SARAH BELLAMY - Associate Artistic Director - Education
Sarah has been leading the education and outreach initiatives for Penumbra Theatre since 2005. In that time, she has designed several programs that engage patrons in critical thinking, dialogue, and action around issues of race and social justice. Select programs include Penumbra's Race Workshop curated to accompany the Science Museum of Minnesota’s exhibit RACE: Are We So Different?, and the Summer Institute, a leadership development program for teens to practice art for social change. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Sarah holds an M.A. in the Humanities from The University of Chicago.

CLARIBEL GROSS – Community Outreach Coordinator
Claribel is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where she studied Theatre Arts with an emphasis on performance. She has a strong interest in international development and working with communities through theatre, and has lived and worked in Ecuador where she used theatre as a tool to teach English as a Second Language. Claribel is happy to be back in the Twin Cities working with Penumbra where she puts her passion for arts education and development to use. Her primary role is connecting Penumbra’s student leaders with local advocacy and health and wellness organizations throughout the Twin Cities for internships and apprenticeship opportunities.

H. ADAM HARRIS – Teen Programs Coordinator
Adam is the Teen Programs Coordinator with Penumbra Theatre Company and a former Summer Institute Intern. As a professional actor, he was recently seen in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Children’s Theatre Company); The Way of Water (Frank Theatre); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Much Ado About Nothing, (Guthrie Theater); and Penumbra Theatre’s production of The Amen Corner at the Guthrie Theater. Adam received his B.F.A from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program along with a minor in African American Studies. Adam recently toured prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers in a production of The Seven with Ten Thousand Things Theater. His primary role is connecting passionate young leaders with Penumbra’s Summer Institute program and working with educators to bring theatre for social change into their classrooms.

LAUREN MILLER – Research Associate
Lauren is the Research Associate for Penumbra Theatre Company. She has researched and produced work for Penumbra Theatre Company’s production of SPUNK and Let’s Talk Theatre: The Harlem Renaissance. Lauren has been involved with Penumbra Theatre Company’s Summer Institute Program; she served as an Intern for Penumbra Theatre Company’s Pedagogies of Art for Social Change Internship in 2010, and led as an Intern Facilitator in 2011. A graduate of the University of St. Thomas, she studied social psychology and literature and holds an M.A. in American Studies from Purdue University where she specialized in contemporary black literature.

SURAFEL WONDIMU ABEBE – August Wilson Fellow
Surafel a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota in the Theatre Historiography Program minoring in Developmental Studies and Global Change and Cultural Studies. He is also an ICGC-Mellon Scholar Fellow at the University of Minnesota and University of Western Cape. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Surafel obtained a degree in English Literature in 2006 and an MA in contemporary cultural studies at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies in 2010 at Addis Ababa University (AAU). Together with his colleagues, he opened the Holy Land Art Academy and co-founded a magazine called Infotainment that focused on art, politics, and society. He has served as a lecturer and assistant dean in Humanities at AAU and also ran a private media organization called Aesop Communication, along with a twelve year old radio program on FM 97.1. He also served as a consultant of a cultural forum headed by Selam Ethiopia whose head quarter was based in Stockholm, Sweden. He collaborated with East African, Swedish and American playwrights, actors and directors to stage international theatre festivals and conversations on theatre arts.

High School Curriculum Consultants, 2011-2012

Kimberly White Colbert
Kimberly has worked at St. Paul Central since 1994, where she started as a theater intern for Jan Mandell and the Central Touring Theatre. She volunteered there until receiving her MAT in English Language Arts and Speech Theater. Kimberly spent one year in Minneapolis Public Schools as a theater specialist before returning to St. Paul to join Central High's English Department. Kimberly has continued her connection to the arts through active involvement with Brown University's Arts Literacy Project, which imbeds performing and other art forms in literacy instruction. Prior to working at Central, Kimberly spent five years in Japan and Hawaii where she taught English and worked as a journalist for a local newspaper. In addition to teaching, Kimberly is active in union activities, currently serving on the boards of Education Minnesota and the National Education Association (NEA).

Kaye Thompson Peters
Kaye has been teaching literature and writing at St. Paul Central High School since January 1999, working with students in grades 9-12 and currently teaches senior International Baccalaureate and freshman honors classes. Thompson Peters came to education after fourteen years as a political and education reporter for newspapers in Texas, Maryland, Washington DC and the Twin Cities. She also volunteered as a child advocate with the Children's Defense Fund and worked as an aide in the U.S. Senate.

Brionna Harder
Brionna is a Social Studies teacher, proud member of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and proud parent of a student at St Paul Open World Learning Community. With a passion for teaching Civics and Government, she has taught grades 9 through 12 in a variety of social studies courses at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis. Throughout her fourteen year career, Brionna has been involved in a number of leadership opportunities in her school, union and district, motivated by an undying belief in the power of public education, the purpose of the teaching profession and the potential of young people learning to be actively engaged, loving critics of our society and our world.