Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is proud to announce that its new Managing Director will be Kimberly E. Douglas. The search was led by Tom O’Connor Consulting Group after the departure of Emika Abe in 2022 and the appointment of Interim Managing Director Ted DeLong. In this role, Douglas will be a chief executive alongside Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and will oversee the organization’s operations, finance, and administration.
Douglas will be one of few Black women managing leaders in the history of major DC theaters and joins Goyanes at the helm of one of very few major U.S. theaters co-led by two BIPOC women (a legacy that continues from Abe’s time in the position).
Born and raised in DC, Douglas graduated from Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Howard University. She most recently worked for THEARC Theater (a program of Building Bridges Across the River) for 14 years, serving as the Managing Artistic Director after starting as Production Manager and later Director of Theater Operations & Programming. THEARC was part of the Woolly Mammoth Connectivity Core Partner program, with Woolly and THEARC collaborating on productions and projects such as What to Send Up When it Goes Down, Homegrown, and 19.
Through a seat reserved for Connectivity Core Partners, Douglas joined Woolly Mammoth’s Board of Directors in 2021 and has been a champion of Woolly’s mission and guiding principles.
“My journey within the DC arts community has been an extraordinary experience of growth, perseverance, and authentic dedication to uplifting the arts,” says Douglas. “I’m overjoyed for this new role, and I look forward to contributing my gifts to Woolly Mammoth as we make bold, audacious theater; make an impact in the arts community and society; and tell the important and necessary stories, onstage and beyond.”
“Kimberly Douglas is as Woolly as they come!” says Goyanes. “She is an out-of-the-box thinker with incredible integrity who cares deeply about the role of theater to ignite conversation in the DMV. I met Kimberly in my first month on the job, and from that moment, we started planning collaborative projects together for Woolly Mammoth and THEARC. It’s been a privilege to work alongside her through Connectivity and then on our Board of Directors, and I cannot wait to see what we cook up for DC as she steps into this role.”
“We invited her to a community seat on our board in 2021 because of how much she impressed us as we toured Aleshea Harris’s powerful What to Send Up… to different Washington communities.,” share Linette S. Hwu and Scott Schreiber, Woolly Mammoth board members and search committee co-chairs. “Her experience over two decades in the DC arts community, her tremendous heart, and her perfect combination of grace and grit make her a terrific partner for Maria and the board as we all continue to make Woolly mean more to more people.”
“Woolly is entering a thrilling next chapter in its history with Kimberly and Maria at the helm,” says J. Chris Babb, Woolly Mammoth’s Board President. “Kimberly’s roots in the DMV will help us in our Connectivity efforts, as we strive to be responsive and build deep connections with our community. I also know she is up to the task of helping us continue to build Woolly as a national industry leader. It’s been a joy collaborating with Kimberly in these past few years on the Board, and I look forward to years to come in this new partnership with her as Managing Director.”
ABOUT KIMBERLY E. DOUGLAS
Kimberly E. Douglas (she/her) has 20+ years of experience in event production management, program development, strategic partnerships, arts education, and the performing arts. Graduating from Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Kimberly then continued her studies at Howard University College of Fine Arts graduating with a B.A. in Music Business and a minor in Jazz Voice.
Kimberly served as the Managing Artistic Director for THEARC Theater, a program of Building Bridges Across the River. For 14 years she led the theater operations for a 365-seat theater and a Black Box, led the development and fundraising for theater initiatives such as facilities & buildings enhancements and upgrades, curated seasonal programming on THEARC Theater stage and Black Box, and expanded relationships and funding for the iCAN Technical Theater internship. Through her leadership, THEARC Theater is widely recognized as a cultural staple for artists, arts organizations, and community East of the River. Kimberly served as a board member for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company from April 2021 – March 2023 after establishing a long-standing partnership as Woolly Mammoth’s Core Connectivity partner.
Under her direction, THEARC Theater team successfully presented resident artistic organizations such as Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Washington Ballet, Levine Music, and The Phillips Collection as well as launched artistic and educational programming through collaborations with Dance Institute of Washington, Mosaic Theater Company, The Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s Tech Teach program, and provided a home for the DC Black Theatre & Arts Festival.
Kimberly launched her company KD ARTS Consulting in March 2022, providing program curation and production services, talent & operations management, and arts administration. Through KD ARTS Consulting, she worked with organizations like Demaskus Theatre Collective in residency at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and The Musicianship’s 2023 Wammie Awards. Currently, Kimberly is co-chair of the DC Co-lab Equity & Justice Committee advocating for arts education. She was born and raised in DC and presently resides in Upper Marlboro, MD.
ABOUT WOOLLY
The Tony Award-winning Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company creates badass theater that highlights the stunning, challenging, and tremendous complexity of our world. For over 40 years, Woolly has maintained a high standard of artistic rigor while simultaneously daring to take risks, innovate, and push beyond perceived boundaries. One of the few remaining theaters in the country to maintain a company of artists, Woolly serves an essential research and development role within the American theater. Plays premiered here have gone on to productions at hundreds of theaters all over the world and have had lasting impacts on the field. Currently co-led by Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director Kimberly E. Douglas, Woolly is located in Washington, DC, equidistant from the Capitol and the White House. This unique location influences Woolly’s investment in actively working towards an equitable, participatory, and creative democracy.
Woolly Mammoth stands upon occupied, unceded territory: the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank whose descendants belong to the Piscataway peoples. Furthermore, the foundation of this city, and most of the original buildings in Washington, DC, were funded by the sale of enslaved people of African descent and built by their hands.
