Board of Directors
Spellbound’s Board of Directors collaborates with the Oversight Committee on all decision making related to the budget, fundraising and artistic programming. The board is made up of artists on the Spellbound Ensemble. Contact our board at [email protected]
Janette Martinez is an arts administrator, facilitator, and multidisciplinary artist from the Bronx, New York. For over 10 years, Janette has built her career at the intersection of education and audience engagement, workforce development, and the employee experience. Most recently as the Head of Staff, Development, and Inclusion with Camp Arcadia, Janette redesigned the Human Resources department for the 100+ year old organization, overseeing staff recruitment, training and development, personnel management, and internal and external communications. She designed and launched the Arcadia BIPOC Fellowship, a program geared towards providing underrepresented outdoor education leaders with the resources and professional development to thrive in the outdoors industry. As a founding member of the management team at Little Island, Janette led the vision and development of the Employee Experience department in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Janette expanded the staff from 13-130 employees in 15 months while concurrently designing the organization’s systems for onboarding and development, workforce partnerships, employee engagement, and the total rewards and compensation strategy. Janette has delivered educational programs around the US with renowned arts and community-based organizations such as Disney Theatrical Group, New Victory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and DreamYard Project as a member of their education and community engagement teams. Currently, she is a Teaching Artist with Disney Theatrical Group, an Arthur Miller Foundation Mentor, and consulting on the development of the Student Services department and curriculum for Empire Training Center for the Arts. Janette has been the Board President for Spellbound Theatre since 2022, most notably facilitating the organization’s transition to a shared leadership model. Janette has a M.S in Educational Theatre from The City College of New York and is a proud alum of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts and LaGuardia High School of the Arts.
Emily Baldwin (she/her) is an artist, access worker, facilitator, and born-and-bred New Yorker currently based in London. Emily has been with Spellbound since 2016; before serving as Board Secretary she was the Family Engagement Manager and ensemble member through 2021. Emily has a BA in Theatre from Northwestern University and an MA in Applied Theatre from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She’s now a Creative Support Worker for Access All Areas Theatre, an art facilitator at the UCL Hospital, and producer of new queer theatre with Brooklyn Rep.
Jenn Bokoch (she/her) is a playwright, performer, educator, administrator, and storyteller. She has devoted her career to creating interview-based theater featuring underrepresented voices and utilizing various mediums such as puppetry, audio recordings, movement, and music. Her goal is to place real words, experiences, and stories onstage; both so that audiences can reflect upon them, and so that real people can see and hear themselves in a script. Jenn also has a special focus on centering stories of reproductive justice and birth equity in her work. Jenn was the Artistic Management Committee Chair at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood from 2014-2016. Her plays have been performed in New York and Los Angeles, with the support of organizations such as Dixon Place, The Center at West Park, Verbatim Performance Lab, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and The Network of Ensemble Theaters, among others. She currently works as an Arts Partnership Manager at Marquis Studios in Brooklyn, and as a practicing full-spectrum Doula. Previous positions include: working as a Teaching Artist through The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company in LA public schools; the Tenement Museum, where she led tours with a focus on real untold stories of the immigrant experience; at The Skirball Cultural Center, where she facilitated the Build A Better World program in partnership with local schools and community organizations; as the Arts Education Manager at St Nicks Alliance, where she hired, trained and placed Teaching Artists in Brooklyn public schools; and at the La Brea Tar Pits where she operated a life-sized Saber-Toothed Cat puppet built by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Jenn is proud to hold an MA in Educational Theatre from New York University, and draws from this experience to elevate voices from the community in her theatre praxis. As a performer, Jenn has worked as an actor onstage and in VO, voicing campaigns for Jergens, SmileCrafters, DSW, and numerous other commercials, PSAs, and audiobooks. She has also been a full-suit puppeteer for many years, including working as an original puppeteer for The Watcher from Sony Playstation’s Horizon Zero Dawn. Jenn is a former Parent Artist Space Grantee at BAX in Brooklyn; and has also received artist residencies at Subcircle, Millay Arts, The Omega Women’s Leadership Center, and more. Her greatest ongoing gig is that of being a Mom to her son Lawrence Matteo.
Khalia Davis Philp(she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in the creation of impactful and enriching new work for family audiences. Ms. Davis now serves as the new Producing Artistic Director of The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City. As a director and arts educator, she has worked on Broadway, off-Broadway and regionally with prominent theaters such as The Rose Theater in Omaha, A.C.T., First Stage, Atlantic Theater Company’s Atlantic for Kids, New York City Children’s Theater, Disney Theatrical Group, Spellbound Theatre and more. Before serving in her role as the former Artistic Director of Bay Area Children’s Theatre from 2020-2023, Ms. Davis was the Director of Inclusion and Education with Brooklyn Children’s Theatre restructuring their children’s musical theater programming through an anti-racism lens. She’s the founder of Kids at Heart Productions, a multimedia company devoted to telling stories that enrich the lives of young people and families. Proud board member for TYA/USA, Spellbound Theater, and The Story Pirates. BA in Theater Arts from the University of Southern California www.khaliadavis.com!
Sean B Geoghan is thrilled to be a member of the Spellbound board. Born and raised in New York City, Sean’s exposure to theatre from a young age launched him into a child acting career that included roles across stage, screen, and radio. Sean became more involved with Spellbound when he became a dad and experienced its programming with his son. He is committed to bringing accessible TFVYA programming to communities across the five boroughs and beyond. Sean works in technology operations for the Estée Lauder Companies and lives in Inwood with his family.
Renita James (she/they) Renita James is a TVY practitioner, director, facilitator, educator, and administrator based in New York. The ethos of their work centers reciprocal vulnerability, trust, and agency. She strives to create healing-centered spaces with and for youth. Renita has spent a decade working in the field of theatre for young audiences. They were a teaching artist fellow at Metro Theater Company where they had the opportunity to co-create Out of the Box, a theatre for the very young piece. Renita then worked in the Atlanta area as an arts administrator and TYA performer. In Atlanta she co-created an arts integration program called Stem on Stage. In this program teenagers taught local 5th graders about Electricity in an immersive world building experience. Renita attended the University of Texas at Austin receiving where they focused on Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities. During her tenure in graduate school Renita created performances which centered play and choice for young people. She co-created Opposites Abstract a museum theatre piece for young audiences based on the Opposites Abstract exhibit. This piece premiered at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Another co-created piece, Fishing for Stars, a theatre for the very young piece, will have its world premiere in 2026. Currently, Renita serves on the board of TYA/USA.
Jolene Noelle (she/her) is a Dramaturg and an Institutional Storyteller. She uses her dramatugical toolkit to examine small stories inside theatrical text, big stories told by institutions, and the stories that shape our collective artistic history. She has worked at theaters in Colorado, Texas, Maryland, and throughout New York. She previously managed Institutional Giving at the New Victory Theater and now for St. Ann's Warehouse. She lives in Queens with her twin toddlers. MFA, Columbia University.
Robert M. Thaxton-Stevenson (he/him) is a native New Yorker, raised in Greenwich Village and living in Brooklyn. He makes interactive theatre for all ages, works with young people in many settings, and designs for the stage. He has directed projects and work-in-progress showings at New Ohio Theater, New York Transit Museum, The New Victory Theater, Park Avenue Armory, Governors Island, and New York University. He is a company member with Atlantic Pacific Theatre, the Verbatim Performance Lab, and Spellbound Theatre. Robert is currently Drama Teacher & Technical Director at the Chapin School and has previously worked as a Teaching Artist at The New Victory Theater, Met Opera Guild, and New York Theater Workshop. He holds a BS and an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU.
Trae Q L Venerable a polymath entrepreneur in many streams. Loves bringing his projects to everyone he comes in contact with. Projects include his trademark brand MidWest CowPoke. His traditionally published children’s book series called “Grandpa I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy. “ Published photography from his life’s journey. Art with passion and a unique story for all to see. Lastly, his beloved entrepreneurial spirit with constantly new surfacing facets of the business.