The 2023-24 Alumni Board of Directors

Joshua Trotter

Joshua Trotter currently serves as Alumni President on the 2023-24 Alumni Board of Directors.  Joshua served as Alumni President in 2022-23 and 2020 as well.  Joshua graduated from SCPA in 2014 as a drama and technical theater major.  Joshua has just recently graduated from Cincinnati State with his Associate of Arts Degree with a focus in education and plans to earn his BA in Middle School Education from Northern Kentucky University.  Joshua is currently employed as a 2nd grade teaching assistant at SCPA.  In addition, he helps run the before and after school program (YMCA) for students in grades K-6.  Joshua is also an advisor of the MORE (Men, Organized, Respectful, and Educated) program for 7th/8th-grade boys at SCPA.  Joshua believes in the power of education and uses what he learned at SCPA to help current students and fellow alumni to find their voices every day.  It is his goal to bring the generations of alumni together and create an active alumni presence at SCPA.

Contact Joshua:  president@scpaalumni.org

Gerrick Kennedy

Gerrick Kennedy currently serves as Alumni Vice President on the 2023-24 Alumni Board of Directors. Gerrick graduated from SCPA in 2005 as a creative writing and technical theater major.  He went on to attend The Ohio State University, majoring in journalism and theatre. Gerrick is now an award-winning journalist, essayist, cultural critic and writer based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of N.W.A and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap and Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston. His writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, GQ, The Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal Magazine, Men’s Health, Variety, NPR Music, Billboard, Spin, i-D, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Shondaland, Cultured Magazine and the Los Angeles Times.

Gerrick’s goal for the SCPA Alumni Association is to better support the school’s mission and to expand on the ways alumni feel connected to the school. 

Contact Gerrick: vp@scpaalumni.org

Robyn Rex Cassidy

Robyn Cassidy was elected to the Alumni Board in 2021 and serves on various committees of the Association. Robyn graduated from SCPA in 1982 as a dance major.  She went on to attend the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, majoring in dance.  After getting married in 1984, she moved to California, then Michigan, back to Cincinnati, to Louisiana, back to California (where she was a dance director at the Palmdale Playhouse, and a preschool teacher), back to Cincinnati, then to Maryland (MD) and finally back to Cincinnati (hopefully for the last and final time!).  In 2012 she reconnected with another SCPA alum, Keith Cassidy, also class of ’82 (drama), and they married in 2015.  In 2020, she and Keith moved from MD back to Cincinnati where he began teaching at SCPA and is one of several exceptional drama teachers.  In 2017 while living in MD, Robyn began working for the Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, as a Correspondence Analyst.  Thankfully, she was able to keep her job once they moved to Cincinnati and is now able to work from home.  She has two beautiful children (+ spouses) and three granddaughters, who also live in the Cincinnati/Dayton area, as well as two wonderful stepsons, not to mention all the rest of Robyn and Keith’s siblings and most of their parents.

After being away from Cincinnati most of her adult life, she is thrilled to be back, and once again be a part of the school that had such an impact on her life.  She hopes to assist the board in connecting and reconnecting the alumni that have scattered throughout the country, and the world, and to strengthen the very special bond that SCPA alumni hold, as well as to share life experiences and knowledge with the newest alumni.

Contact Robyn: secretary@scpaalumni.org

Semion Androne

Semion Androne currently serves as the Treasurer on the 2023-24 Alumni Board of Directors.  He served as the Development Chair on his previous term on the 2018 Alumni Board of Directors.  Semion joined the SCPA family in the 8^th grade and graduated from SCPA in 1991 as an Art Major and Instrumental Music Minor.  After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army 10^th Mountain Division and served 3 years as an Infantry Soldier followed by 5 years in the Ohio National Guard.  While serving in the Guard, Semion also attended the College of Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati where he received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Architectural Engineering Technology in 2001.  In 2005 he also became a Licensed Realtor in the State of Ohio.  Semion currently lives in Cincinnati where he is married with three children, one of which is currently a 6^th grader at SCPA.  It is his goal to continue to build a stronger more active Alumni organization, designed to enhance and support the love of the arts, the students of SCPA and the SCPA Alumni abroad.

Contact Semion:  treasurer@scpaalumni.org

Christina Bilz

Christina Bilz is a graduate of the class of 2012, and majored in voice, musical theater, and instrumental music. She holds a degree in Vocal Performance/Opera from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, and currently serves as the Marketing & Communications Chair for the SCPA Alumni Board. She is based in Washington, DC.

As an operatic soprano, Christina has performed with many companies, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the May Festival Chorus, Cincinnati Opera, and Queen City Opera, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In addition to her operatic and choral work, she is an accomplished sacred musician, and has served as a section leader, soloist, and cantor at many houses of worship across the Cincinnati, OH and Washington, DC areas.

Through her arts marketing career, Christina has worked for several arts organizations, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, IN Series Opera, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She is passionate about grassroots initiatives, community-based programs, and inclusivity and equity in the arts, and strives to create and maintain strong relationships with audiences, donors, and artists to create an equitable and thriving community for years to come. Christina currently consults for various arts organizations, non-profits, and creators, designing bespoke branding materials, managing social media channels, and spearheading digital marketing initiatives.

Christina’s goal is to engage with the SCPA community to foster an inclusive environment and vibrant network of current and future alumni for years to come.

Contact Christina: communications@scpaalumni.org

Dana Bradley

Dana E. Bradley joined the Alumni Board in 2020 and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Governance Committee. She previously served two terms as Vice President of the Association. Dana began her attendance at SCPA when the school was located in Mt. Adams.  She attended SCPA for 8 years and graduated in 1982 as a Dance Major.  Upon graduation, she attended Miami University where she received her Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication in 1986 and her Master of Arts in Speech Communication in 1987.  In 1994, she received her MBA from Case Western Reserve University.  Dana currently resides in Washington, DC, and is the Vice President and Chief People Officer for The George Washington University.  Dana’s formative years through graduation gave her a passion and love for the arts which she has today.  She aims to give her time and resources to encourage alumni to engage and sustain SCPA’s legacy for creating wildly talented and successful people that make a difference in the world.

Contact Dana: governance@scpaalumni.org

Kenneth Gibson

Contact Kenneth: engagement@scpaalumni.org

Lynn Frederick Hawley

Lynn Frederick Hawley graduated from SCPA in 1989.  She majored in Dance, Creative Writing, Vocal Music and, for one year, Visual Art.  She described her time at SCPA as transformative and “life-saving” and firmly believes it shaped the person she was to become.  

After SCPA, Lynn earned degrees in Psychology and Social Work from Miami University of Ohio while continuing to dance in Miami’s Dance Theater.  She went on to obtain Masters’ degrees in Gender Studies and Medical Anthropology from the New School for Social Research in Manhattan.  She also has a Graduate Certificate in Law and Patient Health Care from Seton Hall University School of Law. 

Since 2005, Lynn has been with the Mount Sinai Health System Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program (SAVI) in New York City, first as its Assistant Director and now as its Executive Director for the past 11 years.  In total she has spent 30 years in the fields of sexual violence, sex trafficking and intimate partner violence, beginning in 1992 in rural Ohio as a Program Assistant for a campus-based Rape Crisis Program.  Since then, Lynn has held virtually every possible role in anti-violence programs across three states.  Lynn has a particular interest and expertise in addressing violence against people with disabilities, especially serious psychiatric disabilities.

In 2018, Lynn testified before Congress on behalf of The Mount Sinai Hospital to describe the model of Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Program provided by Mount Sinai Health System and the challenges faced in providing high quality forensic and medical sexual assault care around the country.  She has also trained NYPD and the FBI on the neurobiology of trauma and its impact on investigations.

Lynn merges her passion for and experience in the arts with her trauma work whenever possible.  For example, she provided consultation to the principal actors and full cast of the Broadway musical “Waitress” regarding themes of domestic violence and has worked with the writing staff and principal actors of Law and Order SVU on emerging issues of sexual violence and responses to these crimes. 

Lynn’s goal is to continue to expand the transformative spaces that exist at SCPA.

Contact Lynn:  development@scpaalumni.org

Stephanie Jeter

Stephanie F. Jeter joined the Alumni Board in 2022 and currently serves as the Scholarship Committee Chair.  Stephanie began her attendance at SCPA when it was located in Mt. Adams.  She is part of the first group of “SCPA Survivors”, having attended SCPA from the 4th to the 12th grade and graduating in 1983.  While attending SCPA, she majored in drama and minored in dance.  Stephanie attended the University of Cincinnati, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders in 1987, Masters of Arts in Audiology in 1989, and another Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology in 1996.  Upon graduating from college, Stephanie worked privately as an Audiologist and then joined Cincinnati Public Schools as a Speech-Language Pathologist.  As an SLP, she has worked for CPS for 24 years as either a building-based SLP or Lead SLP for the entire staff of school-based SLPs.  Currently, she works as an itinerant SLP serving the preschool population in their homes and/or learning centers.  Stephanie’s desire to become a board member stems from her direct work with CPS students.  Her goal is to engage alumni in reaching back and lending a helping hand to those students who are wishing to fuse their art background with other career aspirations.

Contact Stephanie: scholarships@scpaalumni.org

Rannie McCants

Rannie McCants is a “survivor” that graduated from SCPA in 2012, majoring in Creative Writing.  Rannie currently serves as  Alumni Engagement Co-Chair.  She went on to study Dramatic Writing at New York University and has since published theater reviews for blogs that promote new theater works.  Her own plays have been performed in festivals and small theaters around New York City.  She became a semi-finalist for the 2010 Robert Fox Award for Young Writers and in 2012 she was selected to be a Mamie Earl Sells Scholar by the YWCA.  Most recently, she became a 2016 Superior Performance Award recipient for her non-profit service to the McBurney YMCA.  Rannie regularly volunteers her fundraising and writing skills for non-profit organizations that support people of color, art, and health initiatives.  She currently serves on the Young Adult Board for the Riverside Church, the conference planning committee for Prospect Con, and is an active member of the Fund Development Committee of the New York Urban League.  Her unique background has attracted the interest of television programs like The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa.  Presently, Rannie works in fund development at The Public Theater in New York City and hopes to complete a full-length play centered around identity and generational trauma by 2020.  Rannie’s vision for the SCPA Alumni Association is to connect Alumni back to SCPA no matter where they are in the world.

Contact Rannie:  engagement@scpaalumni.org

Douglas Ball

William T. Chaney Jr.

William T. Chaney, Jr. graduated from SCPA in 1979 and was previously the Scholarship Committee Chair.  William also graduated from the University of Cincinnati 1984.  As a pastor William led congregations to grow through immersion in worship through the creative arts.  This experience created a deep relationship with the arts community in Baltimore.  Through his international speaking, training, and coaching engagements, he sparks motivation and helps construct corporate cultures that encourage collaboration, increase employee engagement, and celebrate innovation.  William’s unique blend of entrepreneurship, consulting, coaching, theological education, and performing arts training positions him to create an engaging and transformative experience for today’s innovative non-profits, corporate leaders, and employees.  William recently started The Chaney Coaching Group and his portfolio includes designing the Prodigal Worship Conference, the New Pathways curriculum, while he is currently finishing his Doctorate in Ministry.  Rooted in the principles of Dr. King’s Beloved Community, William delivers solutions that help each congregation and companies live out their authentic branding for their context.  William is an ICF Certified Coach, a CliftonStrengths® Certified Coach, Certified CliftonStrengths® Discovery Course Trainer, DiSC® facilitator, Q12 Employee Engagement Champion and the Builder Profile 10 Coach.  William currently lives in Northern Virginia and is married to Michelle and they have one teenage daughter.  William is hopeful that the Alumni Association will help establish a loving legacy of SCPA.

Ari DeWolf

Ari DeWolf was appointed to the Alumni Board in 2022 and previously served as Development Chair. Ari graduated from SCPA in 2009, majoring in creative writing, drama and stage management. After graduation, Ari attended Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he also began his career in public policy advocacy. 

Currently, Ari works with state legislators across the country on education reform for the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think-tank based in Washington DC and Los Angeles.   

After over a decade of living in several other states, Ari and his husband, David, have recently returned to his hometown of Cincinnati. 

Ari’s vision is to foster an inclusive and dynamic alumni organization serving the needs and aspirations of both former and current students.

15th Alumni Board Seat Vacant

If interested in serving the board please contact:  info@scpaalumni.org