leadership
Meera Menon (she/her)
Co-Founder, Executive Director, Board Member
Meera first took to the stage at age 5, when she played the role of Mother Pig in her class production of "The Three Piggy Opera". When she was 9, she decided to substitute her campaign speech for an original song, and won the election for Treasurer of Student Council. At 14, teaching her neighbors’ kids art in her garage turned into a school club, and then into a nonprofit dedicated to empowering students through the arts in the Bay Area, where she grew up.
Meera graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Management, Finance, and International Development. She has experience consulting for small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike, teaching high schoolers financial literacy, and taking roles offstage and onstage in plays and shows in Philly. Across all of these experiences, she found that she could attribute many skills key to success - speaking with confidence, finding common ground and building relationships - to her theater and improv experiences. She believes deeply in the mission of Unscripted and hopes to bring similar formative experiences to the students she is able to work with.
Philip Chen (he/him)
Co-Founder & Operations Director, Board Member
An adventurer at heart, Philip grew up down under in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia and has always been one to give everything a go. In 4th grade, his elementary school received funding to have its very first performing arts teacher and it was in this classroom that he discovered his passion for theater. As a kid, he experienced firsthand the power of receiving a drama education in building confidence, strengthening communication and finding his voice. Philip co-founded The Unscripted Project to bring the transformative power of improv education to the lives of students within the classroom and beyond.
Philip graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Finance, Real Estate, and Cinema Studies. Highlights of his time at Penn include working in classrooms in West Philadelphia, leading a social entrepreneurship club, and managing a student-run video production company. In addition, he has work experience in finance, real estate, and marketing roles across New York, Shanghai, and Melbourne. In his spare time, Philip is an avid foodie and can be found cooking new recipes and eating his way across Philadelphia. He is also a big fan of independent films and satirical sitcoms.
Karin Potter -Simmons (she/her)
Program Director
Throughout her professional career, Karin has worked in many capacities in the support of youth. She has worked to develop youth focused non-profit organizations, led community outreach programs and worked extensively with educationally disadvantaged students. Karin earned an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and completed a Masters in Public Administration from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the very first HBCU.
It was while serving as a board member for a youth focused dance company in the Philadelphia area that Karin found her love for the arts, and was able to experience first hand the direct connection the arts has on providing life skills and developing confident, well-rounded youth. In fact, her daughters are members of the competition team of that same dance company! Although she has two left feet, Karin did not let that stop her from deepening her connection to the arts, which eventually led her to The Unscripted Project. In her spare time Karin loves to have dance battles with her daughters which she never wins because she has no rhythm.
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Ellie Hoffman (she/her)
Operations Manager
In middle school, Ellie was invited to a friend’s birthday party at an improv theater in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, and she was hooked immediately. Shortly after, she joined a troupe and never looked back! With about 11 years of improv experience, Ellie has seen, and experienced firsthand, the power of improv comedy. She believes improv is to thank for so many skills that have helped her throughout her academic and professional careers as well as in her personal life.
Ellie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2021 with a degree in Linguistics and a minor in French & Francophone Studies. At Penn, she served as the director of "Without a Net," the university’s only improv troupe, helping to lead the team to victory in ComedySportz’s first Collegiate Comedy Competition. After graduating, she gained experience in various roles in the entertainment industry, and also serves as a tutor and a freelance writer. In her free time, she enjoys screenwriting, exploring her adopted home of New York City, and hanging with her cat, Flea. She remains just as hooked on improv as she was the first time she saw it at 13 years old.
Will Crowley (he/him)
Board Member (Secretary), Director of Marketing NeuroFlow
Will Crowley is the Director of Marketing at NeuroFlow, a Philadelphia based mental health technology company. Will earned an undergraduate business degree from the University of Notre Dame and recently completed a Masters in Business Analytics from Drexel. Will got hooked on improv while living and working in Chicago and dove into the Philly improv scene and eventually joined Whiplash, a harold team performing around the city and at improv festivals across the nation.
Rick Andrews (he/him)
Board Member, Lead Instructor Magnet Theater NYC
Rick Andrews is a trainer, instructor and coach living in NYC and teaching globally. He is Head Instructor at The Magnet Theater, and has been studying, performing, and teaching improvisation since 1999. He is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, teaching improvisation in the MFA Acting program.
As an applied improvisation facilitator and trainer, Rick has worked with hundreds of organizations using improvisation techniques and exercises to help meet their needs and grow their skills. Clients have included Google, Spotify, J.P. Morgan, Bloomberg, NBCUniversal, PepsiCo, Microsoft and many more.
Kumud Goyal (she/her)
Board Emeritus, SVP at Genomatica
Kumud Goyal is a business leader with 25+ years of experience in the Manufacturing industry. Currently she serves as Senior Vice President at Genomatica, a company focused on delivering low carbon solutions to minimize environmental impact. Over her career, Kumud has worked for small cap and Fortune 100 public and private companies actively driving business excellence in Strategy, Operations and Financial Performance.
Kumud holds BS & MS degrees in Engineering from Mumbai University and Washington State University respectively, and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Marcia Ferguson (she/her)
Board Emeritus
Dr. Marcia Ferguson is an actor, director and educator. Professionally, she has worked with Philadelphia-based companies such as the Wilma, Painted Bride, Act II Playhouse, Irish Heritage, Paper Dolls, the Mediums, Juniper productions, the Daedalus String Quartet and others. She has co-created/ directed seven original productions for Edinburgh and Philadelphia Fringe festivals. Memorable roles include Lady Anne in Restoration (nominated for a Barrymore award), characters on Tokyo television shows, and roles at The Wilma Theatre in plays by O’Neill, Brecht, and Orwell. Directing highlights include Aeschylus’ The Eumenides, Everyman, and plays by Sophocles, Beckett, among others. She serves on Artistic boards at the IRC (the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium), White Box theatre, and the Paper Doll Ensemble, and is board member for the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities, and the Center for Experimental Ethnography. She directed the UPenn Theatre Arts Program from 2013-2016, and has published numerous articles and two books on theatre. Awards include the 2016 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at Penn.
Naomi Brezi (she/her)
Board Member
Naomi Brezi is a highly accomplished senior C-suite executive with a proven track record of building high-performing organizations, identifying optimal strategies for growth, and delivering exceptional results for the organizations and clients she serves. She oversees partnerships with higher education and nonprofit organizations along with sales and marketing at Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL). Her leadership ensures that RNL helps institutions achieve their goals for enrollment and fundraising, find more effective and efficient ways to reach those goals, and keep their institutions on the path to long-term success. Naomi currently serves on the board of directors of The Unscripted Project. Previously, she held executive leadership positions in workforce development, higher education, and the adult learning organizations. She is passionate about creating financial and career mobility for people of all ages.