Board of Directors
Colette Gaffney, President
[they/them/theirs] currently lives on the lands of the Houma and Chitimacha in New Orleans, LA and works as an Spiritual Care Educator and Provider and clowns as Tinsel the Truth Teller at Big Couch NOLA. They came to this land called by their ancestors to be nurtured in the space their family came to port in North American. Since taking root in New Orleans in December 2021 Colette has come into more knowledge of themself, the geographical placement connecting them more deeply with their Cajun and Creole ancestors and descendants. Colette is agender in gender identity and queer in sexual orientation and has bloomed in the long-standing New Orleans LGBT2SQIA+ community, living amongst chosen family that they have been finding throughout their life.
Colette came to New Orleans via Oklahoma City where they joined the VA chaplain team as a focusing on in-patient mental health spiritual care, outreach to Veterans experiencing homelessness and out-patient mental health, overseeing the chaplain intern program, palliative care, provided spiritual care a community living center, suicide prevention, and moral injury. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic they became the administrator of the chaplain education program at the Oklahoma City VA. And during lockdown their clinical responsibilities included in-patient COVID-19 units, out-patient tele-spirituality groups like an interfaith women’s spiritual community, and Spiritual Recovery for LGBTQIA+ Veterans who are recovering from spiritual/religious trauma.
In the dark period of winter of 2020, Colette was certified by ACPE, Inc. as an Educator, in January 2021 they were board certified by the National Assocation of VA Chaplains, and in April 2021 they completed their doctoral research at Union Theological Seminary entitled Spiritual Formation in the Practice of Spiritual Care Education and Supervision.
Throughout these times Colette also served as a US Army Reserves Chaplain with the 368th Combat Operational Stress Control Medical Detachment in Tulsa, OK and previously a US Army Reserves Chaplain Candidate with the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion in Grand Prairie, TX. Serving in the military for a total of 8 years. Colette has been physically chronically ill since their time in the US Army Reserves, disabled by a social context that exacerbated an autoimmune condition. At the time this change in ability was a great loss but has resulted in a greater awareness of a need for balance and self-compassion that does not come naturally to Colette.
In their current work, Colette’s workplace passion is disability advocacy, integration of mental health and spiritual health, anti-racism in healthcare and education. In clowning they are passionate about telling stories of human vulnerability and highlighting the ludicrous in the human condition. They are grateful to bring these passions to their collaboration with Prescription Joy.
Marisa Morton
Marisa Morton is a registered nurse and laughter enthusiast. She is a graduate of the LSU Health Sciences Center and currently works as a Performance Improvement Coordinator at Tulane Medical Center. Marisa has a B.A. in Theatre from Tulane University and previously did administrative and
development work for arts, environmental, and public health organizations.
Pamela D. Roberts
Ever since auditioning for her high school musical on a dare, Pamela has kept theatre relevant throughout her life. After years of performing and stage managing throughout New York and New Jersey Regional Theaters, Ms. Roberts spent three years as the lead vocalist for the European tour “The USA Original Gospel Singers”, giving her the chance to sing in some of the world’s oldest cathedrals throughout Europe. Upon returning to the states Ms. Roberts joined the Caravan Stage Company, an international tall ship theatre circus, adding fire dancer to her list of theatrical skills. The Caravan brought Ms. Roberts to the Netherlands, Belgium and to Louisiana, where she resides today. Her years in LA have brought her from playing Stella in a re-imagined production of Tennessee Williams “Streetcar Named Desire” to managing such events as the NBA All Star Weekend and The New Orleans Film Festival. After the Saints won the Super Bowl, Ms. Roberts headed the production team of “Ain’t Dat Super” a celebration for Saints fans produced at The Mahalia Jackson Theater. Ms. Roberts was also a circus juror for New Orleans Fringe Festival. Recently, Ms. Roberts, shifted away from performance and into arts education. She is a certified Wolf Trap instructor through Young Audiences and has filled her summers teaching Theatre with Community Works/NORDC. Ms. Roberts also proudly sits on the Board of the Caravan Stage Company.
Katelynn “Katie” Thibodeaux, MPA
Born & raised on the Westbank of New Orleans, Katie loves all things art, culture, & innovation. In 2017, Katie received her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans, in Interdisciplinary Studies focused in Family & Child Development, minoring in psychology and sociology. Soon after she began working in our community, first at Autism Spectrum Therapies, then transitioned to Ochsner Hospital for Children in 2018. While working directly with children and families, she recognized the need for policy change and greater support for families in need. Thus, she obtained her masters from the University of New Orleans in Public Administration, focused in Nonprofit Leadership in 2022. Currently, Katie is the data coordinator for Louisiana Cancer Prevention & Control Programs. She is passionate about advocating for those in need and disseminating resources. She is constantly searching for innovative ways to increase health autonomy and health literacy. Since 2018, Katie has worked alongside Prescription Joy in the healthcare setting seeing the direct impact of healthcare clowning on patients, families, and staff. She looks forward to guiding the organizational mission, as they spread whimsical joy throughout Louisiana.
Daniel Pruksarnukul
[he/him/his] is a Creative Producer & Artist-Teacher based in New Orleans, LA. He currently serves as Mondo Bizarro’s Creative Producer where he helped develop & launch the world premiere of The Way at Midnight as well as an Artist-Teacher at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in the Theatre-Arts Department. He worked at Arena Stage in Washington, DC for nine seasons where he served as the Artistic Associate & Casting Director and helped produce over 60 main-stage shows and dozens of new play readings & workshops. He is a graduate of Middlebury College where he triple majored in Theater, English & Religion as well as the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship Program in Directing, Production & Casting where he was awarded the Thomas C. Fichandler Award for Theater Management Excellence. www.mondobizarro.org
Robin Vander
Dr. Robin G. Vander is Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and holds the RosaMary Foundation Professorship in Liberal Arts at Xavier University of Louisiana (XU). She earned her doctorate in Comparative Literature from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) where her training developed at the intersections of literary studies, Performance Studies, ethnography, and Diaspora Studies.
She is co-founder of Xavier University's Performance Studies Laboratory, contributing editor to the Xavier Review, and has served as guest editor for a special issue of The Review of Black Political Economy examining recovery and development in post-Katrina New Orleans. She is co-editor of the first two collections of critical essays on Percival Everett including his creative writing and paintings, to be published in the United States.
As a dramaturg, she has worked on performance based projects about black women’s experiences and is currently engaged in scripting historical narratives about free people of color.
Because of her work in ethnography, she was invited in 2021 by a national organization to study how local community-based organizations engaged in COVID-19 outreach programs addressing vaccine hesitancy.
Often situated at the intersections of literature, ethnography, and performance, her work oftentimes creates a critical lens for considering how we might learn to navigate immense challenges, vulnerabilities, and uncertainties, and come to imagine our individual and communal possibilities.
Currently, Dr. Vander’s research explores black women’s narratives of self-care in the Gulf South region of the United States.
