At its annual meeting on June 28, the Southeastern CT Cultural Coalition elected three new members to its Board of Directors and one to Advisory Council.

Executive Director Wendy Bury said, “Each of these new board members brings community and professional knowledge, expertise and diverse perspectives that will benefit our organization and those we serve.”

Elected to a three-year term:

Carrie Dyer is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and incoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Reliance Health, Inc.   Reliance Health, located in Norwich, is a non-profit community mental health center with a mission of enhancing health through mental wellness. Reliance Health provides 30+ programs to provide tools and resources for individuals to move forward in their lives. Carrie has represented Reliance Health as an early participant in the Cultural Coalition’s Arts in Health program.

Kolton Harris, Artistic Director of Writer’s Block InK, Inc. located in New London, encourages youth to use writing and performance as tools to address personal and social challenges on the community stage. Students create original productions which explore critical themes and issues. Their mission is to arm young voices with the power of pen and prose, reinforcing teamwork, accountability, and responsibility; igniting social change on the page and stage.

Chandler Smith is the Associate Producer at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, the Launchpad of American Theater and the country’s preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the stage. The O’Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and thousands more emerging artists.

Elected to Advisory Council:

Robert Richter, Director of Arts Programming, Connecticut College has been a board member since 2015. The onStage Guest Artist Series at Connecticut College brings world-class music, dance, theater and visual art to campus several times a year. Rob has been producing the series since 1998.

At the annual meeting, the Board of Directors thanked out-going member Preston Whiteway, Executive Director of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, who was a founding board member serving as a director since 2014 and board chair from 2015-2016.