Ralph has been Ma-Yi Theater Company’s Artistic Director since 1996. Under his artistic leadership, Ma-Yi Theater has become the country’s leading incubator of new plays by Asian American playwrights, with a history of productions garnering numerous awards including nine Obie Awards, the Off-Broadway Alliance Award, nine Drama Desk nominations, a special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theater, and most recently, a Lucille Lortel Award and the Ross Wetzsteon Obie Award. For Ma-Yi, Ralph has directed Felix Starro, The Chinese Lady, The Children of Vonderly, House/Boy Microcrisis, House Rules, The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra GO!, and Among the Dead. Ralph’s work has been seen on the stages of Laguna Playhouse, Victory Gardens, Long Wharf Theater, Children’s Theater Company, The Public Theater, NAATCO, The Round House Theater, and LaMama ETC., among others. He is the recipient of an Obie Award for his work on The Romance of Magno Rubio and a proud member of the Ensemble Studio Theater.

Jorge assumed the position of Executive Director in 2004, produced all of its productions and oversaw its steady growth and respect in the industry and communities it serves. He believes that the bedrocks of longevity for an arts organization, besides artistic excellence, are fiscal responsibility and responsiveness to the communities that it is important to. He has served as panelist for the Nancy Quinn Fund of the Alliance of Resident Theatres in New York, and has represented the United States in the bi-annual conventions of ITI (International Theater Institute of UNESCO) since 2002. As one of the seven founders of CAATA (Coalition ofAsian American Theaters and Artists) in 2004, he was in the steering committee of the First National Asian American TheaterConference in Los Angeles in June 2006, and one of three members of the executive committee that organized the highly successful First National Asian American TheaterFestival held in New York City in June 2007. Jorge is the recipient of the TOFA award in 2011 (Twenty Outstanding Filipinos Abroad,Washington DC), and in December 5,2012, he was awarded the PAMANA Presidential Award at Malacanan Palace byPresident Benigno Aquino III, acknowledging his distinguished work as a Filipino in the field of Arts and Culture outside the Philippines. Born and raised in Manila, Jorge holds a B.A. degree in Economics and Accounting from Holy Cross College and an M.B.A. degree from Columbia University.

Jakob Carter is a nonbinary theatre artist who is very excited to continue working with the Ma-Yi Theater Company on their 35th Season. They believe in creating accessible and inclusive art, working with artists to showcase their work representing systematically underrepresented communities and identities, and aiding in telling stories that push the traditional envelope of what we identify as American Theater. Jakob has worked with Ma-Yi Theater Company in producing productions of The Chinese Lady, ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME, Short Stacks Playfestival, as well as working with Ma-Yi and La Jolla Playhouse in their co-production of SUMO this past fall of 2023. They have also had the privilege of serving on a panel for the New York State Council of the Arts in 2022.  Jakob is thankful to Ma-Yi Theater Company’s Staff and Board of Directors, as well as our funders for the opportunity to continue to cultivate our mission in developing and producing AANHPI Artists and their work.

Borna Barzin is a director, writer, and producer based in Brooklyn, New York, and The Asian American Arts Alliance’s 2024 Van Lier Fellow in Theater. He recently served as a Guest Artist at NYU Tisch where he directed Lorca’s Blood Wedding and Charles Mee’s Summertime at Atlantic Stage 2. Other directing credits include Max Wolf Friedlich’s Black Ice, When We Write With Ashes (Lincoln Center/National Queer Theater), Pinching Pennies with Penny Marshall (New York Theatre Workshop), and How I Learned to Drive (Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, Romania). He has completed residencies at institutions such as Roundabout Theater Company, Colt Coeur, and The Mercury Store. His plays HELL IS and Like This were workshopped as a part of Egg & Spoon Theater’s Incubate NYC Program and his Van Lier Fellowship, respectively. Borna is currently developing a new play, The Tunnel of Love, with Obie-Winning playwright Charles Mee.