The Story Collider is delighted to welcome several new team members this summer! As announced in April, Story Collider cofounder and longtime artistic director Erin Barker will assume the role of Executive Director starting today. In addition to this, our Managing Director, Marketing Manager, and Science Advisory Fellow will also be stepping into their newly created roles over the summer.
Managing Director Ann Marie Lonsdale comes to Story Collider from a deep background in nonprofit management and fundraising. She began her career as a performer, stage manager, and producer in theater and dance in Chicago and New York before her passion turned to supporting artists and arts organizations. Since then, she has worked as an administrator at Creative Capital, Center for Performance Research, and Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, among others. Ann Marie has also worked in the performing arts community as an educator, facilitator, grant panelist, and speaker, and is the founder of Partake Arts, a consulting practice focused on individual artists and artist-led projects. As Managing Director, Ann Marie will report to Executive Director, and will oversee The Story Collider’s finance, operations, and fundraising administration.
As Ann Marie begins her work at Story Collider this week, Deputy Director Nisse Greenberg’s title will become Program Director in order to better distinguish between their two roles.
Nakeysha Roberts Washington, who has been a Story Collider producer since 2019, joined the staff as our part-time marketing manager last month. In this role, Nakeysha manages Story Collider’s social media accounts as well as other marketing and outreach efforts. In her other work, Nakeysha is an educator, as well as the founder and creative director of Genre: Urban Arts, an inclusive, multimedia platform for artists.
Finally, our board has selected our inaugural Science Advisory Fellow! The Story Collider’s board created the two-year Story Collider Science Advisory Fellowship to bring a dedicated science seat back to the executive team of the organization for the first time since Barker’s co-founders, physicists Ben Lillie and Brian Wecht, stepped away from day-to-day management in 2015. Archaeologist Edith Gonzalez will assume this role in September. Edith is an Eccles Centre Fellow with the British Library and her current research is funded by the Society of Antiquaries. (A more detailed announcement on the fellowship will follow.)
The Story Collider also wishes to thank Interim Executive Director Leslie Griesbach Schultz for her guidance and mentorship over the past eight months. Her support has been invaluable, and we wish her well on her next adventure!