Josie Whittlesey's guest appearances

Josie Whittlesey

Why I‘ll Never Make It

EnTrance Theatre Talk

Nonprofit Mastermind Podcast

Evelyn LeBel

Chris Stepanek

Alisa Hurwitz

Kimberly Faye Greenberg

Kelvin Moon Loh

Bret Shuford

Gabrielle Ruiz

Mara Davi

Damian Thompson

Michael Kushner

James Kennedy

Rebecca Luker

Jerry Mitchell

Carmen Cusack

Ellie Brigida

OwlTail

This week I’m sharing a wonderful conversation with Josie Whittlesey, founder, and leader of Drama Club. Drama Club is one of those truly transformational organizations that when you learn what they do, and the real and lasting changes they bring about in the lives of young people, you feel inspired in the true sense of the word. Drama Club goes deep into the worlds and lives of young people in the NYC prison industrial complex. And uses drama and personal storytelling to unlock and nurture a connection to some bigger vision of what is possible for them and for their lives. Josie and I talk about her founding story, being compelled to do the work that she does, and the powerful impact that committing to the vision of an organization, and following through on that vision, can have on the people and communities we work with and serve. I hope you enjoy the conversation.    

This week I’m sharing a wonderful conversation with Josie Whittlesey, founder, and leader of Drama Club. Drama Club is one of those truly transformational organizations that when you learn what they do, and the real and lasting changes they bring about in the lives of young people, you feel inspired in the true sense of the word. Drama Club goes deep into the worlds and lives of young people in the NYC prison industrial complex. And uses drama and personal storytelling to unlock and nurture a connection to some bigger vision of what is possible for them and for their lives. Josie and I talk about her founding story, being compelled to do the work that she does, and the powerful impact that committing to the vision of an organization, and following through on that vision, can have on the people and communities we work with and serve. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Spotlight on Drama Club, with Josie Whittlesey

Drama Club is an innovative non-profit organization that provides theatre programming and positive mentorship to young people who are incarcerated or court-involved in New York City, bringing classes into juvenile detention centers, jails and community centers.  Drama Club is committed to providing New York City’s most vulnerable youth the opportunity to laugh, play, and cultivate life skills through improvisational theatre. Josie Whittlesey is the founder and Executive Director of Drama Club. Her previous work includes teaching for Rehabilitation Through the Arts at Sing Sing and Woodbourne Correctional Facilities, where she taught courses on acting, public speaking, and comedy. Before founding Drama Club, Josie developed a drop-in acting class for GEMS, serving girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Over the last ten years she has taught acting, improvisation, and text analysis at Fordham University, New York University, Montclair State University, and Larry Singer Studios. She holds an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting program.

Drama Club is an innovative non-profit organization that provides theatre programming and positive mentorship to young people who are incarcerated or court-involved in New York City, bringing classes into juvenile detention centers, jails and community centers.  Drama Club is committed to providing New York City’s most vulnerable youth the opportunity to laugh, play, and cultivate life skills through improvisational theatre. Josie Whittlesey is the founder and Executive Director of Drama Club. Her previous work includes teaching for Rehabilitation Through the Arts at Sing Sing and Woodbourne Correctional Facilities, where she taught courses on acting, public speaking, and comedy. Before founding Drama Club, Josie developed a drop-in acting class for GEMS, serving girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Over the last ten years she has taught acting, improvisation, and text analysis at Fordham University, New York University, Montclair State University, and Larry Singer Studios. She holds an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting program.

For the first Spotlight Series of 2019 I’m joined by Josie Whittlesey, the founder and Executive Director of Drama Club. The organization started in 2013, providing theatre programming to incarcerated and court-involved young people. They bring classes into juvenile detention centers, jails and community centers throughout New York City.  Currently, Drama Club works with about 500 individual students between the ages of 10-21, using improv as their core curriculum, empowering young people to tell the stories they want to tell, in the ways in which they want to tell them.   From her previous work with Rehabilitation Through the Arts and Girls Educational &amp; Mentoring Services, Josie has proven to be staunch advocate for those who are underserved and in need of the outlet and experience that theater provide. I caught up with her at the Drama Club office in Long Island City, where she shares how this important organization began and talks about the lives they impact in such positive ways. Find out more about Drama Club and Josie. ---------- The time and expense needed to bring these guests and conversations to you each week is sometimes challenging but always rewarding. Please consider buying me a coffee to support this work that goes into each episode.   Join the WINMI community by following on Instagram or Twitter as well as reaching out to Patrick with any questions or comments: contact.winmipodcast.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first Spotlight Series of 2019 I’m joined by Josie Whittlesey, the founder and Executive Director of Drama Club. The organization started in 2013, providing theatre programming to incarcerated and court-involved young people. They bring classes into juvenile detention centers, jails and community centers throughout New York City.  Currently, Drama Club works with about 500 individual students between the ages of 10-21, using improv as their core curriculum, empowering young people to tell the stories they want to tell, in the ways in which they want to tell them.  From her previous work with Rehabilitation Through the Arts and Girls Educational &amp; Mentoring Services, Josie has proven to be staunch advocate for those who are underserved and in need of the outlet and experience that theater provide. I caught up with her at the Drama Club office in Long Island City, where she shares how this important organization began and talks about the lives they impact in such positive ways. Find out more about <a href="https://www.dramaclubnyc.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Drama Club</a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/YRCDccLFv6g" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Josie</a>. ---------- The time and expense needed to bring these guests and conversations to you each week is sometimes challenging but always rewarding. Please consider <a href="https://ko-fi.com/winmipodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">buying me a coffee</a> to support this work that goes into each episode.   Join the WINMI community by following on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/winmipodcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> or <a href="https://www.twitter.com/winmipodcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> as well as reaching out to Patrick with any questions or comments: <a href="https://www.pojones.com/contact-winmi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">contact.winmipodcast.com</a> Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>