BIOGRAHIES

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MACHA Theatre Co. Mujeres(Women) Advancing, Culture, History & Art is a non-profit organization under the 501c3, that was formed in 2000 in order to build social, cultural, and artistic bridges between the straight an gay communities of various ethnicities and provide the LGBTI community a sense of belonging.

ODALYS NANIN,
Producing Artistic
Director - President

ODALYS NANIN is an award-winning playwright, director, producer and founder/artistic director of Macha Theatre/Films.

She has written ten plays to date: Love Struck, Garbo’s Cuban Lover, The Nun and the Countess, Beyond Love, Skin of Honey, The Adventures of the Lieutenant Nun, Naked in the Tropics, Lavender Love, Marilyn: My Secret, and The Judy Garland Show.

She’s also a Filmmaker and has written three screenplays and produced two short films. Ms Nanin’s plays have garnered LA Weekly Pick of the week, Backstage Critics Pick, LA Times Critic’s Choice, Best play by The Advocate and Curve Magazine. She was chosen by OUT Magazine as one out of 100 that made a difference in 2007. Ms. Nanin is the recipient of three Drama Log theatre awards (for acting, directing, and producing), the Maverick Award (Women’s Theatre Festival), and the Pat Parker Arts Award from (Christopher Street West). Ms. Nanin is also an actress and recently co-starred with AJ Cook and Shemar Moore in Criminal Minds. She’s a graduate of The Drama Studio London and Rutgers University. Ms. Nanin was interviewed by CAREER GIRLS as a role model in theatre for young girls. She is currently working on a new play, FRIDA-Stroke of Passion, and her play Garbo’s Cuban Lover will be produced in Florida in 2016. For more about Ms. Nanin please visit: www.OdalysNanin.com

CELIA DOMINGUEZ, VP/Treasurer
Celia obtained her BachelorÕs degree in chemistry from Rutgers University in 1984. Soon after graduation she obtained a research chemist position at Ayerst (currently Wyeth-Ayerst) in Princeton New Jersey were she synthesized novel heterocyclic compounds targeted for biological activity as antihypertensives, cardiotonics and bronchodilators. Her work at Ayerst inspired her to proceed towards her Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry. In 1991 she defended her thesis and received her Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Brown University. She then proceeded to do a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. After completion of her one year post-doctoral fellowship she began her career in the pharmaceutical industry at DuPont Merck as Senior Research Scientist where she designed and synthesized novel heterocyclic compounds as thrombin and Factor Xa inhibitors for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases from 1992 to 1997.

Celia is currently an Associate Director in Research at Amgen Inc. She is responsible for the management and direction of Medicinal Chemistry research in the therapeutic areas of inflammation and oncology. Celia has over 15 publications and patents. She is a member of the American Chemical Society, American Association of the Advancement of Science, associate editor in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents and has been and continues to participate as a session chair at Medicinal Chemistry Gordon Research Conference.

BEGONYA DE SALVO

Producer and entrepreneur Begonya De Salvo has explored the art of communication in a range of cultural arenas.

A native of Valencia, Spain, she obtained her bachelor's in art history at The University of Valencia and her master’s in European art history at Heidelberg University, Germany.

A classically trained actress (Stanislavski method), she has appeared on the Spanish stage in Aristophanes' "The Peace," Tennessee Williams "Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen," and Woody Allen's "God." She also played Espe, a gipsy at “La tarara del Chapao” [The bums’ lullaby] movie.

She is the host for “Las Gitanas de L.A” Podcast, and operates a successful transcription, translating and interpreting business, i-Verbatim, and is a certified Court Interpreter for the Los Angeles Superior Court.

ANIELKA GALLO

Anielka’s lifelong love of the arts began as a young girl watching dad mix inks for the printing press at the printshop.

From watching dad mix inks for the printing press, to high school yearbook editor for two years, to then go on
to pick up a few design tips/skills from Otis College of Art in Design in Los Angeles. She’s spent the bulk of her design career
in the automotive industry with Fortune 500 companies like Penske Motor Group and other local southern California auto dealers.
Designing ads, signage, brochures, posters, photo editing and various creative assets for online/web use is a daily happening

in her world. Most recently she's begun to pick up product photography.

However aside from graphic design, music, dancing, good food, her 4-legged assistant Samie, live theater has a special place
in her heart. She's excited to contribute her creative skills to MACHA Theatre. Anielka has fond memories of her high school

theatre run creating costumes, and all the fun that comes with putting on a good show!

ELIA ESPARZA

Elia Esparza is a leading expert in communications and journalism targeting the burgeoning Latino U.S.A. market and has produced and written dozens of articles. Editor-In-Chief for Latin Heat magazine, and a Communications Specialist and Content Writer for The Herrera Agency, Elia, integrates her 25 years experience in the areas of entertainment, education, medical public relations, and marketing, promotions/market research, and translations/transcriptions for film/TV EPKs and media info (English/Spanish). She is author of romance novel The Other Side of Paradise (Kensington/Pinnacle, NY), an award-winning script writer and story analyst, and has been published in many Latino-American publications.

MARIE KELLIER

President/CEO, MARIKEL International

Marie holds a B.A. in theater arts (cum laude), and an M.F.A. in film and television production from UCLA. Often the lead on projects and initiatives, she has successfully raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various education, arts and cultural projects, including securing grants from DCA, LA County Arts Commission, NEA,NPN,PreparingAchieversforTomorrow(PAT),Instituteof American Cultures, Arts Council England and other funders. A pre-qualified producer for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Marie has produced numerous large and small scale projects. She currently serves as Chair of the Empowerment Congress Arts and Culture Committee. As a Cultural Policy Fellow with Arts for LA, she chaired and co-authored a major position paper on the Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative (CEII), which resulted in an additional $235,000.00 in funding to implement the Initiative. She consults and advocats locally and internationally to embed diversity, access, inclusion and equity into arts and social practices.

A multi-award winning writer, Marie is an Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Fellow with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was recently elected to the Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board and works alongside other Board Members as advisors to the Government of Jamaica, with her focus being the Jamaican creative industries.

Marie lives, works and plays in Los Angeles.

JESSICA BAIR

Jessica Bair is a Cybersecurity professional who values art and artistic expression. She serves on the Board of Directors of Outfest, the premiere LGBTQ film festival. She served on the Human Rights Campaign’s Board of Governors and is the co-chair for the HRC Los Angeles Gala Dinner.

CHRIS HUME

Chris Hume is an award wining movie trailer editor. He also has two animated online series: "Attention Deficit Disorder Man" and "Umbilical Bob". He had directed and produced numerous documentaries, including "This is Cuba" and the "Red State Road Trip" series.

He also plays steel drum and teaches yoga.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jeremy Cohen
Antje Dohrn
Erin Gavin
Bonnie Mcmahan
Ludo Vika
Jeremy Lucas

HONORARY BOARD MEMBERS

Ivonne Coll
Danielle Eskinazi
Gigi Gaston
Dan Guerrero