Adam Odsess-Rubin (He/Him) is the Founding Artistic Director of National Queer Theater (NQT) and Co-Founder of the acclaimed Criminal Queerness Festival, showcasing censored and criminalized LGBTQ+ artists from around the world. He directs community-based theater programs such as Write it Out! for playwrights living with HIV, New Visions Fellowship for Black trans artists, DREAMing Out Loud for LGBTQ undocumented youth, and Youth Write Now for young queer playwrights. Since 2021, he has been a lead Teaching Artist for Rainbow Connection, an intergenerational theater program for queer teens and elders in Fire Island. In 2023, he launched Staging Pride: Queer Youth Theater, a free afterschool theater program for marginalized LGBTQ+ youth in New York City at The Center. At NQT, Odsess-Rubin has presented work with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York Theatre Workshop, NYC Pride, MCC Theater, and PAC NYC. Through NQT, he has raised over $600,000 for queer and trans artists since 2018, and has received praise for his work in The Advocate, The New York Times, American Theater Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, and Time Out New York. Odsess-Rubin is a Teaching Artist and former Education Associate at New York Theatre Workshop, and served as the first Education and Community Programs Fellow at American Conservatory Theatre. Odsess-Rubin has published work in Howlround and The Teaching Artist Journal on queer theater education, and is a 2020 Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact awardee and AM NY LGBTQ+ Power Player. BA: UC Santa Cruz MA: New York University.

Rose Oser (she/they) is a theater producer, writer, and performer. From 2017-2022, she worked at Z Space in San Francisco, rising from Associate Artistic Director to Interim Producing Director. Rose successfully co-led Z Space during the height of the pandemic and produced the world premiere of The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera. Other notable producing credits at Z Space: Problematic Play Festival (LMDA Bly Award) and the world premiere of Ripped by Rachel Bublitz (Will Glickman Award). As the Co-Artistic Director of FaultLine Theater in San Francisco from 2016-2019 (recipient of the Annette Lust Award in 2018), Rose mounted full productions of new works by a diverse array of emerging playwrights. She is the book writer of Shoshana in December, a new queer Hanukkah musical (December 2022 production Custom Made, Relentless Award Honorable Mention 2022, December 2021 reading Z Space, NEA ArtWorks recipient) and Tinderella: the modern musical (April 2018 world premiere FaultLine and Custom Made, March 2022 production Portland'5). She has produced and hosted over 35 performances of Tinder Disrupt, San Francisco’s hit PowerPoint dating show. She worked as the Grant Writer for American Conservatory Theater from 2014-2017. BA in Rhetoric from University of California, Berkeley.

Julie Monteleone (they/them) is a director, intimacy/fight choreographer, and educator focused on uplifting queer and trans voices, particularly through Shakespeare and classical theatre. Julie is also dedicated to exploring lesbian identity through theatre practices that genuinely decenter cisgender men. They recently graduated from Northwestern University where they studied Theatre and Gender Studies. Favorite directing credits include How to Defend Yourself, Macbeth, and a workshop production of Sarah Grace Goldman’s Beneath the Floorboards. Select fight/intimacy credits include Fun Home, Falsettos, and Cabaret. Julie has served as an educator with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare & Company, and Boston Public Schools.

Logan Rozos (he/him) is a Bronx-based actor and director. His acting credits include the Peabody-nominated series David Makes Man. He was an honoree in Teen Vogue’s 20 Under 20 Queer Artists and Activists To Watch. He is the co-director of What Will I Become?, a documentary feature co-produced by ITVS, and he represented the film in Firelight Media’s Doc Lab Fellowship (2022-2024 cohort).

Brooke Whitaker-Royster (She/Her) is an experienced strategist with a passion for arts, education, and social impact, who has built a career advancing innovative programs and strategic partnerships across diverse sectors.

Previously, as Assistant Director, Global Partnerships at Lincoln Center Education, she expanded educational reach through consulting and thought leadership, driving international partnerships in 20 countries and fostering critical thinking in schools and communities. Notably, she curated a first-of-its-kind Summer Forum Speaker Series prominently featuring BIPOC women leaders.

During the inaugural cycles of the Lincoln Center Cultural Innovation Fund, a program in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, Brooke championed cultural capital reclamation and collaboration among grantees as a Program Director.

Her early career included roles at the African American Museum, The Leeway Foundation, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. She holds a BA from Temple University and as a lifelong learner has studied at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education, IDEO U and is currently pursuing graduate education.

Today, Brooke leads Mid Monday Morning, LLC, a consulting agency empowering non-profits through strategic planning and cultural capital utilization. Her recent projects include partnerships with the National Guild for Community Arts Education, New York Transgender Advocacy Group, Camden Repertory Theater, and The Colored Girls Museum.

Mo is our Community Engagement Coordinator. If you have any questions or inquiries regarding marketing or potential collaboration with NQT, (or to just say "Hi" and get to know more about Mo's work) please email mo@nationalqueertheater.org