Mary Carpenter has been with CSZ Philadelphia since 1992, where she has worked as a performer, teacher, Education Director, Business Manager, Artistic Director, and Executive Director. She holds degrees in theatre from Northwestern University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Her improv training began at The Second City in Chicago and continued with Mick Napier, Keith Johnstone, Joe Bill, and Jill Bernard. In addition to ComedySportz, Mary’s improvisation experience includes City of Nutterly Love with The Second City, It Doesn’t Matter, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, Wisdom Teeth, Choopy & Me, and 3M. She has directed I’ll Have What She’s Having, The SINsation, and co-created/directed Improvised Star Wars. Recently, she has appeared in Detective Improv, Odd at Sea, and Frankenstein’s Body. She has performed her solo improv show What If  both locally and nationally, taught at Improv Utopia, and published a book: Do Or Do Not: How To Improvise Like A Jedi. 

Michael O’Bryan is the founder and CEO of humanature, a management consulting firm with a mission of putting humanity at the heart of every organization. Additionally, he founded The Wealth + Work Futures Lab. The lab focuses on humanity-centered economic development including explorations into the futures of work, asset building, and life-sustaining income. Michael lectures at UPenn’s Weitzman School of Design and serves on philanthropic boards in Philadelphia.

Tia Mathisen is the Playworks Pennsylvania Executive Director. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, and mom to three, Tia has lived in Philly for well over a decade, and has planted intentional roots to call this city home. Tia was the executive director of the Mt. Airy Business Improvement District, the managing director for the Philadelphia Citizen and most recently the executive operations manager for B Lab Global. As a co-founder of the Philly’s Children’s Movement, she is a social justice advocate, and facilitator. She has a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. She is an advocate of civic engagement as a vehicle to expand minds and improve society, and an optimistic believer in the common good. Her favorite childhood game was Duck, Duck Goose!

Dr. Dan Taylor is a professor of Pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine and a general pediatrician at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where he directs several community outreach programs. Dr. Taylor founded Cap4Kids, an online resource connecting families to community services and providers to address social determinants of health.  

Kambel Smith is a Philadelphia-based contemporary artist known for creating intricate architectural sculptures from everyday materials such as cardboard, foam board, and paint. A self-taught artist, Kambel transforms these materials into detailed interpretations of iconic buildings and structures from around the world. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has earned recognition for its originality and distinctive perspective. Through his art, Kambel demonstrates the power of creativity, curiosity, and seeing the world in new ways.

Raymond Alvarez is the founder and President/CEO of La Liga del Barrio, Philadelphia’s first Latino youth basketball league, which has served more than 17,000 young people since 2000. Through La Liga, Raymond has spent more than two decades creating opportunities for Philadelphia youth through sports, mentorship, and community engagement.

Raymond has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience and has been recognized for his leadership and service, including being named one of Pennsylvania’s 100 Most Influential Latinos in 2021 and receiving the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs’ Pioneer Award in 2022. 

Dr. Ginsburg is a physician, adolescent medicine specialist, and Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is committed to preparing adults to be the kind of people that adolescents deserve in their lives. He supports local, regional, and national organizations in developing programs and policies that strengthen families and see young people through a strength-based lens. He speaks to parent, professional, and youth audiences nationally and internationally, and is the author of five award-winning parenting books, as well as a toolkit for youth-serving professionals. The Center for Parent and Teen Communication (CPTC) is rooted in his strength-based philosophy and resilience-building model.

Karen Mitchell is the Head of Children’s Services at the Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library. After she earned her degree in Irish Music and Dance from the University of Limerick in Ireland, she shifted back to her love of literature and swapped her dance shoes for picture books. She earned her master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh and has worked in libraries for the past seven years. She is the proud mother of an eight-month-old son who already loves story time.  

Nicole McKelvey, PsyD, is a pediatric psychologist at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where she integrates behavioral health into primary care and gastroenterology services. Her work focuses on the connection between physical and mental health in children and adolescents, with interests including pediatric diabetes, gastrointestinal health, adverse childhood experiences, and social determinants of health. She also works to expand research and clinical initiatives that better serve Middle Eastern and North African patients and families.