Jerry Foster
Jerry Foster is an actor and director actively involved in the arts within the Portland Metropolitan area for 30 years. Jerry co-founded the Inner City Youth program in 1992. In 1995, he became PassinArt’s Artistic Director and currently serves as Board President. His stage credits and performances include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A Soldiers’ Play, Deceptive Love, The Pews, Pill Hill, A Sunbeam, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, Driving Miss Daisy, Big River, and Two Trains Running. Directing credits include Black Nativity, Juneteenth & Kwanza Celebration for the North Portland library, and the Peace Festival for Black Women for Peace. Jerry has worked in news media for over 28 years. In 2019, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Zeta Sigma Omega Chapter presented Jerry with the prestigious Emerald Award for the Arts honoring African American Men for community contributions and leadership.
Glen Butler
Glen Butler has extensive experience in the public and private sectors, including management, marketing, and sales in other states and the Portland area, for over 25 years. He has a long interest in local Black theatre companies and working in fund development for long-term sustainability. Glen has a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts and experience in theatre management.
Michael Donaldson
Michael Donaldson, Retired. Michael managed and served as committee chair and member of the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) and the BES Committee of Equity and Inclusion. Among other work include WasteWater Group Committee, Health & Safety, Reinvestment Strategy, Condition & Risk Assessment for over 22 years. His volunteer experience includes facilitator for children’s church ministry and men’s bible studies.
Wanda Walden
Wanda Walden, a veteran costume designer and independent visual artist, has a long, illustrious 25-year career with an extensive body of work in the arts as a costume designer, visual artist, writer, and actor. She was born in Chicago and raised in Portland. Legacy Emanuel Foundation commissioned Wanda to create the Worship in Pink logo for the Susan G. Komen Oregon and SW Washington mission program. Wanda has designed costumes for Artist Repertory Theater, Portland Playhouse, Profile Theatre, and PassinArt: A Theater Company. Her costume design work earned a 2002 Drammy Award for The Pews (PassinArt) and Drammy nominations for the Birthday Party (Oregon Stage Company) and Gossip (Artist Repertory Company). In 2019, the Drammy Awards Committee recognized Wanda for lifetime achievement. Wanda has an art studio Retro-Centric Art, in Oakland, where she currently resides.
Connie Carley
Connie Carley is one of the original co-founders of PassinArt: A Theatre Company, where she is Managing Director. Constance’s involvement with arts administration and coordination of theatre projects spans over 30 years. She retired from the State of Oregon, where her work focused on implementing statewide initiatives that support children, youth, families, and local communities. Her community volunteer service included Sisters Network Oregon and SW WA chapter, a survivorship group for African American women and the Black Women for Peace (BWFP) executive committee.
Kenneth Dembo
Kenneth Dembo is a native Oregonian with over 30 years of professional acting, directing, and stage-managing credits: Hamlet, The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, To Kill A Mockingbird, Othello, Driving Miss Daisy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Miser, among others. His most notable stage credits with PassinArt include Black Nativity, Two Trains Running, Smoldering Fires, The Pews, Deceptive Love, and A Sunbeam. As an administrator, Kenneth has worked for a major beverage company for close to 30 years.
Arrevion “Rave” Smith
Arrevion “Rave” Smith studies multiple languages and has traveled and lived throughout the world due to her military background and her love of cultures. Her civilian experience spans both the public and private sectors include human resources, hotel management, and marketing sales. She is a proud Mountaineer from Appalachia State University, where she studied Military Science and International Relations. She resides with her husband and three children. Rave currently works for a major beverage company.