Catherine Hanna Schrock (she/her/hers) (Artistic Trustee) is an Applied Theater Practitioner, which unites her roles as an educator, theatre artist, writer and community organizer. She designs creative programming that equips diverse communities to engage in complex dialogues toward social and community development. Her original performances and interactive experience designs cultivate empathy and deepen human understanding and connection.
She is the Cofounder of Imagine (imaginebravespaces.com) where she works alongside a team of compassion-driven artists who invite communities to imagine and then create new ways of being together through theatre.
Catherine also specializes in Theatre of the Oppressed and specifically, Forum Theatre, an uncommon kind of interactive theatre that allows audiences to roleplay toward conflict transformation. Since 2017, her Forum Theatre projects (kNOw MORE, Safa's Story, Danny's Story, Brea's Story) have reached over 25,000 people in San Diego County where she is applauded as a “spectacular facilitator who handles children with extreme sensitivity and respect, and engages the audience from the moment they enter the theater” (Times of San Diego, 2020).
Additionally, Catherine has worked with numerous local and international organizations including the Global Immersion Project in Palestine and Israel, Arts for Life-- a girls' empowerment and arts program she founded in Kenya, Invisible Children’s Teacher Exchange program, which she helped develop and directed in Uganda, and is a teaching artist with the Old Globe Theatre.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Theater from New York University and a BA in Sociology and International Development.