Introducing the 2025-26 Arts Leadership Residents
Joey Pagaduan at Marin Shakespeare Company
Actor, writer, and administrator Joey Pagaduan will produce part of Marin Shakespeare Company’s season under the mentorship of Artistic Director Jon Tracy, Managing Director Lesley Currier, and Production Manager Leontyne Mbele-Mbong.
Kimberly Braun at A.C.T. Young Conservatory
Teaching artist and administrator Kimberly Braun will produce the Fall Young Conservatory Holiday Show as well as develop a model for a Young Conservatory Voice Studio under the mentorship of Young Conservatory Director Jill MacLean.
Raisa Donato at Shotgun Players
Actor, director, choreographer, fight director, and technician Raisa Donato will be producing The Fall Show under the mentorship of Artistic Director Patrick Dooley and Director of Production Gracie Brakeman.
The Arts Leadership Residency funds aspiring artistic directors and managing directors in residence at Bay Area theatres for a 12-16 week residency during which the residents will be mentored by the artistic and/or managing director and lead a significant project during the season.
About the 2025-26 Arts Leadership Residents
Joey Pagaduan is an actor, writer, and storyteller. He was introduced to theatre quite by accident, fell in love, and hasn’t looked back. After playing various roles in many productions, Joey decided to expand his experience and impact in the space. He founded Performances @ Solano to give incarcerated theatre artists, poets, and musicians opportunities to write, workshop, and perform their original works. For P@S, he wrote, directed, and curated several short plays. Joey’s daily work at a social justice non-profit is close to his heart. He and the team he works with provide wrap-around services and housing to formerly incarcerated people. Their aim is not just reentry into the community, but to build community. He believes in the restorative power of art, that everyone has a story, and that taking control of their narrative is empowering, healing, and builds stronger relationships. He is an Artistic Associate with the Marin Shakespeare Company and works to expand the space in the arts for returning citizens. Joey lives in Berkeley and can often be found running for the hills.
Marin Shakespeare Company‘s mission is “With Shakespeare as our endless inspiration, our mission is to serve as a vibrant catalyst for cultural engagement, education, and social justice to benefit the people of Marin County, the San Francisco Bay Area, and beyond.” Learn more about Marin Shakespeare Company.
Kimberly Braun is a singer, writer, teaching artist, and director. She earned her Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Arts at the University of Southern California, where she studied opera, musical theatre, and jazz. Kim independently released an album of her own music, Growing Up, and wrote and performed the award-winning one-woman musical, A Woman Grows in Brooklyn. Kim received her Master of Arts in Theater Arts from San Jose State University, and she launched Citizen Workshops, a haven for performing artists in Los Angeles. Kimberly has worked as a musical theatre teaching artist in the SF Bay Area for 15 years and has enjoyed teaching with the Children’s Healing Project (a partnership between TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital), and with the Cabaret Program at A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory. She also works as a music and vocal director for Bay Area high schools, including Cupertino, Monta Vista, and San Leandro high schools, and she acted as the conservatory director at Hillbarn Theatre and Conservatory from 2024-25. As an artist and educator, Kim’s underlying philosophy is that the performing arts teach us to be better humans through connection, creativity, joy, and shared humanity. Kim lives with her family in the East Bay and she is extremely grateful to be a recipient of the Theatre Bay Area 2025-26 Arts Leadership Residency Grant, working with A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory.
Founded in 1971, A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory is an internationally recognized pre-professional theatre training program for students in grades 3–12. We offer year-round classes, private coaching/college prep and performance opportunities for all levels, from beginners exploring acting for the first time to students wanting to pursue a career in theater. The YC curriculum includes training in acting, musical theatre, physical character, stage combat, voice and diction, movement, and numerous performance opportunities that help to develop students’ imagination, concentration, collaboration, and ensemble techniques. YC programs are designed to meet any young artist’s talents and schedule with our faculty of working theatre professionals in the Bay Area and beyond. By training at the YC, students gain creative and communication skills to succeed in their everyday lives, developing concentration, imagination, professionalism, character, and self-confidence along the way. Many students go on to make a career in the theatre industry, and our alumni are often seen gracing stages and screens in the Bay Area and across the country. Some YC alumni include Darren Criss (Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award–winner), Erika Henningsen (Mean Girls on Broadway), Lucas Babcock (Hamilton national tour), Adam Jacobs (Aladdin on Broadway), Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), and Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us). Learn more about A.C.T and the Young Conservatory.
Raisa Donato (any pronouns) is a Bay Area-based fight choreographer, director, actor and producer. Born in Manila and raised in Los Angeles, Raisa developed an affinity for theatre in high school under the direction of Russell Copley when he produced an Asian version of Macbeth. There, they learned stage combat and clowning from their mentors Ri Walton and Dennis McLaughlin under the non-profit Passado Action Theatre. Raisa built their theatrical foundations while being a performer at the Renaissance Faire, touring with Passado Action Theatre from San Luis Obispo to Escondido on a shoe-string budget. When they moved to the Bay Area in 2015, they found a home at Bindlestiff Studio, the epicenter for Filipino and Filipino-American Performing Arts in the nation. There, they have performed as an actor, spread their wings as a fight director, shared their knowledge of the craft as a director and got their hands dirty as a producer. Now, they’re exploring a new avenue of theatre, working as a shop assistant at Cal Scenic to get well-rounded in all aspects of what makes a theatre function. Raisa is passionate about learning as much as they can about this historical craft of live storytelling and wants to make it their mission to pass down that knowledge to anyone who wants to learn about the magic of theatre, especially in communities who want their story to be told. They are forever in gratitude to everyone who influenced them to follow their dreams, shoot for the stars, and learn from every experience: Russell Copley, Ri Walton, Dennis McLaughlin, Elly Durazo, Nick Gregory, Michelle Talgarow, Chuck Lacson, linda maria giron, mom, dad, and lola. A special thanks to the Shotgun Players family for their continued support and opportunities to create theatre that makes a difference!
Shotgun Players is a company of artists determined to create bold, relevant, affordable theater that inspires and challenges audience and artist alike to re-examine our lives, our community, and the ever-changing world around us.
Each year we choose plays to provoke, inspire, heal, and yes, entertain. The performance is the beginning; we also have engagement opportunities with each production. Theatres can – and must be – instruments of change in our local communities and beyond. The time is now. Learn more about Shotgun Players.
The 2025-2026 Arts Leadership Residency Panelists
Amal Bisharat (she/her) is a Palestinian-American multidisciplinary artist— a director, producer, writer, musician, actor and photographer. She is Artistic Director & Co-founder of Meem Collective, a music and sound design company collaborating with MENA/SWANA artists in theater, film and TV; and creator of Morning in Jenin Musical, a Palestinian refugee story adapted from the internationally best-selling novel Mornings in Jenin by susan abulhawa. As 2023 Artist-in-Residence with Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco, she co-produced and directed their signature program, ReOrient Festival of Short Plays, and she is a current member of the board of MENATMA (MENA Theater Makers Alliance). Bisharat’s work has been supported by San Francisco Arts Commission, TBA, Zoo Labs, Doria Feminist Fund, Center for Cultural Innovation, and more. Bisharat is also an award-winning photographer, capturing the magic of live performance– dance, theatre, and music with her arts-focused photography company. Bisharat believes in the transformative power of art and storytelling whether on a stage, in a photograph, or in the stories we tell ourselves.
Ezra Reaves (they/them) is an actor, writer, director, comedian, drag king, teaching artist, and trans rights activist. They recently appeared in Velour: A Drag Spectacular at La Jolla Playhouse (dir. Moisés Kaufman) and The Wizard of Oz at A.C.T. (dir. Sam Pinkleton). TV: 4400 (CW, GLAAD-nominated) REGIONAL THEATRE: Happy Pleasant Valley (TheatreWorks SF / Center Rep), The Daughters, As You Like It (SF Playhouse), The Red Shades (Z Space), Plot Points… (NCTC). NYC: …World Economics, Danced (La Mama ETC/PS122), Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill (NY Neo-Futurists, NYT Critic’s Pick, Drama Desk nominee, Int’l tour). Ezra is a former Co-Artistic Director of the NY Neo-Futurists (Too Much Light . . . Int’l tour). As a comedian, Ezra has opened for Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, Paul F. Tompkins, and shared the stage with Michael Ian Black (SF Sketchfest). Ezra also directed and co-produced Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, playing now! BFA: UNC Greensboro. Training: Atlantic Acting Conservatory. AEA/SAG-AFTRA. Insta @ezrareaves
Kimberly Ridgeway is an award-winning playwright, actor, and director. She has worked with many Bay Area theatres including 3Girls Theatre, Altarena Playhouse, Central Works, City Lights, Dragon Productions, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Oakland Theatre Project, Palo Alto Players, SF Playground, St. Mary’s College, and Theatre Rhinoceros; as well as Three Willows Theatre (TX), National Black Theatre (NY), and Spokane Civic Theatre (WA). Kimberly is a Brady Fellow Recipient, the 2024 TBA Arts Leadership Resident, the winner of the 2024 June Anne Baker Prize, and is the Artistic Associate at Altarena Playhouse. Snowbound: A Holiday Tale, written by Kimberly and Richard Perez, will have its world premiere in December 2025 at Town Hall Theatre.
Phaedra Tillery-Boughton (she/her) is a dynamic Bay Area theatre artist, producer, and advocate dedicated to inclusive storytelling. She currently serves as Associate Producer and Casting Manager at SFBATCO and co-hosts Creatively Shaded, a podcast amplifying Black theatre experiences. Her acting credits include Fat Ham (as Rabby) at SF Playhouse, The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and The Color Purple. A passionate teaching artist, she works with SFArtsEd, Berkeley Rep, Pacifica Singers and Players, and SFBATCO. Phaedra was awarded the 2024–2025 Black Futures Award from Zaccho Dance Theatre and named the 2025–2026 New Black Voices Resident Artist with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Connect with her on Instagram: @phaedratboughton.
The 2025-2026 Arts Leadership Residency is supported by the California Arts Council and the City of San Leandro.