Bio:
I am a theatre director, currently holding the position of Artistic Director and Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas. I also serve as the Artistic Producer at Center Rep in the Bay Area, CA. My recent directorial works include the Off-Broadway production of Stalking the Bogeyman at New World Stages, which was nominated for an Outer Critics’ Circle Award and received a NYTimes critics' pick. I have also directed at London’s Southwark Playhouse, where I garnered an Off West End Award nomination for best direction. Other notable productions I've directed include Church & State at New World Stages (nominated for an Off-Broadway Alliance Award for best new play), Red Speedo at Center Rep (recommended by Bay Area Critics), Lost Boy Found In Whole Foods by Tammy Ryan at The Portland Stage Company, and Why You Beasting by David Don Miller (selected as a Time Out NY critics' pick). As an actor I've spent several seasons at The Guthrie Theatre, Long Wharf, Berkeley Rep, ACT, and Denver Center. I've also toured with the production of Death of a Salesman alongside Christopher Lloyd. As a producer, I was on the team that brought the Arena Stage production of Eric Cobble's 'The Velocity of Autumn' to Broadway, starring Estelle Parsons, who received a Tony Award nomination. I hold an MFA from Columbia University.

Mission:
I fervently believe in utilizing the transformative power of art to enhance social and civic responsibility, broaden our audiences' capacity for empathy, and spread joy. This belief serves as the cornerstone of my practice as a theatre-maker. My aim is to provide communities not only a platform for reflection on social, political, and economic injustices, but also a space for shared experiences that bring happiness and upliftment. Through this dual mission of challenge and celebration, I strive to contribute to a future that is more inclusive, more empathetic, more equitable, and more joyful."

Anti-racism
I grew up in a multi-racial family on the traditional land of the Tachi Yokut tribe in the Bay Area of California. I was raised by a black father and a white mother who was a first-generation immigrant. My siblings are Black and Indigenous and I have nieces and nephews that are Japanese and Mexican. My father was a civil rights activist and one of the first Black individuals to purchase a home in one of the all-white neighborhoods in Concord, CA. He was a Montford Point Marine and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "outstanding perseverance and courage that inspired social change in the Marines."

I witnessed my father lead with kindness and use his access and resources to amplify the voices of those who have been marginalized and advocate for social change. I have never forgotten my roots or my privilege, and as a result, I carry a deep sense of gratitude and social responsibility in my work, advocating relentlessly for the dismantling of structural barriers that reinforce power hierarchies.

I grew up within a family that endured vile acts of racism, but when I went to school, my skin color allowed me to also detach from it. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't always understood that privilege. I grew up in an area where diversity is built into the fabric of our community, yet I failed to understand my complicity, how my perceived sense of allyship can also be my greatest vulnerability.

As I continue my artistic journey in this field, I vow to allow myself to be uncomfortable as I build new knowledge, identify blind spots, and aim to be self-reflective, non-defensive, and sincerely apologize when I fail. I will acknowledge and address any harm I cause and will continue to deepen my commitment to using my influence to end racist practices in our field and to remain accountable for creating standards that produce an inclusive and empowering climate for any team that I am a part of.

For far too long, our BIPOC/global majority colleagues have endured isolation, marginalization, objectification working in predominantly white institutions. They have been asked to engage in artistic work within structures of power and privilege that have constrained their own humanity. I pledge to listen deeply to our BIPOC community and engage with theatres and producers to help build anti-oppressive and transformative organizational structures.

Creating spaces for dialogue, accountability, and inclusion is a core value that resonates in my identity as a theatre maker and leader. As I continue my journey within this field, I will remain open to being called out, and will stay present, active, and willing to facilitate growth. I will challenge myself to listen more, BELIEVE our colleagues' experiences, and continue to fight for an institutional culture where equitable structures will lead us towards an American Theatre that represents a daring, diverse, and inclusive body of work.

As an Artistic Leader, I believe we must first and foremost recognize and plainly state that American theater and Higher Education is born of a country founded on white supremacy. We know the latter, but it's essential that we continue to acknowledge that systemic racism and oppression are entangled in our nation's history and culture and that working towards an anti-racist American Theatre requires ongoing work. Inclusive structures must be implemented daily through every program and decision within our practice. Historically, our artistic institutions have benefited from systems that harm our BIPOC/global majority colleagues. While I have fallen short at times, I have made a concerted effort in my work as an artistic leader to create a culture of inclusion, inviting and empowering the contributions, knowledge, and expertise of BIPOC colleagues and collaborators. As a theatre leader, I aim to recognize the ways that we have been complicit to harm in the interest of dismantling damaging and exclusionary habits and structures.

Accountability and measuring change are also critical to continued change. I have committed to ongoing evaluation to measure success in meeting goals and tracking progress toward becoming an anti-racist, multicultural field. At regular intervals, we must pause to measure progress, using quantifiable data as a tool to hold ourselves accountable and to foster continued growth.

As an Educator, it's a moment-by-moment routine and a necessary part of my job to continually rethink and revise my teaching and advising practices, pedagogical techniques, and course materials to make my classroom more inclusive. The goal of continuous improvement in serving all my students to the best of my ability is the common thread that ties together a wide range of attempts to refine my pedagogy. Excellence in the classroom takes many forms. We may think that teaching is about helping students achieve established standards and grading them accordingly, but we must remember that course syllabi, assignment designs, and grading rubrics are not neutral. This does not relieve us of the responsibility of using them: but it challenges us to be continually intentional about using these instruments to best serve our students. I remain committed to building communities that reflect anti-racist values. At KU I serve as a Mellon DEI Teaching Scholar, an initiative that is designed to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at KU through teaching and leadership.

We work in conjunction with a Mellon-funded grant at the Lied Center that uses the work of performing artists from historically marginalized groups to promote diversity, equity and inclusion on stage and in classes. The project is intended to build DEI leadership on campus by fostering a more inclusive and equitable learning environment and by using the performing arts to achieve DEI goals in the classroom. As part of this initiative, we worked collectively to support the creation and implementation of lesson plans and assignments appropriate to a variety of disciplinary settings. We incorporated a curricular module linked to a performance into our teaching, shared creative/pedagogical innovations with colleagues, and participated in evaluation processes to assess and document the impact of the work on students, laying the groundwork for recommendations on what a genuine commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the classroom requires.

The New York Times called Potter’s work “Breathtaking chilling and dynamic”, giving Stalking the Bogeyman the heralded critic’s pick.  Rex Reed of the New York Observer described Potter’s direction as “Potent stuff that never soft soaps the issues and leaves you stunned.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."

New York Theatre described Potter’s direction as “Impeccable in it’s stage craft & elaborately detailed.” The Huffington Post declared it as “Careful and cogent direction.”  The Bergen Record called a production “An intense drama presented with an unfussy simplicity and clarity”, naming it the “10 best plays of the year.”  Neil Genzlinger, of The New York Times described Potter’s production as “Compelling. till thinking about it 24 hours later.”