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Meet Our Founder
Kira Troilo
Kira Troilo (she/her) is a Boston-based creative, and the CEO and founder of Art & Soul Consulting, and the creator and founder of Inclusive Stages®. A BFA graduate from Emerson College, Kira also holds an HR Essentials certificate from eCornell and is set to be a member of the 2024 ACOM cohort through American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University. She was also recently awarded the distinguished Community Impact Award for SpeakEasy Stage Company’s 2024 gala. Kira’s groundbreaking EDI work was recently featured in American Theatre Magazine. Kira’s consulting work for dozens of organizations has taken her both nationally and internationally. In summer of 2023, she provided tailored support for the world premiere of "Summer Stock: The Musical" at Goodspeed Opera House, starring Corbin Bleu. In the winter of 2024, she provided tailored support for Something Rotten! at Stratford Festival in Canada.
Kira has also crafted and shared her own, fully-tailored EDI workshop and development sessions with adjudicators, arts educators, theater ushers and volunteers, and boards of directors. In April 2024, Kira launched the first season of her new podcast, “Inclusive Stages”, named for her newly crafted framework. With her cohort certification and membership programs, her goal is to standardize the organizational work of EDI for theater and the arts, and to make Inclusion Consultants as common and as crucial as stage managers for productions worldwide. She lives with her husband and 2 beautiful sons in Massachusetts.
Dr. Charmain Jackman
Zena Collins
Zena Collins (she/her) is a change architect and executive producer focused on the creative industries and financial services. Graduating in Media Studies at University of Sussex, she was on the founding HR team at Channel 5 TV creating their mentor programme and set up the DEI function at Channel 4 in the 90s, to make the commissioning process more inclusive. She is an alumni of Big 4 professional services firm, EY, where she held senior operational and advisory roles. As Chair of the Ernst & Young (EY) Black Network she achieved 80% of the strategic plan within 6 months; winning a Race for Opportunity Award for Most Improved Firm and launching the first Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) leadership program. Certified in MSCEIT Emotional Intelligence and Williams Bridges Transition Management methodologies, Zena has designed and delivered change solutions for Sony Pictures, Black Cultural Archives, NY Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, Theatre 503 and 45 North and delivered DEI training to over 50 theater makers in the UK.
An Executive producer of award-winning independent feature, shorts and plays, she executive produced The Great Privation: How to Flip Ten Cents into a Dollar by Nia Akilah Robinson, J'Ouvert a play by Yasmin Joseph which transferred to the West End with Sonia Friedman Productions where she developed a DEI marketing strategy to attract Black audiences to the West End; she also provided DEI advisory services to Harry Potter & the Cursed Child and Get Up! Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical. Zena is a Board trustee at Theatre503, and lives in Maryland, US.
Dr. Charmain Jackman (she/her) is an award-winning psychologist, author, TEDx Speaker, leadership coach and a leading voice on mental health and workplace wellbeing. She is CEO/founder of InnoPsych, a premier resource for inclusive mental health solutions. Dr. Charmain has supported artists and their wellbeing for 20 years, and is a strategic partner with arts institutions to design trauma-informed spaces for their cast/crew and audiences. She is creator of the My Time To Thrive card deck, an interactive tool to address stress reduction through joy and mindfulness.
Her impactful work has earned her numerous accolades including the 2021 City of Boston’s Black History Month’s Innovator of the Year award and She has been featured on prominent national media outlets such as the New York Times, NPR, Oprah Daily, Essence, Brides.com, and the Boston Globe. She is also mom to two wonderfully creative children.
