About Us
MVCCT has been bringing quality arts education to our community since 1979
Mission
To educate and develop young artists through theatre arts and creative play.
Vision
To lead in artistic and theatrical excellence within the community, and to provide a nurturing environment to explore storytelling with compassion, wonder, and generosity.
Core Values
EMPOWER
We nurture an active imagination, a sense of self-worth, and emotional intelligence through creative play. By empowering our youth, we empower our community.
EVOLVE
We explore the richness of the human experience through the dramatic arts. We commit to equity, diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility for all. By expanding our awareness, we grow together as a community.
EXCEL
We harness innovation and quality through our teaching artists, youth, and programming. By excelling in our art form, we foster growth as artists and as individuals.
ENGAGE
We work to create an equitable environment where all are encouraged and supported. We advocate for voices that need to be heard, including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists. By engaging with our community, we are an active part of the dialogue.
Board of Directors
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Co-President
BETHANY WEINSTEIN
Bethany Weinstein joined the MVCCT Board in 2020 and has worked on marketing, show production, and fundraising. She works in non-profit marketing and communications.
Treasurer
CHIP RUSSELL
Chip Russell joined the MVCCT Board in 2019 and serves as Treasurer. Chip has spent his career in accounting and finance and currently serves as the CFO for BroadPoint, Inc., a consulting firm headquartered in Bethesda, MD.
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Board Member
LAURA MARSHALL
Laura Marshall joined the MVCCT Board in 2008. During that time, she has served as both President and Vice President; as well as producing and costuming shows for more than a decade. Laura is a professional photographer who specializes in headshots, senior portraits and theatre production photography.
Board Member
DANETTE BERRY
Danette Berry joined the board in 2022. She has been an enthusiastic fan and parent of MVCCT for many years. Danette is a seasoned healthcare marketing communications professional and is looking forward to helping MVCCT build for the future.​
Board Member
KATE OFFRINGA
Kate Offringa joined the MVCCT board in 2023. Kate is a trade association CEO and has been working in the field of strategy and consensus forging in the buildings industry for years. Her favorite initiatives in that role center on energy efficiency and sustainability.
Board Member
BILL MURRAY
Bill is an Alexandria-area lawyer, director, and actor. He graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts from Carleton College, received a JD (magna cum laude) from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2011, and currently works with a private firm in Washington DC. Bill also attended the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. He has worked with the Seattle Children's Theatre, Missoula Children's Theatre, and the Georgetown Gilbert and Sullivan Society, among others. Bill directed Newsies for MVCCT in the spring of 2023, and Beauty and the Beast in the spring of 2024. Bill's two children have performed in several MVCCT shows.
Board Member
JOSH GOLDEN
Josh Golden is President and Chief Creative Office for Yes&, an integrated marketing agency with offices in Alexandria, Philadelphia, Chicago, and satellite offices (read: living rooms, dens, attics, etc.) around the country. A writer, video producer, event director, and marketer, Josh's work has served diverse clients such as PBS, The Inn at Little Washington, Sentara Health, Bozzuto, US Open Tennis, Choice Hotels, and the US Government. He serves on the Board of Directors for Easterseals DC, MD, VA. He began his career as an actor, playwright, lyricist, and director. He has worked at Manhattan Theatre Club and performed at regional theatres, in national tours, and with several improv troupes, and his songs have appeared in cabarets throughout the country. He has been an adjunct theatre professor at Syracuse University and Suffolk Community College, and taught Long Island's talented teen actors at The Usdan Center for the Performing Arts, Gateway Playhouse, and The Actor's Center. As an actor/historian, Josh created and produced Voices of History, an interactive first-person reenactment program, which toured schools throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Before joining Yes&, Josh directed creative for two Major League Baseball teams, the NY Mets and Washington Nationals, where his legacy lives on in four larger-than-life racing presidents.
KELLY GERSTENBERG
Co-President
Kelly Gerstenberg is a lifelong learner, problem-solver, producer, & strategist with over 15 years working with diverse learners in the field of education and professional development, and 10 years in program logistics and event operations, both in-person and virtually.
NOLAN WELLE
Secretary
Nolan Welle has been on the MVCCT Board since 2019. She’s a native of Alexandria and is raising three children in this lively community. Nolan works for the Intelligence Community as a senior educator and talent development manager.
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BRIAN NIENABER
Board Member
Brian Nienaber joined the MVCCT Board in 2019 and has served as Board Member and most recently served as Vice President. Brian has worked politics his entire professional life and is currently working at The Tarrance Group, a leading political research firm.
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ANGELA VENIER
Board Member
Starting in 2014 as an audience member and shortly thereafter becoming a MVCCT parent, Angela Venier (she/her) joined the board in 2023. Angela has a background in fine arts and education and currently works as an art teacher specializing in the Reggio Emilia approach.
KATHRYN MIKSAD
Board Member
Kathryn Miksad is a preschool teacher and former pastry chef. In 2023, after years of enjoying shows at MVCCT as an audience member and a parent of an actor, she joined the Board of Directors. She believes that creative expression is crucial to children's development.
DEBI CARROLL
Board Member
Debi jointed MVCCT in 2024. Debi has a passion for theatre, especially marketing and costuming. She believes in enriching the community through the arts and fostering creativity. Debi has a background in non-profit management and education consulting.
Staff
BECCA VOURVOULAS
Managing Director
Becca joined MVCCT in 2023.
KIMBERLY HUGHEY
Office Manager
Kimberly Hughey joined MVCCT as a staff member in 2023, though she participated in two MVCCT productions as a parent of a cast member before becoming the Office Manager. Kimberly's background is in meeting, conference and event management. Kimberly lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and her three daughters. Kimberly's love of theatre dates back to her own childhood, so she loves working for MVCCT as it combines two of her favorite things - musical theatre and event production!
DEI Advisory Council
DYLAN ARRENDONDO
Dylan Arredondo (he/him) is a DC-based, Mexican-Japanese theatremaker whose primary artistic goal is to reckon with the spatial, social, and creative limits being placed upon him at any given moment in the creative process and to recontextualize them as opportunities to adapt and renew the platform of performance. He attempts to investigate intercultural performance source texts and approaches without appropriating those practices, and to place them in conversation with contemporary technological interfaces and/or ecologically-informed systems, through which to create a lens to adapt less-known stories, make space for oral histories, craft living archives, and work form-first.
JUAN PABLO ECHEVERRÍA
Juan Pablo moved to the United States in 2017 from his home country of Guatemala where he worked in the Public Health and nutrition non profit sector. He also owned an Urban Farm and Restaurant and worked intensely to connect his community to nature, food and agriculture. Since living in Virginia he has continued this work by joining Arcadia The Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, where his role as Outreach and Education Coordinator, has connected him to schools and community centers along Richmond Highway.
KIMBERLY MOTT
Kimberly Mott is an educator and shares her life-long love of the arts with her family. She actively participates in diversity, equity, and inclusion work at her school and is committed to the promotion of authentic representations of diversity in children's literature. A native Californian, Kimberly moved to the Washington D.C. area in 2001. She is a wife and mother of theater enthusiasts. She enjoys swimming, of course reading, and going on thrilling adventures.
RYAN SELLERS
Ryan Sellers has been a teaching artist, actor, and director in the DC area since 2008. He has worked with MVCCT for 6 years, mentoring and educating youth through theater arts. He writes and directs for Arts on the Horizon, and works as a director for Synetic Theater, Synetic Teen Company, Creative Cauldron, MVCCT, and many local schools. He performs with several companies around the DC area, including Synetic Theater, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Constellation Theatre, Signature Theatre, Arts on the Horizon, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre, Studio Theatre, Longarce Lea, and Creative Cauldron. Ryan is an ardent proponent of social justice through the arts and champions young artists to use their voices and tell their stories.
TORI TOLENTINO
Tori Tolentino is a director, choreographer, adaptor, and performing artist with over a decade of experience. Tori most recently returned to the States after receiving hers Masters degree in arts management and administration at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy. Currently, Tori is developing Tolentino Visuals a film and photography business alongside her husband while simultaneously developing a consulting firm rooted in diversifying management and staff, boards, talent, and creative content of theatre organizations. EDI work has been a pillar in Tori’s personal and professional life. She is honored to be part of the MVCCT EDI Advisory Board and looks forward to learning and creating positive forward momentum for us all.
YASMINE BOLDEN
Yasmine Bolden is a racial justice community organizer and part-time creative writing coach. She performs in and writes micro-productions for DMV area theatre and is a National Museum of African American History and Culture Young Historians Institute alumna. She is set to serve on Mt. Vernon’s Youth Advisory Council and graduate high school in 2021.
FREDRICK IBE
Fredrick is a Nigerian-born man who is an IT professional and active father. He is interested, and involved with video editing, art, politics, gaming and sports. Fredrick believes in the pursuit to increase awareness around disparities in our society. He believes that it is important to have unity in diversity and the Arts are a prime platform to showcase the beauty in diversity and practice inclusion.
GEORGETTE SAAD
Georgette is a family mental health therapist with a strong focus on young children. She is an avid spectator of the arts and loves to draw and paint. Her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion hones in on the reflective capacity of a community and increasing access to opportunities for marginalized communities.
DALLAS TOLENTINO
Dallas has been an actor, mover, choreographer, and teacher in the DC Theater community since 2010. He is an advocate for devised original work and a strong proponent of theatre for social justice. He has worked previously with The Conciliation Project whose mission is “To promote, through active and challenging dramatic work, open and honest dialogue about racism and oppression in America in order to repair its damaging legacy.” He hopes to continue dialogue through creativity and art. He has performed with many DC companies including the Kennedy Center, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre, Constellation Theater, Rorschach Theater, Synetic Theater. He is also a company member with Synetic Theater He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Theater Performance. Dallas is very excited to be part of this advisory board and he is looking forward to aiding the evolution of our artistic communities towards cultivating a more equitable and just environment.
AIDAN WHITE
Aidan White is a student at the College of William & Mary where he is studying Public Policy and Sociology. He has spent fifteen years doing shows, taking classes, and assisting camp counselors with MVCCT.