativity Stream.
Nat is an eight-year veteran of Boston's long-running Shear Madness show and was a company member with the McCarter Theater and the Actors' Theatre of Louisville. He served as the Artistic Director of the Poets' Theater. Nat has appeared in hundreds of commercials, feature films, TV dramas, training films, live trade shows, and new product promotions. He has a degree in Theater from Wesleyan University and an M.A. in drama therapy from Lesley College. Nat is a member of Actors' Equity, SAG and AFTRA and is a Registered Drama Therapist.
 JUDI WILSON has been teaching voice, movement, and theater to individuals in business and education and to professional performing artists in the US, Europe, and Canada since 1994. Clients include Merrill Lynch and Boston Public Schools. She has taught privately, in conservatories (Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Aarhus Conservatory of Music), at universities (University of Delaware, Brandeis University), and with international theater and dance companies. Judi has been in the performing arts most of her life and has extensively studied many approaches in dance, theater, and voice. She holds a degree in Movement Therapy and has been an affiliate teacher at the Roy Hart International Voice Centre in Malerargues, France for more than ten years.
She has collaboratively written, choreographed, directed, and performed
in many original performances that have toured in Europe and the US with companies in France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, and the US. She is fluent in French.
 MARJORIE
ZOHN has coached executives in presence and communication
skills as well as taught acting, improvisation and Shakespeare
for the past 12 years. She has facilitated leadership development
workshops for The Ariel Group at organizations such as Boston
Consulting Group, GE, Deloitte Consulting, Mercer Management
and JPMorgan Chase. She has also guest-lectured and conducted
residencies at institutions including Emerson College, Boston
University, Brown University, Suffolk University and the Stone
Center at Wellesley College.
Marjorie has acted extensively, most notably with Shakespeare
& Company in Lenox, MA, under the direction of Tina Packer.
Roles there included Viola in Twelfth Night, Cressida
in Troilus and Cressida, and Audrey in As You Like
It. She has written and performed two one-woman shows
produced in Boston, as well as directed productions at Shakespeare
& Company and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She was a
performer at Anna Deveare Smith’s Institute on the Arts
and Civic Dialogue housed at the American Repertory Theatre
in Cambridge, MA.
In addition to her performing and teaching, Marjorie has
immensely enjoyed creating workshops and programs for a variety
of social service organizations, working with inner city teenagers,
children with emotional and learning difficulties, mentally-challenged
women and people with physical disabilities. Marjorie has
a degree in theatre arts from Brown University and is a member
of Actors Equity.
 DAVID
ZUCKER is a professional actor, author, director
and corporate facilitator who has delivered leadership programs
at corporations such as Deloitte Consulting, General Electric,
Merrill Lynch and American Express. In his other work, David
has conducted workshops and seminars in acting, creativity,
poetry, and T’ai Chi to Ernst & Young, IBM, Lotus
Development Corp, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell Bull, DEC and
the Harvard Pilgrim system of HMO’s.
As a director David has worked professionally in New York,
Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He
has directed and acted on stage with both David Morse and
Richard Gere. He is an international performer with over 300
performances a year, touring across the USA, in the UK and
also in Greece, where he performs and teaches each summer
on the island of Skyros. In 1996 he was honored with the National
Young Audiences Artist of the Year award. He has also created
original theatrical pieces for the Indian Hill Symphony Orchestra
and the Longwood Symphony. He has taught acting classes for
years in the greater Boston area as well as at the Boston
Rep Theatre, the Actor’s Workshop and Boston University.
He holds an M.F.A. from Brandeis University and is a member
of Actor's Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. |
Ariel
Group Founding Partner and co-author of Leadership Presence:
Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate, and Inspire,
BELLE LINDA HALPERN brings
the skills of a professional consultant, speaker, educator,
and singer/actress to her work. Belle has developed and delivered
leadership programs for executives in the US, Europe and Asia
for the past fifteen years. Her clients include Boston Consulting
Group, General Electric and American Express. She has been
featured in the New York Times, Fast Company,
the Boston Globe, Harvard Management Communication
Letter, and on CNBC. Belle has delivered keynote addresses
at the 2,000-person Greater Washington Society for Association
Executive’s Springtime Expo, the Friends of the Center
for Creative Leadership and Johnson & Johnson. She has
also spoken at Excellence in Government, the JPMorgan Chase
Women’s Conference, The American Society for Training
and Development and Linkage’s Women in Leadership Summit.
She has designed and delivered leadership workshops for the
Executive Education programs of Columbia Business School and
the Kellogg School of Management.
KATHY LUBAR, President
and Founding Partner of The Ariel Group and co-author of Leadership
Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate, and
Inspire, Kathy offers her clients the experiences of
a consultant, teacher, leader and actress. She has developed
and delivered a range of programs for some of the top names
in professional services and industry, such as Deloitte &
Touche, Société Générale, Computer
Sciences Corporation and Capital One. As an educator, Kathy
has worked with a wide variety of students, including business
professionals, lawyers, teachers, actors and women prisoners.
She has taught workshops at the Executive Education programs
of Columbia Business School and the Kellogg School of Management
as well as the Leadership Institute at Harvard Business School.
SEAN KAVANAGH has been
with The Ariel Group since 1999 when he joined the company
as director of business development. He was named CEO in January
2003, and his marketing and leadership influence has created
double-digit growth. He was instrumental in winning a publishing
contract from Gotham Books and contributed to the writing
of this book entitled Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques
to Reach Out, Motivate, and Inspire.
PAT
DOUGAN began her training career 14 years ago when
a New Hampshire State senate hopeful joined her professional
acting class to improve his public speaking skills. Since
then, Pat has designed, developed and delivered a range of
communication-skills workshops as well as individual coaching
for senior executives at clients such as the Executive Education
Programs at Columbia & Kellogg, Deloitte & Touche, LLP, Harvard
University, Fidelity Investments and Société
Générale.
RICHARD
RICHARDS has acquired deep and varied experiences in helping
people to realize their full potential. He has lived and worked
in the USA, Germany, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Hong
Kong, and acquired additional cross-cultural leadership, organizational
development, instructional design and facilitation skills
while leading teams in Australia, Korea, Israel, China, Mariana
Islands, Germany, Chile, Argentina and Mexico. As The Ariel
Group Director of Design, he holds the critical responsibility
of ensuring all of Ariel's work—programs, materials
and coaching—achieves the highest level of quality.
He works closely with The Ariel Group Leadership Team, Directors
of Client Relationships, designers, coaches and facilitators
to develop new offerings and maintain existing ones.
CHRISTOPHER
WEBB graduated with a degree in Psychology from New Hampshire and immediately traveled the Globe landing in Colorado to ski the Rocky Mountains. He came back to Boston and found passion in organizational and leadership development. For the last decade Chris has worked with global organizations including Fidelity, Coca-Cola, KPMG, Time Warner and Duke Corporate Education. 
MICHELE VITTI's arrival as director of Ariel Outreach is the result of a perfect confluence of vocational forces. For her, the mission of Outreach unifies a career spent most recently as a leadership development consultant with corporations, and formerly as an educator and counselor in the non-profit world. The professional experience Michele brings to Outreach is augmented by her passion for the arts, particularly art as it supports individuals' development.
CHRISTOPHER
von BAEYER is an actor, educator and consultant
who specializes in the integration of theatre and human development.
He has designed and delivered theater-based programming in
leadership, and professional communication for a wide spectrum
of clients across North America, Europe, the Middle East and
Asia. His corporate clients have included Merrill Lynch, Société
Générale, Lucent Technologies, Deloitte &
Touche, Sandia National Laboratories, the Boston Consulting
Group, and the Canadian government. Over the course of his
20-year career he has coached thousands of men and women in
the art of leadership presence, emotional intelligence, interpersonal
communication, Shakespeare and voice. He has taught at Emerson
College and Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts, the Kellogg
Graduate School of Management in Chicago, and the Columbia
University Senior Executive Program in New York. 
ROBERT
SALAFIA is a Director of Client Relations for The
Ariel Group. As an experienced corporate consultant and Ariel
Group facilitator, Rob has designed and led programs for a
wide range of clients including American Express, Merrill
Lynch, Harvard Business School Executive Education, Cadbury
Schweppes, Booz Allen Hamilton, NASA, ADT/Tyco and The Federal
Reserve. In addition, he has provided coaching to numerous
senior leadership teams in preparation for strategic presentations.
His enthusiastic and sincere approach gains client trust quickly,
creating conducive learning environments that achieve breakthrough
results.
TRISHA
FENNESSEY is the Operations Manager for The Ariel
Group. She began her career with The Ariel Group in 1996 as
a part-time administrative assistant.