Meet our 2024/25 cohort!

The following artists have been training with Ann James as the first cohort of (soon to be) Certified Sensitivity Specialists (CSS). Check back for updates here as cohort members receive their certifications!

Cammerron Baits (he/him) is a multi-hyphenated theatre professional based in Chicago, IL. As an actor, he has appeared in tours, Off-Broadway productions, regional theatre, film, and television. His directorial work has earned rave reviews in outlets such as The Huffington Post, praised for its emotional depth and dynamic storytelling. As an intimacy professional and sensitivity specialist, Cammerron brings expertise in stories exploring addiction, neglect, abuse, foster care, adoption, racial identity, and sexual identity. Most recently, he worked on Phantasma, a film currently appearing at festivals nationwide. Grounded in emotional intelligence, Cammerron creates safe, authentic, and artistically rich environments for artists to thrive. He is passionate about telling stories that honor the complexity of human connection, exploring the intricate layers of intimacy, vulnerability, and resilience. Whether on stage, behind the scenes, his artistry is driven by a dedication to sharing the truth of the human experience in all its nuance and depth.

Amelia Morse (she/her) is an Actor Educator, Intimacy Director & Coordinator and Sensitivity Specialist with a deep passion for fostering brave, respectful, and transformative performances in theatre and film. With a background in acting, Amelia combines years of training and experience to create environments where actors can explore sensitive and emotionally charged material with confidence. Specializing in the staging and choreographing of intimate scenes—whether physical, emotional, or both — Amelia works collaboratively with directors, actors, and designers to ensure that boundaries are respected while maintaining artistic integrity. In addition to providing guidance on physical contact, emotional intimacy, and consent, Amelia is committed to educating both performers and creative teams on best practices for creating a culture of bravery and mutual respect in the rehearsal room. With a strong belief in the power of vulnerability and trust, Amelia's work is driven by the conviction that intimacy on stage can be both deeply impactful and ethically responsible. Having worked on a variety of productions in both theatre and film, Amelia brings both a deep respect for storytelling and a practical understanding of how to navigate the complex dynamics of human connection in performance. Amelia is a proud alumna of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (BA in Theatre) and Lindenwood University (MA & MFA in Theatre). Amelia is a teaching artist that frequently leads workshops on intimacy direction, consent, and respectful collaboration in the theatre industry. To learn more about Amelia or to work with her check out her website - www.ameliamorse.com or www.themorseactorsstudio.com

Alicia Jay, Ph.D. (she/her) is an arts administrator, educator, and fight choreographer. She enjoys high-stakes storytelling through safe and consent-based practices. Based in the Midwest, Alicia is an Assistant Professor of Theater Management & Administration at Indiana State University and serves as the Director of Marketing & Patron Services for Crossroads Repertory Theatre, both in Terre Haute, IN. She also is a freelance arts consultant for nonprofit arts and culture organizations. Alicia earned her Ph.D. in Fine Arts – Theater (with a focus in Arts Administration) from Texas Tech University. Areas of specialty include theater sustainability, artificial intelligence in arts administration pedagogy/praxis, and creating better artistic environments from administrative and artistic perspectives. Alicia fuses her experience as an administrator, fight choreographer, intimacy director, and researcher into her collaborative practice rooted in safety, consent, and communication.

Ashley Coia (she/her) is a director and theatrical artist committed to creating exceptional theatrical experiences through human-centered spaces where creativity can flourish. Passionate about dramaturgy, she grounds her work in deep engagement with text, research, and movement. She received her BFA in Drama with a concentration in Musical Theatre from New York University's Tisch Department of Drama. Recent credits include: Ragtime (Associate Director, The Goodspeed), Carrie (Associate Director, NYU Tisch), The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (Director, Regional), Spring Awakening (Director, Regional, Winner: Broadway World Award for Best Direction of a Musical), & Godspell (Associate Director, Regional).

Ellie Frances is a genderqueer-lesbian queer creative working as a director, actor, creative consultant, and intimacy professional in theatre. Working both regionally and in NYC Ellie's focus is in new works and queer works. Some favorite directing and design credits include: The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nigh-time, Little Shop of Horrors, RENT, Trophy Boys (MCC - US Premiere). elliefrances.net

Scarlett Thompson (she/her) is an actor, sensitivity specialist, sexual violence preventionist, and consent educator. Scarlett has been acting since early childhood—she has performed professionally around the Twin Cities at the Guthrie, Children’s Theater Company, Mixed Blood, the History Theater, Youth Performance Company, and in commercial and film work. Scarlett also produced, wrote, directed, and acted in several award-winning productions in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and worked at The Playwright’s Center as an Artistic Apprentice. While receiving a B.A. in Theater at Vassar College, Scarlett began working in the field of sexual violence prevention. Today, she has merged her theatrical and professional careers and works as a consultant, dramaturg, and sensitivity specialist with a focus on works that address sexual and gender based violence. She has led talkbacks and worked on resource sharing for productions at New York Theater Workshop and Theater Et Alia, and most recently worked as Sensitivity Specialist for the Broadway industry reading of Abril, a new musical.

Vanessa Mizzone Pellegrini (she/her) is Theater Arts faculty at East Los Angeles College, where she teaches voice and movement in the Acting Program. At ELAC, she has directed multiple theater productions, including Death and The Maiden, which was a regional finalist in Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival in Hawaii. Previously, Vanessa also served as Region 8’s Irene Ryan Co-Director for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, of which she is still a respondent. In addition to ELAC, she has taught acting at Santa Monica College and UCLA. Professionally, Vanessa was a long time member of L.A.’s prestigious theatre company The Actors’ Gang, headed by Tim Robbins, where she was also the Director of Education for over 5 years. At The Actors’ Gang she performed in Embedded (National Tour), Tartuffe, Blood! Love! Madness!, Drums In The Night, Pericles on The High Seas, as the Queen in Gulliver’s Travels, and Emily in Our Town. Regional credits also include performing at the Theatre@Boston Court, The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. She completed the Groundlings School Comedy Program and has trained with comedy stars such as Lewis Black and Richard Kind. In television, Vanessa can be seen on ON CALL (Amazon), GENTEFIED (Netflix), KENAN (NBC), AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM (FX), GLEE (FOX), NO TOMORROW (CW), THE LAST SHIP (TNT) and as Elise on the CW's JANE THE VIRGIN. Vanessa has her MFA in Acting from UCLA and her BA in Theater & Communications from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rozie Curtis (she/her) has enjoyed a very long and diverse career in the theatre. At Theatre Under The Starts (TUTS), she was the manager of Education/Outreach helping to create many of the programs. At TUTS Academy, she was an acting teacher and director. She has been working with TUTS/River for over 20 years creating inclusive productions for their programs – highlighting individuals with disabilities. She currently teaches at Kinder High School for The Performing and Visual Arts and has just been appointed the Department Chair. She is a Tony Award Excellence in Education honorable mention winner for 2023 and Theatre Under The Stars Educator of the Year 2024. She is also an award-winning film director, stage director, writer, and choreographer and voice over actress. Her proudest achievement is that of being a mom to Trey Curtis, now performing as Hamilton in Hamilton, an American Musical on Broadway.

Rebecca McDonald (she/her) is an accomplished director, choreographer, designer, and actor known for bringing imaginative visions to life on stage. She has had the privilege of performing, choreographing, designing, and directing internationally, around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and in film and TV. An alumnus of Collin College Theatre, a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor’s degree in Art & Performance, and a graduate of Texas Woman’s University with a Master’s degree in Drama, Rebecca McDonald honed her craft through extensive training and hands-on experience in both traditional and experimental theatre. Whether reimagining timeless classics or exploring bold new narratives, she brings a unique artistic vision and a dedication to excellence to every project. Rebecca McDonald also works in educational theatre at North Garland High School. There she teaches Theatre, Technical Theatre, and coaches the international award-winning step team, The Raider Heat. She has earned recognition for educational theatrical success, receiving accolades such as the Dallas Theater Center’s Project Discovery Teacher of the Year in 2021 and North Garland High School’s Fine Arts Teacher of the Year in 2023.

Laura Hackman (she/her) is a nationally recognized Certified Sensitivity Specialist (CSS), Intimacy Director, Theatre Director, and Arts Educator with over 35 years of experience in professional and academic theatre. She currently serves as Resident Intimacy Director at Georgia State University and as Resident Consulting Intimacy Director at The Mercury Store in NYC. Laura pioneered the first intimacy course in the University System of Georgia and developed institution-wide guidelines for intimacy in both theatre and film. She regularly facilitates workshops and panels on consent, boundaries, and cultural competency for organizations including the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, the Alliance Theatre, and the Woodruff Arts Center. Her training includes the inaugural Sensitivity Specialist Cohort with Ann James, Theatrical Intimacy Education, Intimacy Directors International (now IDC), and the Association of Mental Health Coordinators. Laura’s work is grounded in trauma-informed, culturally responsive practices, empowering artists through care, equity, and consent-based collaboration. She is committed to reshaping rehearsal spaces as inclusive and courageous sites of storytelling.

Kelli Crump (she/her) Assistant Professor and Director of Theatre at Alma College, holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the National Theatre Conservatory and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from the University of Michigan. Kelli is a proud Detroit native who graduated from Central Michigan University and has studied Shakespeare at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Kelli is the 2025 National Alliance Acting Teacher of Excellence Award recipient for KCACTF Region 3. She is a recipient of the NAPAT Classical Acting Award, the VASTA Vocal Excellence Award, the Charlene Gordon Arts Impact Award, the John Cauble Emerging Leader Award, and the Region III ASPIRE Faculty Fellowship Award presented by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Kelli has worked with many of our nation's most critically acclaimed and award-winning professional theatre organizations including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. For more than a decade, Kelli has worked as a teaching artist, exposing others to the depth, richness, and excitement of culturally inclusive, anti-racist, and socially conscious live theatre. Kelli is a National Councilor and proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG/AFTRA, and was an official Tony Award voter for the 2023-24 Broadway Season. Stage credits include: Clyde's, Hair, Doubt, Hairspray, The Laramie Project, Little Shop of Horrors, Hamlet, Chicago, Tartuffe and A Little Night Music. Film/TV credits include: HBO's - LOOKING, ABC's - When We Rise, Being Flynn with Robert DeNiro, The Normals with Bryan Greenberg, The Hideout with Treat Williams, and The Storyteller with Christopher Atkins.

Jori Jackson (she/her) is a mutli-disciplinary theatre artist and Shreveport, Louisiana native. Her stage experience is rooted in devised storytelling and performance art that highly focuses on the upliftment and amplification of Black, BIPOC, Womxn, Youth, LGBTQIA centric works. She holds a B.S. in Musical Theatre and Performance Directing from Northwestern State University of LA. Her most recent directing work includes 4th Annual Banned Books Festival: The Stamped Project (Bishop Arts Theatre), Assoc. Director - HEALED ( Second Thought Theatre) and New Play Concert Reading (UTA Black Theatre Society). Some of her acting credits include: Ain’t No Mo (Soul Rep Theatre Co.) Lunchdora (Cara Mia Theatre Co) The Last Stop On Market Street (Dallas Children’s Theater) PETE (Dark Circles Contemporary Dance) Once On This Island, Memphis, AIDA and A Raisin In The Sun. She is a recipient of the DFW Black Arts- Irma P. Hall Awards Medal of Community Service for her work as Community Partnerships Program Manager at Broadway Dallas and is currently a member of the Second Thought Theater Associate Director Cohort.

Dax Valdes (he/him) is an actor, movement director, facilitator, and change-maker working at the intersection of the arts, social justice, and education. He has served as Associate Artistic Director for Leviathan Lab, Education Associate for the Vineyard Theatre, Producer for Capezio’s 125th and 130th Anniversary Galas, teaching artist for Vital Theatre Company, and Associate Producer for the annual Career Transition For Dancers Gala (2004-17). As a Training and Facilitation Specialist with Right To Be, in May of 2021, he was nominated to the GMA Inspiration List for his work within the AAPI community and Right To Be. His work on stages as actor and/or creative includes Webster Conservatory, Cape Fear Regional Theater, HERE Arts Center, Prospect Theater Company, NAATCO, Ma-Yi Theater, Sonnet Rep, Writopia Lab, Millbrook Playhouse, Walnut Street Theater, and PCPA Theaterfest. Associate member of SDC. Education: BFA Musical Theater - Point Park University; Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts.

Caitlin Kane (they/she) is an artist-scholar whose research and creative practice center on feminist, queer, and trans approaches to (re)staging history that deepen and complicate our understandings of contemporary socio-political issues. As a director, dramaturg, and sensitivity specialist, Kane integrates methods drawn from theatre and social change, intimacy direction, and devised documentary theater to foster consent-based and inclusive creative processes. Recent projects include directing Jaclyn Backhaus’ Men on Boats at Kent State University, assistant directing and dramaturging Leigh Fondakowski’s Casa Cushman, dramaturging Joshua Groffman and Sarah Heady’s Halcyon with Vital Opera, and associate writing and associate directing Kelli Simpkins’ The Loneliness Project. Kane’s recent scholarship includes co-editing Dramaturgy and History: Staging the Archive (Routledge 2024) and a symposium in Theatre and Performance Notes and Counternotes entitled “Dramaturgical Interventions into Contested Histories: Theatre as a Public Forum for Critical Inquiry” (2025).