ABOUT

Samuel D. Walker, Jr. (he/him/his) is a Director, Educator, and Arts Administrator from Raleigh, North Carolina, and knows firsthand how transformative a positive performing arts environment can be for youth as they find their voice and purpose. He is honored to be Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Circle City Theatre Company. It's a dream come true for him! Samuel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with a concentration in Acting from Greensboro College and is passionate about Theatre with, for, and by Youth as well as Theatre for Social Change. He has collaborated with actors from Broadway, TV, and Film and his work has appeared on stages and in classrooms throughout North Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Florida, and South Africa. In any project, Samuel's top priority is to create a healthy space where youth can be themselves and believe in themselves. Feel free to connect with Samuel by email at swalkerjr@circlecitytheatre.org.

Laura Sandvik (she/her/hers) is a creative solution seeker, spouse, and parent of two teens from Pittsboro. She earned an undergraduate degree in Natural Resource Economics and a Master of Public Administration and Non-Profit Management from NCSU. After serving the state through a water pollution prevention program at NCDENR, Laura then spent years at MetaMetrics, Inc. in Durham. There she worked in almost every department from R&D to her final position as the product marketing manager. She left work in 2019 after her mom suffered a massive stroke in order to spend more time with her parents and was lucky enough to be able to do so. Laura’s partner in love and shenanigans is Todd, a runaway Montanan. They hosted monthly "Blue Door" poetry readings and artist showings at their  little house in Carrboro that served as an after party for the "Desert City Poetry Reading Series”  before they had kiddos and could still stay up really late without suffering. They now live in Pittsboro in a house in the woods with their children and many animals. Laura’s mom passed away in June 2022. In processing her loss Laura sees clearly how fleeting our time is on this planet and really wants to make the most of it, encouraging what makes a positive change... like the arts, resilient youth, and community cohesion! Connect with Laura by email at lsandvik@circlecitytheatre.org

Kate Schliebe, Vice President 

Kate Schliebe (she/her/hers) is a Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach with over two decades of leadership assessment and development experience. Kate has partnered with leaders in the pharmaceutical, technology, medical devices, financial services, insurance, manufacturing, and retail industries to support leadership development, succession, and selection initiatives. Kate is currently a Senior Principal Consultant with Korn Ferry. Previously she served as Director, Assessment and Coaching for a privately-held financial services firm. She also held the roles of Global Program Manager and Consultant with PDI Ninth House.  Kate earned her B.A. in English with minors in Psychology and Political Science from The University of Vermont, a M.S. in Organizational Psychology from William James College, and a Graduate Certificate of Executive Coaching, also from William James College. Through her 14-year old child, Kate has witnessed the power of theatre (and a theatre community) to build confidence, forge friendships, develop leadership, and create joy. While she is currently relocating from Chatham County, North Carolina to Auckland, New Zealand to be closer to her family, she is thrilled to support the development of Circle City Theatre Company. 

Carrie Boone, Secretary 

Carrie Boone (she/her/hers) has nearly twenty years’ experience working with children and the arts. She knows firsthand the power each brings to the other. After earning a master’s degree in Music Therapy at Lesley University, Carrie spent the next ten years working with at-risk children and adults, using music interventions to increase communication, connection, and empowerment. After moving to North Carolina (and picking up a second master’s in Library Science), Carrie helped launch Outreach Services at the Chatham Community Library. Here, she formed connections with community partners to bring books to homebound seniors, story-times to rural preschoolers, and one-stop-story kits to early childhood teachers. As her oldest child became interested in the dramatic arts, she saw the power youth theater has to foster arts, literacy, and mental health outcomes, especially for youth struggling to find community in a time of rapid change. She is delighted to be a part of Circle City Theatre Company and looks forward to bringing the transformative joy of youth theatre to children from every corner of Chatham County.

Rosemary Shanahan, Treasurer 

Rosemary Shanahan (she/her/hers) is a Branch Manager for Truist Bank and has over 13 years of community development and leadership experience. She is an analytical and creative thinker with the ability of leading strategies that assist in implementation of financial solutions, growing revenue, and profitability results. She currently leads and helps teams with fundraising, volunteer management, and the process of improvement and business development in her local community. Her undergraduate degree is a B.S. in Business Management with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership from St. Petersburg College. She also received an A.A. in Elementary Education and A.S. in Business. Rosemary has served in various volunteer capacities with many organizations. During her time with the Junior League of St. Petersburg, she served as the Community Chair for Care Fair Committee and Development Chair for the Provisional Class and currently serves on the Truist West Florida’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. Her Volunteerism has led her to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award with over 200 hours with Truist and the Stars Among Us Award with the Junior League of St. Petersburg. Her love for the performing arts started at the age of 3 when her mom brought her to her first dance class, and she put on her first pair of tap shoes and since then her life has been immersed in the foundations of dance and theatre. Her credits include dancing in the Nutcracker on Broadway in NYC at the Manhattan Center, With Les Jejunes Danseurs in “The celebration of St. Petersburg” with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Understudy Dancer for Webb City the Musical, Tap Dancer with “Slide” an Off-Broadway show with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in NYC, Carnival Cruise lines with Cheryl Lee Studio’s Showstoppers, an extra in MTV’s High school stories, and a dancer in St. Petersburg College Dance Department’s commercial. By age 15 she got her first-class teaching clogging and pre-school dance. Some of Rosemary’s theatre credits include How to succeed in Business, Thoroughly Modern Millie, You Can’t Take It With You, High School Musical, and Anything Goes. In college, she was a part of Co-Motion Dance Theatre Company under the direction of Cynthia Hennessey and Nancy Smith at St. Petersburg College. She studied Modern, Ballet, and Contemporary. She has enjoyed sharing her love of dance with the community of the Tampa Bay area where she choreographed and taught dance and Musical Theatre at St. Petersburg City Theatre. Her most recent involvement in dance was with a tap dancer of Tapped In Inc., a company that created entertainment in the Tampa Bay area, from 2015 to 2023. Needless to say, being a part of Circle City Theatre Company puts my worlds of theatre and business together, and Rosemary is thrilled to be a part of making theatre come alive in Pittsboro, NC!