Alexis Marnel is an energetic and creative professional offering 20+ years experience in multicultural arts programming, education, grant writing, and administration for government agencies, schools, community centers, cultural institutions and the private sector. As founder of the Artists Collective for Social Change (ACSC), Marnel combined a passion for the arts with an ongoing commitment to raise important social questions through theatrical productions, festivals, poetry and dance. Recipient of an NEA grant in 2010, Marnel implemented Broadway in the Schools in selected Harlem educational institutions. Other ACSC productions under Marnel’s leadership included Dominique Cieri’s Count Down (in conjunction with Off World Theatre) at NYC’s Barrow Street Theater; Arthur Wilson’s Words for Journey (in conjunction with VSA Arts of New Jersey) at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey; Flat Black by Rodney Gilbert and Alysia Souder; and a stage reading of Talking Trash for Truth at Newark’s City Without Walls. Among the critical issues ACSC examined were adolescent mental health, the physical and social barriers confronting people with disabilities, and the school-to-prison pipeline, as well as other important social challenges.