Executive Director

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Executive Director	Ms. Vali Forrister
E-mail	vali@actorsbridge.org
Term Start	January 1998
Vali's Experience: VALI FORRISTERVali is the chief executive officer and producing artistic director of the Actors Bridge Ensemble, which she co-founded with Bill Feehely in 1995. She has produced over 100 productions for the company, has acted and directed over 25, and authored six. She created and serves as vision-keeper of Act Like A GRRRL, a year-round autobiographical writing and performance program for teenage girls to gain public voice by articulating their lived experience.Vali was recently named 'Theaterati of the Year' for 2018 at the BroadwayWorld First Night Awards. She is a recipient of the 2016 Louisa Nelson Award from Green Brier Distillery, Nashville Business Journal's 2013 Women of Influence Award as a "Trailblazer," Vanderbilt's Women Mentoring Women Award, BroadwayWorld's STAR Award and is consistently listed as one of Broadway World - Nashville's 'Top Directors' and 'Top Actors.' She was a member of Leadership Nashville's Class of 2014.Vali is a member of Actors Equity Association, and her work as an actor has been called "a tour-de-force," and "seemingly effortless" by the Tennessean, "consistently excellent," "major league" and "expert" by the Nashville Scene, and "a lesson on the acting craft without revealing that craft," by stagecritic.com. BroadwayWorld describes her acting as 'exhilarating and heartbreaking at the same time,'Vali holds a master's degree in Performance Studies. Her thesis work in the scripting and performance of intimate personal narratives as a means of personal and social change became the research basis for the highly-praised ACT LIKE A GRRRL program.Vali is on the faculty at Lipscomb University where she teaches the Meisner Technique. Broadway World celebrated Vali's 20th anniversary as ABE'S Producing Artistic Director, praising her leadership of Nashville's "cutting-edge, forward-thinking, boundary-pushing, status quo-challenging theater company that has helped to make Music City USA somehow more creative and more welcoming to artisans who flock here to pursue their dreams."Vali is a member of the 2018 Metro Arts Racial Equity in Arts Leadership Cadre.

Staff

Full Time Staff	1
Part Time Staff	0
Volunteers	100
Contractors	50
Retention Rate	100%

Plans & Policies

Does your organization have a Fundraising Plan?	Yes
Does your organization have a Strategic Plan?	Yes
Years Strategic Plan Considers	3
When was the Strategic Plan adopted?	December 2017
Does your organization have a Management Succession Plan?	Under Development
Does your organization have a Policy and Procedure Plan?	Yes
Does the organization have a Nondiscrimination Policy?	Yes
Does the organization have a Whistle Blower Policy?
Does the organization have a Document Destruction Policy?

Evaluation

Is there a formal evaluation for...		Frequency (if applicable)
CEO/Executive Director	Yes	Annually
Senior Management	N/A	N/A
Non-Management	Yes	Annually

Affiliations

Affiliation	Year
Actor's Equity Association	1996
Americans for the Arts	2007
Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville	2007
Center for Nonprofit Management CEO Network	2013
Hands On Network	2010
Leadership Nashville	2013
Metro Arts Commission	1999
Nashville Arts Coalition	2000
National Independent Theatre Consortium	2007
NowPlayingNashville.com	2007
Tennesseans for the Arts	1998
Tennessee Arts Commission	1998

Awards

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Award / Recognition	Organization	Year
Best Local Theater	Nashville Scene	2011
Best Youth Theatre Movement	Nashville Scene	2012
First Night Honors - Vali Forrister	BroadwayWorld	2017
Louisa Nelson Award	Green Brier Distillery	2016
Star Award - Jessika Malone	BroadwayWorld	2015
Star Award - Vali Forrister	BroadwayWorld	2012
Theaterati of the Year - Vali Forrister	BroadwayWorld	2018
Women Mentoring Women Award	Vanderbilt University	2008
Women of Influence Award	Nashville Business Journal	2013