Katie Schmidt Feder (Co-founder, Executive Director) has over 20 years experience in Musical Theatre, Drama and Dance. A member of AEA, she has performed, directed and choreographed in Off-Off Broadway, Regional Theatre, Stock and Cabaret. She has directed from Schwartz to Shaw to Shakespeare and was selected to be a member of the prestigious 2001 Lincoln Center Directors Lab. As a designer, she was head costumer for the feature length film Hooray for Mr. Touchdown and Antonia Arts production of CATS. With a BA in Musical Theatre and a Minor in Dance from the University of Northern Colorado, her training includes the 2-year Meisner program at William Esper Studio (NYC). Katie also spent over 10 years working for Credit Suisse First Boston creating presentations & software training. As an instructor of dance, acting and voice, she has taught at throughout Westchester and the Hudson Valley. She is currently the Drama Director at Peekskill High School. She will begin work on a Masters in Arts Administration via Goucher College this summer. Her wish is to develop a performing and literary arts center in Peekskill where she can realize her professional theatrical vision and create a home where all community members can experience the performing arts. ...More

Sol Miranda, (Co-founder, Outreach Director) born and raised in Puerto Rico, is an AEA, SAG and AFTRA member who has been acting professionally for more than twenty years. Her work has been seen at New York City Opera, Off-Broadway, regional theaters, Europe and Puerto Rico. Recently she was seen on TV shows including Blue Bloods, Law and Order as well as many commercials and voice overs. An award winning actress, she has been honored with HOLA's (Hispanic Organization of Latino Actors) Outstanding Female in a Leading Role in 2000, and the Juano Hernandez Best Actor Award given by the Drama Department of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras in 1990. During her tenure as an Assistant Professor at Hostos Community College/CUNY, she brought back to life their repertory company and successfully produced and directed. Her bilingual and contemporary adaptation of Shakespeares' Romeo and Juliet with Pablo Neruda's genius translation was a major success at the college. She holds a MFA in Acting from University of California, San Diego. She has recently directed for Antonia Arts and acted for Peekskill Playhouse. The desire to create a Spanish theater company in Peekskill has become a strong and steady vision. ...More

Ian Berger (Co-founder, Literary Director) has found over the years that all the geeky activities and conversations he did in his youth ended up being assets in the classroom. No matter if he’s talking about the finer points of battling with medieval weaponry or discussing the logic of alien ecosystems, he’s sharing what interested him the most. He's joyfully learned that becoming an adult doesn’t mean giving up the silly things of youth; it just means you do those activities better. One of Ian Berger’s greatest joys now is to teach the books he loved as a child with the young people of today. Ian lives in Peekskill, NY with his wife Kirsten and three children: Gabriel, Miranda, and Guinevere. Any resemblance of his children’s names to characters of mythology or literature is a coincidence, he swears! When he’s not pounding computer keys, teaching or being with his family, he can usually be found somewhere on the Hudson River on his windsurfer or standup paddleboard. He’s currently writing the non-fiction book Teach the Fantastic as well as a dystopian novel of the future. Ian has also published articles in and been a featured blogger for Windsurfing magazine. He’s also written articles for the Putnam County News and Observer. ...More

Marilyn Heberling (Co-founder, Business Director, Board Chair) has a Masters Degree in Theatre and over 30 years working in university, community and youth theatre as a director, instructor and actress. In her earlier career she worked with the University of Michigan on the first Experimental Theatre Festival in the area, taught playwriting and developed a “Theatre in Unexpected Places” program with performances in art galleries, football fields and living rooms. As a theatre educator, Marilyn has taught Playwriting, Shakespeare, Creative Writing, History through Drama, Oral Interpretation, Mask making and Video. A founding member of the Philipstown Players in Garrison, she directed 20 adult and youth productions, developed and directed the summer Young Playwrights Festival and produced their adult One Act Festival for 6 years. Marilyn co-created and produced the first Hudson Valley Fringe Festival in 2004. She has worked with M&M Productions and YCP TheaterWorks, directing Arthur Miller’s THE CRUCIBLE and currently Molière's SCAPIN. ...More

Stephanie Hare (Co-founder, Grants Director) holds a BA in Dance and Theater from Manhattanville College. She began working professionally in technical theater while still a student, starting in the lighting booth as board operator, but soon moving on to lighting design and stage management for numerous productions in Westchester as well as NYC. She also participated in the inaugural summer of the Exiles Theatre, Ltd. program in Ireland studying directing, which nourished her life-long love of theater while sparking a new interest in Irish culture. She eventually went on to earn an MA in Irish Studies from the Catholic University of America (never straying far from theater, she balanced her academic studies by building sets in the theater department at CUA). Recently, Stephanie has worked at several area non-profit organizations in database management and grant writing and administration. Stephanie is excited to have discovered a community of kindred artistic spirits as a resident of Peekskill. She is thrilled to be involved with Embark and the shared vision of a Center for creation and performance here. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the parks and nature of Peekskill, singing in her church choir, playing Irish fiddle and learning to play the ukulele. ...More

Nat Prentice (Board of Directors, Treasurer) has been involved in a variety of community activities, including several local theater groups, since returning to the Hudson Valley where he grew up 12 years ago. He and his wife Anita live in Garrison. Nat is an investment counselor and Anita is a teacher at Peekskill High School. Nat has performed in supporting roles at the Philipstown Depot Theater and is a member of the Board of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, where he heads up the Development Committee. He is the Senior Warden of St. Philip’s Church in Garrison, a member of the Board of the Putnam County Chambers of Commerce and serves on the Budget Advisory Committee of the Town of Philipstown. ...More

Tom Ragle (Board of Directors, Board Vice-Chair) came to Peekskill from Austin via a 6-year detour in Brooklyn – leaving there with a beautiful wife and a BFA. His interests and background are mainly in writing, technology, and music – He’s educated in the first, employed in the second, and doing a lot of the third in his spare time, but those assignments often blend or get mixed up altogether. Normally he doesn’t get involved in this kind of thing, but Peekskill is full of similarly mixed-up folks, and he believes strongly that EMBARK is the best thing out there for bringing them together – the first step in building a real home for the arts and a big step towards making Peekskill a better home for everyone. ...More

Carol McKenzie-Harvey (Board of Directors) is a singer and mother of 12 year old child performer Miles J. Harvey, who can be seen and heard in numerous TV and Radio commercials, and is the voice in numerous children's TV series. Miles can also be seen on an episode of NBCs Law & Order SVU and 30 Rock. Carol has been involved in a variety of community activities, including several local theater groups where her son performs. She was a former member of the Westchester Concert Singers, located in Pleasantville. She came to the USA in 1990 from England and moved to Peekskill from Queens in 1996. Carol is currently an Advocate, helping families advocate for their children’s educational needs. Carol loves to sing but tends to take the back seat to support her son in the Performing Arts. ...More

Andrea Elam (Board of Directors) is a professional dancer/teaching artist/choreographer with over 35 years' experience in the performing arts. She has danced with classical ballet and contemporary dance companies, including Alejandra Dondines Dancers, Neubert Ballet, Dutchess County Ballet, Downtown Danceworks and Devorah Cooper Dance, in addition to a number of theatrical, television and film credits. Andrea works as a teaching artist in the public schools, is on the artist roster of ArtsWestchester, Dance Theatre of Harlem, LEAP-NYC and Putnam/North Westchester BOCES. She is also the founder/artistic director of Synapses Dance Ensemble, a student dance company she formed in 2011 in order to give dancers from our community opportunities to study and perform. The mission of the company will be to provide training and performance opportunities for local youth, to provide dance education programs to the public schools that will align with NYS standards for arts education, and to offer dance programs for children with special needs. She has also taught children with disabilities and those on the autistic spectrum, and has created a program called Moving Voices specifically for children with autism. Styles of dance include classical ballet, jazz, theater dance and Horton modern technique. She is currently a member of the national Dance Education Organization, American Alliance for Health Education, Recreation and Dance, National Dance Association and Americans for the Arts. In addition, she is currently enrolled in the Master’s in Liberal Arts program through SUNY Empire State College. Ms. Elam also holds a BS in Clinical Nutrition and is the Westchester Community Health Educator for the NYC Poison Control Center. She has extensive experience in outreach, community education, grant writing and research, curriculum development and public speaking. ...More

Jackie Suarez (Board of Directors) is Host and Executive Producer of Living Arts in Westchester, a public access television show on Cablevision. The show was created in August of 2011 to provide a platform for local artists to discuss their projects and upcoming events. Ms. Suarez has lived in Peekskill for 10 years and has always been an enthusiastic member of Peekskill's artistic community. She has a degree in Mass Communication from St. Bonaventure University and worked as a producer for Inner City Broadcasting for several years before moving to Peekskill. Jackie is currently an outside sales representative for a large retail chain. Prior to this position, she worked in the bath and body industry as a marketing director. Jackie is happy to bring her sales and marketing experience to Embark Peekskill. ...More

Alyssa Borg (Board of Directors). A native Texan, Alyssa Borg graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Theatre and Dance. Soon after graduating, she moved to Manhattan where she trained at American Globe Theatre and created her commercial voiceover reel with PDR Voice Inc. She has appeared in several off-off Broadway productions, including King Lear (Cordelia), Twelfth Night (Fabian), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Peaseblossom/Snug) and Macbeth (Lady MacDuff/Witch). She has voiced industrials for Tommy Hilfiger and Stage Stores, Inc, as well as the Bloomingdale's Holiday Taxi TV ad in 2009. She is excited to be joining the arts community in Peekskill. ...More