Hello Opening Act community!

In December of 2019, Opening Act received a generous grant from The Mother Cabrini Foundation to expand our Act 2 Program, providing us with the resources to offer college and career readiness and success programming to more OA alums than ever before! One of the most exciting and impactful opportunities with this expansion was bringing on 8 Alumni Fellows to work in our office, our classrooms, and on our stages – including working closely with OA staff and teaching artists and interning with OA friends! 

The 16-month fellowship of our first cohort of Act 2 Fellows has come to a close, and we are so incredibly proud of all they accomplished during this time! Keep reading to find out what these amazing young people will be up to next!

ELIJAH CALLAHAN

Upon completion of his Act 2 Fellowship, Elijah was hired as a full time customer service representative. The hiring manager pointed out that Elijah’s experience as an Act 2 Fellow was extensive and impressive.

MARRY DIAZ

As a result of her Act 2 Fellowship experience – including her relationship with her mentor and her teaching experience – Marry plans to re-enroll in college to study drama therapy.

KILEA FRANCIS

After successfully completing an internship with The Hort as part of their Act 2 Fellowship, Kilea was hired as a full time assistant gardener.

NADAIR PALMER

After interning with Groundswell as part of his Act 2 Fellowship and receiving consistent positive feedback, Nadair has been hired to continue his work with the organization.

NAILAH PETERS

After completing her Act 2 Fellowship, Nailah has decided to pursue a career in acting. She will be featured in our Alumni Showcase this summer.

IAN REYNOSO

Upon completion of his Act 2 Fellowship, Ian was hired to work as camp counselor at Camp Young Judaea in New Hampshire. He will also be completing his Associates Degree in Performing Arts at the end of this year.

JOSE SUAZO 

Jose’s experience with hosting and producing “Not Your AV Club” as part of his Act 2 Fellowship fostered a love of producing and voiceover work. He will be pursuing both professionally moving forward.

JEREMIAH THOMPSON

After a successful internship with Dreamyard as part of his Act 2 Fellowship, Jeremiah has been hired for Dreamyard’s summer programming.

Congratulations to our first-ever cohort of Act 2 Fellows – even in the midst of a pandemic, these awesome OA Alums continued to SHOW UP and bring so much insight, heart, and joy to our office, classrooms, stages and the entire Opening Act community!

Thank you to our Fellows for their hard work and dedication, and thank you to The Mother Cabrini Foundation for making this possible! We are looking forward to hiring a new group of Act 2 Fellows this fall and continuing to provide college and career readiness and success programming in the year ahead!

Onwards & upwards!

Opening Act

Photo credit: David Katzenstein and Sherrie Nickol