Board of Directors
Jaehn Clare
Jaehn (pronounced "Jane”) Clare is a creative education professional who originally trained as a theatre artist. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts and an M.A. in Dramatic Literature. Jaehn has worked with a variety of professional theatre companies both in the U.S. and abroad, serving as an actor, director, producer, and teaching artist. For several years, she was a company member with Full Radius Dance, and she has written a number of dramatic scripts, including two solo performances, Belle’s on Wheels and Tail Tell Tale. Jaehn has performed for international audiences during her participation in three VSA International Arts Festivals (Brussels, Belgium, 1994; Los Angeles, California, 1999; Washington, DC, 2004).
In 1986, Jaehn served as the Chair of the founding Board of Directors of VSA Minnesota, and she has served as a Board Member for a selection of other non-profit arts organizations. She has attended and presented at diverse conferences across the country, and she is a published writer whose work has appeared in several issues of Melpomene magazine; her essay “I Wasn’t Born a Mermaid” is included in From There to Here, an anthology of work by individuals who have survived traumatic injury (edited by Gary Karp and Stanley D. Klein, PhD; published by No Limits Communications, Inc.).
Jaehn has served as an access and inclusion trainer, as well as working as a Teaching Artist in classroom settings, and in 2006 she was included in the inaugural class of VSA Teaching Artist Fellows. Jaehn is a certified Georgia Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, working with the Alliance Theatre Institute for more than 14 years. She has travelled and taught across the United States and internationally, as a Teaching Artist and professional development facilitator collaborating with artists, educators and learners from diverse countries and communities.
Jaehn Clare offers her heart and intelligence in service to her personal professional mission: to support productive social change, foster the inclusion of all citizens in the arts community, and contribute to the creation of positive public images of people with disabilities in our culture. She is a fierce advocate, a resourceful artist, a disciplined worker, a dedicated arts educator, a skilled arts administrator, and an enthusiastic participant in the banquet of Life.
Ward Gass
Ward Gass is a Georgia native and longtime supporter of Full Radius Dance. He holds a BS in Computer Science and Management Information Systems from Georgia State University. During his career, Ward has held technology positions for such Fortune 25 and global companies as IBM, the Home Depot, and Randstad North America. He is currently a Senior Project Manager for Kaiser Permanente. In his professional tenure, he is known for leading IT projects including website migrations, enterprise application implementations, order management systems, and multi-location upgrades of distributed systems. He serves the Full Radius board with creative management experience and structured project management as a certified PMP (project management professional) by the Project Management Institute, of which he is a longstanding member. He brings additional qualities in communication, sales & service, and statistical analysis.
Ward enjoys music, food, health & fitness, laughter, and SCUBA as well as challenging norms, removing boundaries, and pushing envelopes. His passion for Full Radius Dance is centered in a love of dance and a belief in the arts as a way to enrich, express, and enhance our individuality and our ability to relate to one another.
Jenna Rose Hunter
Jenna Rose Hunter has been working with not-for-profit entities since before 2010. She completed her PhD in accounting and her MSW at the University of North Carolina. Jenna was a tenure-track assistant professor of accounting at the UNC - Greensboro from 2012 to 2017. Jenna continues to teach in the Nonprofit Management Certificate Program at Duke University (since 2015). Currently, Jenna is an IRS Enrolled Agent and the Lead Director of Triangle Advising for Not-for-Profits, a 501(c)3 public charity providing consulting services and fiscal sponsorship. She regularly advises individuals and organizations on entity formation, tax exempt status applications, not-for-profit accounting and financial reporting, legal compliance, charitable giving, and Board development. Jenna is excited to support Full Radius Dance in connecting each and every person with pulchritudinous dance and body positivity.
Carolyn Stine McLaughlin
Carolyn Stine McLaughlin is a native of Atlanta. She grew up performing with Southern Ballet of Atlanta, a leader of the regional dance movement in the South. She attended Virginia Intermont College where she apprenticed with the Bristol Ballet. Ms. McLaughlin graduated with a B.A. in Business Administration with a minor in Ballet with a teaching emphasis. After several years in the business world, working in management for companies such as Federated Department Stores and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, she returned to dance.
She has performed professionally with Kolors Dance, Ondine and Company, Beacon Dance and Disney (where she was thrilled to play Mary Poppins). Ms. McLaughlin has taught and created dance programs for the WYCA, Georgia State University and the Fulton County Arts Council. Ms. McLaughlin spent 13 years as the Associate Director of Good Moves acting in both administrative and artistic roles.
She works as an arts project manager. Her most noteworthy client has been the Atlanta Preservation Center where she has managed four City-wide festivals of the historic built environment. Under her management, The Phoenix Flies: A Celebration of Atlanta’s Historic Sites grew to include nearly 100 sites and 250 free events. She received the Jenny Thurston Award from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission for her accomplishments with this program. With the Atlanta Preservation Center, she also developed the Drawing Room Gallery and served as gallerist and curator for multiple exhibits that included the talents of Shela Pree Bright, Lucinda Bunnen, Jerry Cullum, Jody Fausett and David Yoakley Mitchell.
In 2011, she began the development of Movement Arts Atlanta. This included a program of ballet classes called Ballet Above the Bar located at The Marianna which is above the Wrecking Bar Brew Pub. Ms. McLaughlin also choreographs, guest teaches and lectures at Atlanta area dance schools.
She is also the Director of Social Arts Atlanta. This in-town business provides etiquette and social dance training. This guidance provides students the tools to meet success both professionally and personally. The overarching philosophy is that good manners make life better and should be a part of each day.
Ms. McLaughlin is a long-time resident of Inman Park where she has served on several neighborhood boards. As a part of her neighborhood commitments, she directs the only free admission dance festival in the Atlanta area. Founded in 2001, the Inman Park Dance Festival is a two-day festival of classical and modern concert dance that is part of The Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes.
Erin Devine Martin
Erin works for Three Five Two, an innovation and growth firm, where she drives strategic initiatives in the digital space for her clients.
Erin comes from a background of performing arts, having grown up as a singer and graduating from Wake Forest University with a minor in vocal performance. In addition to her expertise in digital marketing, Erin has several years of experience working in arts administration, where she assisted with public relations and marketing efforts for the 2011 Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina and aided in everything from programming to day-of-show support for the Secrest Artists Series of Wake Forest University.
She has been on the Full Radius Dance Board since 2014 and serves as the Chair of the Marketing Committee.
Marcelo Roman
Marcelo Roman is the Managing Principal at RSI Group Consulting. He is a trusted thought leader, consultant, and advisor to boards of directors, C-level executives, and senior leaders and field personnel on business transformation, strategic planning, global expansion, and leadership alignment.
Mr. Roman is an enterprising and results-oriented executive with over 30 years of business experience globally. He has worked for major corporations such as General Electric, IBM, and Berlitz Corporation, holding a number of field and executive assignments including Director of IBM’s Global Education and Training business, Chief Operating Officer for Berlitz Americas, CEO of Training Management Corporation and President of Second Language Testing Corporation. His responsibility has included managing over 5,000 employees across 70 countries and $500 million dollar-plus P&L businesses with all functional areas direct reporting. He has also built multiple startup initiatives from unfunded to global growth.
He gives back to the community with initiatives such as membership in IBM’s Corporate Diversity Task Force, focusing on the implementation of the Diversity & Inclusion Policy globally. He has served on the boards of Out and Equal, 7Stages Theatre, Berlitz Corporation, and the University of Georgia. He also led a number of initiatives for developing Hispanic leaders in the United States. During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, he worked for two years as an advisory board member for volunteer training and was assigned as Olympic Envoy to Spain.
Mr. Roman holds a BS in Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics from the University of New Mexico. He continued his studies at Wharton School of Business in Financial Services and he attended the American Bankers Association Institute. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Ginia Taylor
Terri Thrower
Terri Thrower proudly identifies as a disabled and blind woman. She has a Ph.D. in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), as well as a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling from Wright State University in Dayton, OH.
Terri’s ideas and perceptions about disability began to shift in 1996 when she first encountered Full Radius Dance. Watching them perform during the Summer Olympic festivities in Atlanta had surprised, delighted, and moved her to tears. It was the first time she’d ever seen any disabled person onstage, and it was the beginning of a brand new journey.
Terri focused her doctoral scholarship, research and teaching on disability arts and culture, and the power it can have to reframe and transform how disability is understood. Chicago’s vibrant disability arts and culture scene offered opportunities to explore these ideas, including festivals. Terri produced Crip Slam! (2003), a disability arts/culture festival held at UIC. She also helped organize and create several events for Bodies of Work: Chicago Festival of Disability Arts and Culture (2006 & 2013). Terri served on the board of directors for Bodies of Work, and for an integrated theater company in Chicago, Tellin’ Tales Theater.
Combining her expertise in counseling with her disability studies scholarship, Terri worked as the Director of the Disability and Learning Resource Center for the School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC). And while in Chicago, she took storytelling and performance workshops, performing several solo and ensemble pieces. She also took improv classes at The Second City, and learned how to sail without sight on Lake Michigan.
Terri brings her knowledge and experiences to the Board of Full Radius Dance, including personal experiences, disability studies, arts access and inclusion practices, and her commitment to the artistic equality of disabled and non-disabled bodies. She strives for better representations of disabled people in all areas, especially the arts, and believes in the power of artistic expression as a means for social change.
Terri now lives in the north Georgia mountains with her husband. She is completing a book that is part memoir and part critique of how healthcare systems interact with disabled people.
Lindsey O'Connor