Board - Uprising Theatre Company

Meet the Board of Uprising!

Board Bios:

Cindi Beth Johnson is the director of The Intersection: Wilson Yates Center for Theology & the Arts and Professor in the Practice of Theology and the Arts at United. She is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She earned her M.Div. from Luther Northwestern Seminary and her D. Min. from Luther Seminary. She serves as the board chair of the Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies (SARTS). Most recently, she was a Creative Community Leadership Fellow with Intermedia Arts in 2014. She has written many articles for the SARTS journal, ARTS, as well as contributing to Visual Theology: Forming and Transforming the Community through the Arts (ed. Robin M. Jensen and Kimberly J. Vrudny); Arts, Theology and the Church: New Intersections (ed. Kimberly Vrudny and Wilson Yates); and Teaching for a Multifaith World (ed. Eleazar Fernandez). Cindi Beth believes that the arts are a vessel for imagination and the creative spirit

Robert Chelimsky is proud to be supporting the changing voice and face of the American theatre as the Managing Director at the Playwrights’ Center since 2017. He moved Twin Cities to assume that role from New York and Epic Theatre Ensemble, where he served for six years as the company’s first managing director. At Epic, he executive produced the world premieres of Dispatches from (A)mended America by Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. and Brandt Adams, and Nilaja Sun’s Pike St., the NY premiere of Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths, and also commissions by Dominique Morriseau, Heather Raffo, Keith Josef Adkins and Ken Urban, among others. Most notably, during his tenure, Epic developed the groundbreaking Epic NEXT youth development program—a program focused on building a new generation of diverse theatre and community leaders. Prior to joining Epic, Robert spent five years managing Chautauqua Theater Company, where working with Vivienne Benesch and Ethan McSweeney, he helped to create the Chautauqua New Play Commission. Prior, he co-founded Gryphon Productions in Knoxville with Charles R. Miller, serving as Executive Director for eight years, producing The Bard of Education Shakespeare-in-the-Schools Tour and the Smoky Mt. Shakespeare Festival. He’s spent seven years on regional boards for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. For all of that, his most valued titles are Katharine’s (19) and Julia’s (9) dad, and Emily’s husband.

Daniel Wolpert worked as a research scientist, psychologist, spiritual director, farmer, teacher, and construction worker before earning his Masters of Divinity degree at San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS). Over the past nearly thirty years he has taught in the fields of psychology and spiritual formation, led retreats, and delivered talks in such settings as the Art of Spiritual Direction Program at SFTS, the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project, national ministry conferences, UCLA, UND medical school, Luther Seminary, the 5-Day Academy for Spiritual Formation and numerous churches, camps, and other ministry settings. Recently he has also worked as a church pastor while continuing his spiritual direction work in private practice and through the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing. Daniel is the co-founder and director of the Minnesota Institute of Contemplation and Healing (MICAH, www.micahprays.org). He is also the author of “Leading a Life with God, the practice of spiritual leadership (Upper Room 2006), “Creating a Life with God: the call of ancient prayer practices”(Upper Room 2003), co-author of “Meeting God in Virtual Reality: using spiritual practices with media” (Abingdon 2004), and most recently “The Collapse of the Three Story Universe: Christianity in an Age of Science” (MICAH 2013).

Daniel Wolpert, a student of the spiritual life, has taught in the fields of psychology and spiritual formation in numerous settings over the past 30 years. Co-founder and Executive Director of the Minnesota Institute of Contemplation and Healing (www.micahprays.org), he is also the author of “Leading a Life with God, the practice of spiritual leadership, “Creating a Life with God: the call of ancient prayer practices,” co-author of “Meeting God in Virtual Reality,” and most recently “The Collapse of the Three Story Universe: Christianity in an age of Science” (MICAH 2013).

Chad Schwitters. For more than 18 years, Chad has led Urban Homeworks as the Executive Director (in the early years also an accountant, development officer, carpenter, and anything else that needed to be done). He continues to drive the organization toward catalyzing the power of the community and uplifting the voices of change agents as they seek justice. Chad lives in North Minneapolis with his wife Sheila, and their children Sam, Joe, and Kate.

Anthony Neuman. Anthony works as a theater maker and teacher in the twin cities. He has been the director of the youth performance program at the Sabes Jewish Community Center for six years, and teaches preschool in the same center during the school year. Anthony also facilitates conversations with fellow educators and caregivers about mindfulness in language, specifically around gender identity. He has been seen on stage and worked as a playwright with 20% Theater Company, Freshwater Theater Company, the Twin Cities One Minute Play Festival, and others.

Jean M. Hartman began her career in public accounting. Over the last 40 years she has been an entrepreneur with a grocery store business and served as controller of entrepreneurial companies, including a home improvement business, an auto parts leveraged buyout venture, and a large marketing/travel organization. Jean joined academia in 1992, teaching at Hennepin Technical College and then the University of St. Thomas, both in Minnesota. In 2003 she became the CFO for the Sisters of St. Benedict of St. Paul’s Monastery in Minnesota. Over the next six years she oversaw the sale of the original monastery; the construction of a smaller, more efficient monastery; and the sale of adjacent land for affordable and senior housing. Jean has continued to work with nonprofit organizations, including an affordable housing, resident services, and education provider, as well as several nonprofit theaters.
Jean’s areas of interest include working with entrepreneurs and nonprofits to develop their understanding of financial statements and the critical importance of cash flow while applying ethical business practices. Jean holds a BA in business administration and accounting from Southwest Minnesota State University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. She is a certified public accountant.