Emilie Whelan moved to California in 2019 after a career in the bayous of New Orleans where she was a major force in arts and development post-Katrina. There she oversaw the development of NHP Foundation’s arts programming, Cripple Creek Theater Company, The Fringe Theater Festival New Orleans, and The DISTILLERY Artist Residency at the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans for mid-career performing artists. She is an Associate Artist with Oakland Theater Project and credits with them have included Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet; Streetcar Named Desire; Mother Courage and her Children; Hamlet; Waiting for Lefty; GROUNDED; The Radicalization of Bradley Manning; Othello. She is the Director of Advancement with West Edge Opera, supporting new opera development. She is also a professor at Contra Costa College having received her BFA from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and an MFA from UC San Diego. She's a big fan of laughter, impromptu dance parties, and adding more butter to...everything.