Board of Directors
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Diane Middleton
PRESIDENT
Community Activist, Retired Maritime Attorney, Former VP of the Board of Harbor Commissioners of the Port of LA
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Marlene McCurtis
SECRETARY
TWP Associate Director, Documentarian and Lead Teaching Artist: Writing
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Alice Müller Coleman
TREASURER
Development Manager at Balanced.org
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Ginny Oshiro
TRUSTEE
Program Manager at Amend.org
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Allen Burnett
TRUSTEE
Co- Founder & Executive Director of the Prism Way
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Sharon Kyle
TRUSTEE
Publisher and co-founder of LA Progressive
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Osbert Owuor
TRUSTEE
Senior Case Manager at Friends Outside in Los Angeles County, and a former TWP program participant at Dads Back! Academy
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Susan “Susie” Franklin Tanner
EX-OFFICIO
TWP Founder/Director, Lead Teaching Artist: Physical Theatre
Diane Middleton - Diane founded the Diane Middleton Foundation in 1998, a nonprofit foundation committed to supporting individuals and organizations fighting for basic economic, labor and civil rights in the areas of housing and elimination of homelessness, educational reform, and labor organizing.
Along with David Arian, in 1993 she co-founded the Harry Bridges Institute — an organization dedicated to promoting labor, worker education and community organizing — and has been a member of its leadership team ever since.
Through the years, Diane has served in leadership positions on numerous boards, including the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, the Toberman Settlement Center and the Harbor Interfaith Shelter.
A resident of San Pedro, Diane is an attorney and expert in labor and maritime law. From 1979 until her retirement in 2010, she represented approximately 7,000 individuals until her retirement in 2010. She was the first to file a class action asbestos lawsuit on behalf of shipyard workers.
Marlene McCurtis - Marlene is a digital and literary storyteller with expertise spanning directing and writing nonfiction television and documentary films, community media engagement, and teaching creative writing in diverse communities.
She is in post-production on Wednesdays In Mississippi, her first independent feature documentary, which has been selected for the Cucalorus and Athena Film Festival Work-in-Progress Labs.
Marlene directed The Circle and STAND!, for TheatreWorkers Project.
The Circle, a spoken word and movement collage, was written and performed by system-impacted artists. It has screened at the Social Justice Film Festival, the Global Peace Festival, the Monologue and Poetry International Film Festival, and the Justice on Trial Film Festival.
STAND! was written by residents of CSP-Lancaster and performed by formerly incarcerated men. It is currently on the film festival circuit.
Marlene is a Ken Burns Film Award Finalist, a Lavine/Better Angels Fellow, a Firelight Media Documentary Lab Fellow, a Sundance Sustainability Humanities Fellow and a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
Alice Müller Coleman - Alice holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature and a Minor in Studies in Cinema and Media Culture from the University of Minnesota. She has years of development experience in the nonprofit space. As our Board Treasurer, Alice works closely with Founder/Director Susie Tanner to ensure that TheatreWorkers Project’s development strategy and fundraising campaigns are on track. Alice is based in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and three rescue dogs. track.
Ginny Oshiro - Ginny believes in the transformative power of storytelling to reimagine carceral systems. As someone who has been privileged to experience the transformative power of community care, she brings lived experience and a deep commitment to the possibilities of healing, dignity, and change through creative work.
Ginny has participated in research efforts on the impact of prison arts programs and has collaborated on policy advocacy efforts that support rehabilitation for incarcerated people.
She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Southern California, where her work explores how public health can be a vehicle for systemic transformation in the criminal legal system.
As a board member of TheatreWorkers Project, Ginny is honored to support and align with the organization’s mission of centering the voices and creative expression of those impacted by incarceration.
Allen Burnett - After 28 years of incarceration. Allen’s sentence of Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP) was commuted by California Governor Gavin Newson in 2019. In 2020, he was released through the parole hearing process. He is the co-founder & Executive Director of the Prism way, a member of the Executive Board of Transformative Programming Works, and serves on the Human Rights Watch’s National Life Without Parole Leadership Council. Allen’s journey from incarceration to advocacy exemplifies the transformative power of education, accountability, self-reflection, and community support. He has a B.A. and an M.A in Communication Studies, with emphasis in Organizational Communication, from California State University, Los Angeles.
Sharon Kyle - is the publisher and co-founder of LA Progressive, a daily digital magazine dedicated to truth-telling, racial equity, and social justice. With a career that bridges law, publishing, and advocacy, she brings a justice-centered lens to every facet of her work—challenging dominant narratives, amplifying marginalized voices, and holding power to account.
Osbert Owuor - Osbert is a returned citizen who joined Friends Outside in Los Angeles County after an extended incarceration. His journey began in New York City, where his family lived before relocating to Los Angeles for work. Osbert initially planned to attend college and pursue a career in finance, but legal challenges led to a sentence of two life terms in the California prison system.
After serving over 25 years, pivotal legislation — Senate Bill 260 — offered him a second chance. As part of his reintegration, he joined the June 2017 cohort of the Dads Back Academy, igniting his passion for reentry work.
Leveraging his personal experience, he now helps others transition successfully back into society. Osbert has dedicated over five years to Friends Outside, serving as a mentor and advocate for those navigating reentry. His lived experience allows him to provide invaluable support, empowering individuals in their pursuit of redemption and a brighter future.
Susan “Susie” Franklin Tanner - Susie is an innovator in the field of documentary theatre & arts education with 40 years of experience as a producer, director, actor, teaching artist and PD provider who has led the creation of thirty community-based TWP performance pieces.
Her work in the California corrections includes guest artist workshops at Valley State Prison, and teaching artist positions at CIM and CIW.
She is the director and lead physical theatre teaching artist for TWP’s Theatre Inside program at California State Prison-LAC, and the director of TWP’s theatre reentry programs at Cal State LA’s Project Rebound and The Francisco Homes.
Susie conceived and co-produced TWP’s filmed poetic collage The Circle; She conceived and co-directed the stage version of STAND!, and conceived and produced the film version, which was funded by her LA County Performing Arts Recovery Individual Artist grant. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors’ Equity Association and Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA.