TechsmARTs Panel Bios – October 26, 2011
Elizabeth Labbe-Webb, VSA Arts Georgia – (Executive Director) She brings more than sixteen years of professional experience in the arts to her position at VSA arts of Georgia. Elizabeth has extensive experience working with non-profit organizations in the areas of fundraising and development, board development, and grant development. In previous positions she has been responsible for curriculum design, marketing and promotions, program development, strategic plan development, and customer relationship management. Elizabeth has been involved in the formation of several non-profit arts service groups, is an award winning theatre director and costumer, and a respected acting coach. She earned her BA in Theatre Arts from Kent State University, and she holds an MBA, with a concentration in Marketing and Strategic Leadership, from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. Since moving to Atlanta she has taken over the leadership of an all volunteer educational history based non profit group, is alumna of the MAAF Arts Leaders program, is currently a Georgia Center for Non-Profits CEO Central participant/student and has adjudicated the Governors Honors Awards in Theatre for the past three years. She has also served as a mentor for several young women with disabilities around the country pursuing careers in the arts and is a member of the Leadership in Disability Centers Community Steering Committee.
Patricia Nobbie, Ph.D. Georgia Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities – Dr. Nobbie is the Deputy Director of the Georgia Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. She is responsible for conducting research on Council programs and initiatives, tracking state and federal budgets, coordinating the Council’s legislative agenda, and providing staff support to several Council contracts and projects, including Unlock the Waiting Lists! for home and community based services, and Partnerships for Success, a High School Inclusive Community project, and college program for students with developmental disabilities at Kennesaw State University. Pat wanted to be an art major but her mother wouldn’t let her because she didn’t think she would be employable. Pat lives vicariously in the art world through her daughter Annie, 22 who is majoring in Textile Design at the Welch School of Art and Design at Georgia State. Her other daughter Mia, 27, who has Down syndrome, also loves art, and created the “Doctor Nobbie Portrait” that hangs in Pat’s office. Son Christopher, 20, also at Georgia State majoring in Geography, can’t draw the broad side of a barn. Dr. Nobbie holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from the University of Georgia, and a BA and MA in Education and Reading.
Douglas Scott, Full Radius Dance (Artistic/Executive Director) discovered dance upon entering Western Kentucky University to earn a B.F.A. in Performing Arts. After graduation, Douglas moved to Atlanta and spent several seasons with the Ruth Mitchell Dance Company, where he performed in works by Ruth Mitchell, Ron Cunningham, Monica Levy and Sal Aiello. In 1991, Douglas founded Dance Force, Inc. He began his exploration of physically integrated (dancers with and without disabilities) dance technique in 1993, and this interest lead to the creation, with co-founder Ardath Prendergast, of E=motion in 1995. In 1998, Dance Force and E=motion merged to create Full Radius Dance. Douglas has choreographed numerous works for the company and his work may also be seen in the Emmy-award winning HBO film “Warm Springs”. In 2001, Douglas received, from the City of Atlanta, the Mayor’s Fellowship in the Arts (Dance), and was named Creative Loafing Critic’s Choice 2001: Best Dance Choreographer. In 2004, he again received a Critic’s Choice award for his work As the Horizon Fades. As a master teacher, Douglas has led workshops in physically integrated technique for numerous organizations and conferences.
Nikki Strickland, North Fulton Drama Club – (Treasurer, Producer, Costumer, Jill of Most Trades) is a graduate of Davidson College, (Davidson, NC) and holds a Bachelors of Arts in History. Currently she is employed as a web producer/project manager at Woven Interactive here in Atlanta. In 2006, Nikki, her husband Thomas, and their friend Alyssa Jackson founded North Fulton Drama Club on the principal that anyone could and should do Shakespeare, and that Shakespeare is portable, applicable, durable and relevant. NFDC believes in the universality and the durability of the work, and that our approach makes it possible for people to access the work in meaningful and new ways. In her various functions with the theater, Nikki has concentrated on production values, costume design and construction, and coordination of resources. Nikki & Alyssa have been nominated twice and won once (2010) for the Metropolitian Theater Awards for Best Costume Design in a Play. Since NFDC began submitting shows to the MATs in 2008, three shows have been nominated 10 times in 7 categories.
Valerie Meadows Suber (Public Information Director), Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) and Editor-In-Chief of the agency’s quarterly news magazine, Making A Difference, a print publication, also available online in accessible PDF and large plain text formats, as well as in audio. Valerie directs the GCDD communication strategy for public affairs and media relations, and manages GCDD’s brand identity, website, social media and Internet protocols. She is adept at various forms of assistive technology in her work and she relies heavily upon accessible content across a broad range of information platforms. She looks for, as well as creates, website environments that are user-friendly and welcoming to people with disabilities. For example, the GCDD website and marketing materials offer alternative accessible formats, invite requests for disability accommodations and contain “People First Language,” a way of writing and speaking about people with disabilities that conveys accuracy, knowledge and respect. Valerie is a member of the Atlanta chapter of the National Press Club and the National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC). She has held positions in public affairs, government relations, community outreach and constituent services for local government and non-profits in Atlanta; produced television news and public affairs programs in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia; and worked as an art editor for a text book publisher in Boston. Valerie holds a B.S. degree in public communications from Boston University.
