Pulling It All into the Current

Letta Neely is a Black lesbian playwright, performer, poet, mother, teacher, and community activist involved in progressive, anti-racist, and queer liberation movements all her adult life. Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana,Letta's work focuses on the connections and intersections of queerness, Blackness, and awareness. She is the Executive Director at Apprentice Learning, co-director for the Fort Point Theatre Channel, and hosts FireWater Poetics (a hybrid open mic w/feature) at Emerson College each month. She is a NEFA grant recipient of both Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice and Public Art for Spatial Justice funding. Her literary work has been included in numerous anthologies, literary journals, and magazines

Greg Allen is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Northeastern University, Greg has worked as a director, educator, and  producer for 25 years, directing many college/university  productions, as well as professional productions in Boston and New York. Greg  also has a passion for working with playwrights in the process of  developing scripts for readings, workshops, and initial production. He  has directed workshops and premiere productions of new works. A graduate of the theater program at Sarah Lawrence College, Greg holds an M.F.A in Theater Directing from University of Massachusetts at Amherst, as well as an M.Ed. from Cambridge College. He has spent much of the last twenty-five years teaching theater in High Schools in Boston, as well as at the college and university level. 
 

Amanda Shea is a renowned spoken word and multidisciplinary artist, educator, mentor, activist, publicist, power networker, and mother. She knows, loves, and uplifts artists all over Greater Boston across New England to the DMV, Atlanta, Chicago . . . and beyond. Amanda is a community heartbeat. She's hosted BAMSFest and countless poetry events; she facilitates youth workshops for spoken word poetry, visual arts, and public speaking; she is a publicist for hip hop artist Brandie Blaze; she has managed and supported countless other artists in Boston.

Giselle Byrd is the Executive Director of The Theater Offensive, located in Boston, Massachusetts, where she is passionately continuing and amplifying the theater’s mission for uplifting and elevating the work of queer and transgender artists of color and LGBTQIA+ youth and their allies. With over ten years of experience, holding multiple roles in talent management, production, casting, script coverage, brand partnerships, and fundraising, Byrd has used her expertise to help elevate both talent and brand collaborations. As a producer, she holds the honor of being the first transgender woman to be accepted into Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program. Her documentary film debut, Giselle’s Story, directed by Susan O’Brien, was accepted into the Imagine This International Women’s Festival. Her subsequent film, When We Arrive As Flowers, executive produced by Alexandra Billings, was screened in numerous film festivals throughout the country during the 2022-2023 season. Byrd serves on the Board of Directors at both Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art and is also a member of the advisory board for The Ali Forney Center. 

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