Jerome Allen-Smith (He/Him) is an actor and marketing professional in NYC. Jerome received his MFA in Acting from The New School. After his masters program, he worked as the Marketing Fellow in the 2050 Administrative Fellowship for New York Theatre Workshop. With those skills in set, Jerome now worked at Media Art Xploration as the Director of Marketing and as the Marketing Associate at Baruch Performing Arts Center. He is excited to join the team on NQT to continue to broaden his skillset and to give back to him community. When not talking about theatre, Jerome can be found on a run, at a concert, or on a plane to new destination, somewhere around the world.

Khadija Bangoura (they/them) is a Black & Queer theater and teaching artist based in Brooklyn. Khadija received their BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University. They are passionate about shepherding new work in front of New York Audiences and inspiring communities through collaborative-based theatre education, They started their theatrical journey as an African Dancer, participating in their parent’s performance company, “Jeh Kulu Dance & Drum Theatre”. Khadija works toward freedom and cultural specificity. Produced and directed: Peach Phoenix vs. The American Nightmare by Cole

Merrell and Jacob Morton at South Oxford Stage, Salamander and the Impediment by Charlotte Weinman at Pink Frog Cafe, and Mad Little Reefers by Michael Valladares at Fresh Fruit

Festival. Playwriting Credits: Jamal The Black Boy Werewolf at BU Theatre, Sunjata at BU’s New Work Fest. They made their off-Broadway debut at the Cherry Lane Theatre with the Negro Ensemble Company.

Jaden Bridges is a multi-hyphenate performance artist whose life-work embodies the resilience of a rose blooming through concrete. Growing up in Orlando, Florida, Jaden was inspired to channel his artistic inclinations into uplifting and inspiring his community. This journey led him through a series of performing arts primary schools and eventually to Boston, Massachusetts, where he honed his craft at Boston University. There, he dedicated himself to making the arts more inclusive and ensuring his people have a seat at the table. While at Boston University, Jaden wore many hats and developed skills in all avenues of the theatre. From studying for a BFA in Acting, to interning at Boston theatre companies (SpeakEasy Stage), to traveling to South Africa to create and widen his worldview. In 2022, Jaden was a member of the Link Program (Class 4) where he focused on TV/Film. Most recently he has begun his professional career as a playwright, coming straight out the gate with this Kennedy Center Award Winning Play, My Brother's Keeper. His first play scored two awards at the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival in 2025. The play was then workshopped at the Kennedy Center Undergraduate Workshop series. Now relocated to New York City, he is continuing to use his writing, performance, and other modes of expression to uplift the artists that have previously been overlooked. Please follow his website to stay updated on what he’s up to next!: jadenhatim.com

Adam Odsess-Rubin (he/him) is a queer community organizer and artistic leader advancing performance as a tool for global LGBTQ+ advocacy. He is the Founding Artistic Director of National Queer Theater (NQT) and the Obie Award–winning Criminal Queerness Festival, a platform for censored and criminalized LGBTQ+ artists worldwide.

Through NQT, he has produced work by artists from Uganda, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Kenya, Poland, and Palestine, amplifying voices from regions where queer expression is suppressed or outlawed. Under his leadership, NQT has raised more than $1 million for queer and trans artists since 2018, and developed programs serving hundreds of LGBTQ+ youth, asylum seekers, elders, and people living with HIV.

He has produced work with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York Theatre Workshop, HERE Arts Center, MCC Theater, NYC Pride, and PAC NYC, positioning queer artists on major U.S. stages. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Advocate, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, The Guardian, NY1, and NBC News.

Odsess-Rubin previously served as assistant to his mentor, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Cleve Jones. He is a former Education Associate at New York Theatre Workshop and the inaugural Education and Community Programs Fellow at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. His essays have appeared in Yale’s Theater, The Gay & Lesbian Review, HowlRound, and The Teaching Artist Journal. He has spoken at conferences in New York, California, D.C., Florida, and Brazil.

He is a recipient of the 2020 Mayor’s Grant for Cultural Impact and was named a 2022 AMNY LGBTQ+ Power Player. BA, UC Santa Cruz. MA, New York University.

Achiro P. Olwoch (she/her) teaches the Criminal Queerness Studio and was National Queer Theater's Interim Artistic Director from Jan-March 2025. Achiro is a writer who hails from Gulu, Northern Uganda. She was born in and grew up in exile as a result of the Idi Amin murderous era that displaced her parents. She has written four books so far and is presently in the process of completing her late father’s manuscripts that he left behind after his death in 1994. Several of short stories have been published in a couple of anthologies around the world. One of her short stories got a special mention by the Common Wealth short story prize. Achiro has also worked as a radio script writer and film and television script writer. She has worked as staff writer and sub-editor for the Ugandan lifestyle magazine ‘African Woman’ magazine. She was also the editorial director for a lifestyle magazine that she started in Malawi in 2012 called ‘The African Dzuwa’ meaning The African Sun. She has mentored emerging writers on writing in the performing arts during annual residential workshops by the Kampala International Theatre Festival for the past two years. More about Achiro and her works can be found on her website: www.achiropolwoch.com

Anushka Srivastava (she/they) is a New York-based stage manager and student, currently pursuing her degree in Stage Management at Pace University. Anushka is originally from Minnesota and has stage managed multiple productions at the Minnesota Fringe Festival (including Extreme Roadshow, Make America Gray Again, and I Am Here). When not backstage or in the booth, she loves playing guitar, badminton, and playing niche board games with their friends. Community has been the cornerstone of their career thus far and they are thrilled to join the wonderful artists at NQT, helping to facilitate needed theatre. She was drawn to theatre because of the collaboration and how every role and person has a purpose. Particularly at a time and in a country where belonging can feel increasingly fragile, Anushka is fortunate to be part of and contribute to National Queer Theater’s mission.

Sean Tecson (he/him) is a New York City-based arts administrator, playwright, and director. He has worked with leading New York cultural organizations including Ma-Yi Theater Company, National Asian American Theatre Company, A.R.T./New York, and Roundabout Theatre Company.

Prior to joining National Queer Theater, Sean spent five years at Vox Media, a top-10 U.S. digital media company, where he was a core member of the Commercial Operations team, focusing on employee experience, learning and development, internal communications, and change management. He brings that experience back to the nonprofit theatre arts with a focus on building sustainable organizations that allow artists and their work to thrive.

As an artist, Sean works under the name Nate Cozens. His full-length play Debut: Coming of Age in Filipino America will receive a workshop production with CIRCA Pintig in Chicago this fall. His other work includes directing Banana at The Provincetown Theater and I Like It Rough with National Queer Theater, as well as producing and directing new work at theater festivals including the New York International Fringe Festival.

A Filipino-American and queer theatermaker, Sean creates work filled with heart, humor, and early-2000s rom-com earnestness, exploring identity and the humorous ways people find connection and belonging. He holds a BA in Theatre and Dance from The University of Texas at Austin.