We couldn’t have done this conference without the vision, clear-headedness, and determination of Joan Osato, Producing Director at NPN Partner Youth Speaks, and the ringleader for bringing the annual conference to the Bay Area!

Osato has played a pivotal role in local and national theater for over two decades and has been a core member of Youth Speaks since 2001. At Youth Speaks she produces its live performance events including Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival and Life is Living. She’s brought her production and design chops to Living Word Project Repertory, as well as created work as an ensemble member of critically acclaimed theater group Campo Santo.

Osato’s talents have been recognized for multiple awards, including the San Francisco Arts Commission Artist and Communities Partnership Grant—as its inaugural recipient (2007), Theater Bay Area Award for Excellence in Video Design, and the Surdna Foundation’s Artists Engaged in Social Change Award (2015). She’s an amazing photographer, and has exhibited throughout the Bay Area since 2009. Osato is a proud board member of both NPN/VAN and CAATA (The Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists).

We couldn’t have done this conference without the vision, clear-headedness, and determination of Joan Osato, Producing Director at NPN Partner Youth Speaks, and the ringleader for bringing the annual conference to the Bay Area!

Osato has played a pivotal role in local and national theater for over two decades and has been a core member of Youth Speaks since 2001. At Youth Speaks she produces its live performance events including Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival and Life is Living. She’s brought her production and design chops to Living Word Project Repertory, as well as created work as an ensemble member of critically acclaimed theater group Campo Santo.

Osato’s talents have been recognized for multiple awards, including the San Francisco Arts Commission Artist and Communities Partnership Grant—as its inaugural recipient (2007), Theater Bay Area Award for Excellence in Video Design, and the Surdna Foundation’s Artists Engaged in Social Change Award (2015). She’s an amazing photographer, and has exhibited throughout the Bay Area since 2009. Osato is a proud board member of both NPN/VAN and CAATA (The Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists).