Fatima Dyfan
Fatima Dyfan is an art, event, and performance producer, performer, writer, director, and scholar deeply interested in community, humanity, and spirituality. In a past life, Fatima graduated from Georgetown University, was the Miranda Family Fellow, BOLD Rising Producer, and National New Play Networks’s Producer-in-Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Fatima is currently an Associate Producer for Extreme Length Productions and the Artistic Advisor to Co-Curricular Groups at Georgetown University.
Dr. Amy Kenny
Dr. Amy Kenny is a disabled scholar-practitioner whose writing has been featured in Teen Vogue, Sojourners, Shondaland, Reader’s Digest, Huff Post, and in her award-winning book, My Body Is Not a Prayer Request. She served on the Mayor’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion taskforce, and as a facilitator for Freedom Road Institute for Leadership and Justice. She currently serves as the inaugural Director of the Disability Cultural Center at Georgetown University, which seeks to celebrate the diverse disability community and cultivate a culture of access across campus.
Ben Levine
Ben Levine (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist working in dance, theater, and installation. He is currently the Director of Production at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC. In 2019 he established Extreme Lengths Productions, a non-profit arts collaborative devoted to creating technology-driven, movement-based, unconventional performance experiences. Named “Best Up-For-Anything Technical Director” by the Washington City Paper, Ben works as a theater technician and carpenter, as well as a lighting, scenic, and projection designer for dance and theater. Born with Erbs palsy, he is passionate about the disability arts. He holds degrees in Theater Arts and Mathematics from Drew University.
Annie Peterson
Annie Peterson (she/they) is a movement artist, creative producer, and arts administrator based in Philadelphia. Obsessed with the tension of performance, showing the play in concentration, and the often awkward sublime, Annie’s work has been shown at MAAS (Philadelphia), Rhizome (DC),Grapefruit Studios (Milwaukee), EXPS/SLC (Salt Lake City), and various fields and living rooms. As an Associate Producer for Extreme Lengths Productions, Annie has produced performances at The Voxel, the John F. Kennedy Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Georgetown GLOW Festival, and she is excited to help organize the 2024 Open Doors Festival.
Suzanne Richard
Suzanne Richard (she/her) is the Artistic Director of Open Circle Theatre (OCT) and a fierce advocate for people with disabilities in the arts. With OCT she received a Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Production of a Resident Musical for Jesus Christ Superstar. She currently works as a professional actress, dancer, and advocate in the DC area with such companies as The Folger, Fords Theatre, Washington Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Imagination Stage, Dance Exchange, and 1st Stage. She has also worked as the Accessibility Specialist in the Office of Accessibility at the National Endowment for the Arts and the Outreach Coordinator for the U.S. International Council on Disabilities. She serves on the Board and is a Master Teaching Artist with Story Tapestries Along with frequently speaking on disability issues, she authored the chapter “Dealing with Being Different” for Growing Up with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, along with chapters in various books on arts and disabilities.
Jessica Wallach
Jessica Wallach is our accessibility manager for the Open Doors Festival and Story Tapestries and works closely with Open Circle Theatre. Her focus is on art, accessibility and disasters and how to make space a love letter to the body. Her current art project is called The Body is Good. She is the Accessibility Director for The Grieving Project and has consulted on other theatrical pieces both as a coordinator and a dramatargue. She brings over three decades of experience in accessibility work, specializing in art, coordination, and compliance. Jessica’s professional journey includes a key role with the U.S. Department of Justice and has a masters in city and regional planning from Cornell University.