Karen Shuman has been performing, directing, choreographing and teaching for the past 30 years. She holds a B.A. from Brandeis University and an M.A. in Theater from Northwestern University. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and studied with Byrne Piven (Piven Theater). Karen was one of the first Spielberg Fellows and a scholarship member of ATJT (San Francisco). Karen has dance training in Ballet, Jazz, Afro-Caribbean/Afro-Cuban Folk, Modern, and Hip-Hop. She studied and/or performed at the Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts (Jamaica), Gus Giordano, and was a scholarship student at Joel Hall. Karen served as the Artistic Director/Executive Producer of the Miss Illinois Scholarship Pageant for a decade. Karen has taught Theater and Communication in higher education for 25 years, and sixteen of them have been at McHenry County College, where she currently teaches. She is excited and honored to be a member of the ITA Board.