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Ashley BowmanBoard President
Since 2014, Ashley Bowman (she/her) has worked periodically with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) as a stage manager and production manager. She is excited to be involved with CDE as a board member. She has a BFA in stage management from Northern Kentucky University and has been able to work with many wonderful companies over the years, including Covedale Center for the Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Collaboraction, Greenhouse Theatre Center, Eclipse Theatre Company, and many more. Bowman’s experience includes 15 years of stage management and five years as executive assistant to the COO and CIO of Potbelly Sandwich Shop. She currently resides in Chicago with her partner, Sean, and daughter Lily. They are very active in the Down Syndrome community, helping to advocate for their daughter and all her friends rocking 21 chromosomes.
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Megan LewisBoard Secretary
Megan Lewis (she/her), AICP, has more than 30 years of experience in project management, organizational development, strategic planning, relationship building, and project concepting. She has successfully raised and managed more than $6 million in programming funds for nonprofit and for-profit companies. At Arts Alliance Illinois she oversees the Public Funding Navigation program, which conducts research for and provides technical support to Illinois’s creative sector regarding public funding, working to strengthen the connections of the sector to overall community health and vitality. Megan held various positions with private sector planning, architecture, and engineering firms, including Cardno/Stantec and WRT LLC, within nonprofit organizations including the American Planning Association, where she was part of the research team for over a decade, and as an independent consultant to the Chicago Park District, Metropolitan Planning Council, and OAI Inc. Shas also been an adjunct instructor at Illinois Tech, co-teaching a course on site planning for architects. Megan holds a BA in economics from Indiana University and master’s degree in regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania.
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John BovardBoard Treasurer
John Bovard (he/him) has been supporting the accounting and tax reporting efforts of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) for three years before joining the board in 2015. He is a CPA with more than 25 years of financial accounting, tax, and consulting experience. Bovard’s experience includes 20 years with a Top 10 International CPA firm where he served as a partner. Currently, he is the managing partner of Bovard LLC. He is a life-long resident of Chicago and currently resides in the western suburbs with his wife, Barb, and son, Patrick. They are active members of the community and supporters of Chicagoland area nonprofit organizations.
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David GoodloeBoard Member
David (he/him) is a actor and educator. He takes pride in storytelling rooted in social good. He also has two decades of work as an actor. When he's not on stage, he's in the classroom as a SPED Teacher.
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Ellyzabeth AdlerEllyzabeth Adler is Founder and Executive Director of CDE.
Ellyzabeth Adler (she/her) is a MacArthur Award–winning artist and the Executive Artistic Director and Founder of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE), which she launched in 2001 at the age of 26. For 25 years, she has developed a distinctive danztheatre practice that weaves movement, text, image, and sound to explore pressing social issues and foster meaningful dialogue. Her portfolio includes twelve full-length productions and numerous shorter works, including T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, The Yellow Wallpaper, Touch, Mirrors, Hope, and Ethereal Abandonment, created in collaboration with Lucy Vurusic Riner of RE|Dance. Adler’s work sits at the intersection of art-making, education, and community-building. Through initiatives such as the Full Circle Festival, Body Passages Artist Residency, and Art Heals, she curates platforms that support artists, encourage risk and experimentation, and expand public access to multidisciplinary performance. Her socially engaged projects—including Unraveling Bill and works created with and for veterans—regularly move beyond traditional theatre venues into social service and community spaces, where they invite reflection, healing, and connection. A committed arts educator, Adler has spent 24 years designing curriculum, training teaching artists, and leading CDE’s arts education programs. Under her leadership, CDE has served more than 9,000 Chicago Public Schools students, particularly in under-resourced communities, providing sustained arts engagement that nurtures creativity, confidence, and critical thinking. Former students now return as educators and collaborators, reflecting the long-term impact of her mentorship and vision. As a survivor and advocate, Adler speaks publicly about domestic abuse and uses performance and storytelling as tools for awareness and change. She is also a published author of poetry and prose that explores resilience, embodiment, and care. Across her artistic, educational, and advocacy work, Adler is dedicated to using the arts as a catalyst for social justice, healing, and community transformation.
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Kim KohlerBoard Member
Kim Kohler (she/her) has been working as a Creative Arts Therapist and Life Enrichment Director in hospitals, day programs and senior living communities for the past 30 years. She is a Certified Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Trainer & Certified in Zumba Gold. She has presented workshops nationally and internationally on using the creative arts in programming and in treatment for special populations. Kim is grateful for the privilege of engaging with older adults, families and especially persons with memory loss. Kim is also a professional theatre artist having directed a social justice inspired teen theatre company in the northern suburbs of Chicago and performed with Cleveland Public Theatre, Playback Theatre Midwest, Yiddish Arts Ensemble and Chicago Comedy Company Chicago. Most importantly, she is proud to be a founding member of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble and performed in a variety of productions including The Yellow Wallpaper and Vaudeville Underground. Outside of work, she enjoys trying new recipes on Pinterest, seeing live theatre with friends, traveling, and volunteering with her son through The Honeycomb Project.
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Naomi FloresBoard Member
Hey Everyone! I am Naomi (she/they), and I am the current visual arts teacher at the Sherman School of Excellence located in the Back of the Yards. For many years before that I was the community engagement manager, teaching artist, and summer camp director at Chicago Danztheatre! During my time with CDE (2017 - present) I developed partnerships, curated public events, and mentored teaching artists. These experiences that strengthened my leadership and reinforced my belief that schools thrive when they are deeply connected to their communities. I previously worked as a Drop-In specialist for La Casa Norte, based in Humboldt Park, working with young people experiencing homelessness. My work with youth experiencing homelessness has informed my commitment to creating trauma-informed, inclusive learning environments. I recently graduated with my Masters in Education from DePaul University through the Chicago teacher's residency program, AUSL.
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1650 W FOSTER AVE
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