Donnie Sengstack began his comedy career in Maryland running between open mics in Baltimore and Washington, DC. Now after years of hard work and traveling around the country, many consider Donnie to be one of New York City’s most promising young comedians. His unique style appeals to generations young and old. He may have a stutter, but that takes nothing away from his strong delivery and stage presence. It simply helps to make every show unique. Donnie first started to get recognition for his comedy in 2014 when he was featured in The Washington Post and Baltimore Magazine. Since then he has gone on to win Magooby’s Joke House Comedian of the Year, become a regular at the DC Improv, and move to New York City. Now he is headlining at the top comedy clubs in the city like Caroline’s on Broadway and performing at major comedy festivals around the country including the New York Comedy Festival and the San Francisco Sketchfest. He recently toured the UK, France, and Spain and has opened for many national headliners here in the US like Howie Mandel, Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che, Dave Attell, Mike Birbiglia, and more.
As the associate director of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan Center for Special Needs, Dorsey spearheads an inclusion initiative at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. In an effort to provide a more robust catalog of social and recreational opportunities for individuals of all ages with disabilities, Dorsey works with other departments to develop, modify, and implement staff training to better support varied learning and communication styles. With a goal of ensuring that individuals are supported and connected to the community, she has created a comprehensive internship program to promote the development of graduate students’ understanding and awareness of work within the disability community. Through partnerships with Columbia University, Fordham University, NYU Silver and Steinhardt Schools, and Hunter Siberman School, Dorsey serves as acting educational coordinator and a clinical field instructor for the Center for Special Needs. She also helps manage the day-to-day operations of the Center.
Dorsey earned a bachelor’s of social work degree with honors from San Jose State University and her master’s of social work with a focus on programming and advanced general practice from Columbia University School of Social Work. Dorsey is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of Social Work where she teaches a course on diversity and disability to graduate students.
Dan Habib is the creator of the award-winning documentary films Including Samuel, Who Cares About Kelsey?, Mr. Connolly Has ALS and many other films on disability-related topics. Habib is a filmmaker at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability.
He has recently released his new documentary, Intelligent Lives, which examines our society’s narrow perceptions of intelligence. The Intelligent Lives project also contains four short films focusing on effective practices in transition for youth with disabilities from high school to higher education and employment.
Habib received the Champion of Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the Justice for All Grassroots Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities. In 2014, Habib was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Habib and his wife, Betsy, live in Concord, NH, with their sons Isaiah, 22, and Samuel, 19.
Taylor was raised in a small town called Temperance in Michigan. In 2017, she graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in film and TV production. She specialized in post-production and has edited many short films, commercials, and music videos. After interning and assistant editing at AMC Networks for nearly two years, Taylor now works as an assistant editor for Uppercut. Taylor’s last directorial effort Hair Trigger has screened at several festivals and earned her a commendation in directing at NYU’s New Visions and Voices festival. Most recently, Taylor partnered with Community Access to screen Hair Trigger in classrooms to raise awareness about mental health. She is currently developing her next short film, Home Team, about a cult survivor. She currently lives in Ridgewood, NY.
Calvin was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. During his time at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Calvin began focusing on screenwriting as his concentration and wrote several of his fellow students’ thesis films, including Hair Trigger. He interned at multiple production companies including Archer Gray as a production and development intern. He achieved his BFA in 2017 with honors. Last summer he finished writing and developing a horror/fantasy TV series for BHD Productions based around ancient Vietnamese myths. The show is entering production and will receive distribution in East Asia. Most recently he was in the writer’s room for an audio drama in development at The Paragon Collective. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Cassandra is a theater and movie producer in Los Angeles. She received her BA in Theater Arts from the University of California, Davis. As part of the creative team she has developed shows at Florida Studio Theater, Los Angeles Edgefest, and countless American Sign Language community events in the greater Los Angeles area. She directed for film CJ Jones’ (Baby Driver) one man show What Are You…DEAF?, and works with CJ to fine tune his currently touring show World Adventurist.
Cassandra began teaching herself American Sign Language (ASL) at age 8, when a supportive grandmother gave her a basic ASL book. At around the same time she discovered her love of acting and theater. She became fully involved in the Deaf community while working with the Tony Award winning theater company Deaf West Theater. While acting at Deaf West, she was able to work Tony winning writer Mark Medoff (Children of a Lessor God), Tony winning actress Phyllis Frelich, Deanne Bray, and CJ Jones. As a dancer she has worked with the Tony nominated choreographer of RENT Marlies Yearby, LA Opera choreographer Heather Lipson Bell, and Fosse specialist Suzanne Carlton.
Erika is a film and television director currently getting her MFA in Production from The University of Southern California. She was a finalist for the competitive 2016 Television Academy Foundation’s -Episodic Directing Internship. Erika shadowed an episode of the fantasy show Grimm with Terrence O’Hara and three episodes of The Mindy Project with directors Michael Spiller and Michael Weaver. She has directed several web-series pilots, including one for film and television comedy actor Amir Talai (What to Expect When You’re Expecting).
When she was younger she thought she would be an astronomer or an astronaut. After leading her high school class as valedictorian, she was awarded a prestigious Air Force Aeronautical Engineering Scholarship to the college of her choice. An award winning competition dancer throughout her childhood she was personally selected for a special dance piece by the Tony nominated choreographer of RENT. And as an undergrad at UC Davis, Erika was mentored by British television director Sara Pia Anderson and was selected to direct the musical Romance/Romance, starring Broadway actor Jeffrey Carlson.
David Rochkind spent a decade working as a photojournalist, covering international news for news outlets including The New York Times, Time Magazine and The Washington Post. His first film, Breathe In, took an intimate look at childhood tuberculosis in the USA. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Ground Media, a creative agency that helps tell the stories of mission-driven organizations
