Bring your lunch and learn more about the National Theater Project with NEFA Program Officer Leilani Ricardo.
About Leilani Ricardo
Leilani (Lay-lah-nee) Ricardo is the current Program Officer, Theater at New England Foundation for the Arts. In this role, Leilani partners with the team on administering NEFA’s portfolio of theater programs and services, especially the National Theater Project. The National Theater Project (NTP) animates an informed, interactive network of producing theaters, presenters, and ensembles, with an emphasis on devised, ensemble work. Leilani’s core responsibilities are administration of NTP’s full grant portfolio and amplifying the values and impact of NEFA’s theater programs while aligning NTP’s equity practices with organizational core values. In this capacity, Leilani serves as her team’s internal accessibility coordinator; provides extensive constituent support; collaborates with NEFA’s Communications department; manages community relationships; and drives right-relation based event and travel planning for the program.
Prior to joining NEFA, Leilani was the longest serving Director of Education to date at Urbanity Dance in Boston, MA. As an arts educator she most recently she served as a Guest Lecturer at the New England Conservatory and was a guest of the 2022 RaceB4Race cohort of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at ASU. A working artist, Leilani earned her B.A. in Dance, Theater from Dean College and is a lifelong martial arts practitioner with multiple black belts, most notably Kajukenbo and Arnis. She is an active member of her community, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Malden Cultural Council, a Community Advisor for the Resilient Mystic Collaborative , and is a founding member of Malden Pride Coalition.