Jarvis Antonio Green is the Founding Artistic Director of JAG Productions, a Vermont and NYC based black theater company founded in 2016. He is the recipient of the New England Theatre Conference Regional Award for Outstanding Achievement in the American Theatre for his work with JAG in its inaugural year. Every year he produces five new plays, nurturing the work of five budding playwrights at JAGfest, one of the nation's leading incubators of new works by Black playwrights. In 2020 he launched the Black Joy Project, a three-tiered project: a Black Theatre methodology, a play embodying the method and a documentary film capturing its inception. Jarvis was acknowledged by Native Son as a Black queer man who impacted the world in 2020 and sees himself playing a key role in bringing actors and stories from all over the diaspora to stages worldwide. He has a robust artistic resume having directed and performed in numerous professional productions all over the country. As an educator and scholar, he created a Black Theatre curriculum for Northwestern University, Notre Dame, and Northern Vermont University. Green is a New England Foundation for the Arts National Theatre Project Advisor and is a founding member of the Black Theatre Artist Council at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York.
Sideeq Heard is honored and humbled to join JAG Productions as the Associate Artistic Director during this special time of growth and expansion. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, raised in the army, and spent his formative years traveling across the nation. Sideeq’s passion lies in finding the humanness in queer stories, black and brown stories, and stories that prize the underdog to create empathy and understanding in the hearts of others. Some of Sideeq’s credits include serving as Artistic Director of the Homebase Theatre Collective 2020-2021, where he pioneered the Collective's inaugural online film festival. He recently directed ‘Here is a Man” a short film about the incomparable Donny Hathaway, set to make a festival run in Fall 2022. Sideeq first encountered JAG in 2021, directing a workshop production of “A Curious Thing” written by Jeremy O’Brian for Theatre on a Hill. He has had the privilege of serving as Assistant Director to Carl Cofield at the Classical Theatre of Harlem, and Saheem Ali at The Public Theatre, where he worked on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Play “Fat Ham” by James Ijames. His artistic training includes Midsummer in Oxford at The British Academy of Dramatic Arts, a BFA in Acting from Howard University, and an MFA from the NYU Graduate Acting program.
Ben Rapson has the pride and honor of serving as the Marketing Director for JAG. As a queer white cis-male, he strives to balance his privilege with his responsibility in our beloved Upper Valley. He is also the Social Media Marketing Manager for King Arthur Baking Company, and a board member for Hartford’s Chamber of Commerce. His passions include songwriting, produce markets, and filmmaking. Ben thanks you deeply for contributing to JAG’s presence in the community.
Jameson C. Davis
Interim Board Chair
Jameson C. Davis is a Juris Doctor (JD) Candidate at Vermont Law School and a Selectboard Member for the Town of Hartford, Vermont. During his time as a student at Vermont Law School thus far, Davis has earned a Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP) Degree and helped found the Environmental Justice Law Society, of which he is now a Co-President for this academic year. Outside of his roles and responsibilities as a student and Selectboard Member, Davis served as a Volunteer Member for the Vermont Attorney General's Advisory Panel on Racial Disparities in the Juvenile and Criminal Justice System. Currently is also serves as a member of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO). Davis was also appointed Chairman of the Data Collection Practices for Vermont Law Enforcement Subcommittee while serving on the Attorney General's Advisory Panel
Nancy Boyd Grant
Treasurer
Now happily retired, Nancy Boyd Grant spent over 35 years in both staff and board leadership roles in the education and non-
profit realms. Nancy was the co-founder, along with her husband, David, of The Mountain School of Milton Academy, an
innovative, nationally recognized one-semester academic program for high school juniors located in Vershire, VT. Following a
move to New Jersey, she served as Director of Programs for New Jersey SEEDS, a non-profit organization based in Newark,
which assists low-income students in preparing for and gaining admission to private secondary schools and colleges. Back in
Vermont, she worked for the Appalachian Mountain Club as Director of Volunteer-led Camps and Cabins, and also joined her
husband, David, on consulting projects with nonprofit organizations, specializing in strategic planning and the creation of effective
administrative systems. Nancy was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of Antioch University New England, and is
currently an ex-officio member of the Board of Advisors of The Mountain School of Milton Academy. Over many years and in
several capacities, she has served on the governing committee of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Three Mile Island Camp on
Lake Winnipesaukee. While living in New Jersey, she was a member of the Boards of Trustees of New Jersey SEEDS and the
South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race. Nancy holds a BA from Connecticut College, and a M.Ed. from Antioch
University New England.
Dr. Rian M. Hasson
Dr. Rian M. Hasson is a Thoracic Surgeon and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She was born and raised in Southern California and completed her undergraduate degree at The University of California, Berkeley. She completed medical school at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and moved to Boston, MA for her general surgery training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed her cardiothoracic residency at The Ohio State University and additional training in thoracic surgery at the Mayo Clinic. She joined the faculty at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in August of 2018. Her drive for health equity stems from the health disparities present in her own family as two of her grandparents died of smoking-related diseases. Today, as a practicing thoracic surgeon, she is motivated to eliminate disparities in lung cancer screening and identify racial/ethnic disparities in Surgery to increase the inclusion of underrepresented groups. As such, she serves as a leading mentor for medical students interested in surgery at The Geisel School of Medicine. Her hope going forward is that “medical students of color will face fewer challenges and have more representative role models so that they too can become successful medical professionals and increase the diversity of our workforce.” Also realizing that while her clinical efforts provide day-to-day gratification, it is her research efforts that provide long-term fulfilment by facilitating changes in the way we practice medicine, and she currently is an active health services researcher having completed an MPH at the Dartmouth Institute (TDI) for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in June 2021. Her current research projects focus on identifying and ameliorating disparities in lung cancer screening, and she is the instructor for the inaugural Hybrid TDI MPH DEI Curriculum, Diversity Education and Learning in Public Health (DELPHI), set to begin Fall 2022. To promote a healthy work-life balance, in her spare time she enjoys international clinical experiences, having served in Rwanda, Ecuador, and Costa Rica; cooking and spending time with her family and friends.
Marcela Di Blasi
Marcela Di Blasi has been inspired and delighted by JAG Productions since it’s very first year, and was graced with the distinct honor of being elected to the board in 2020. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Marcela left the warmth of the lone star state to go to school at Williams College, before following her studies to the UK for a fellowship and MPhil at Cambridge University, and ultimately returning stateside to earn her Ph.D. in English at New York University. Now an assistant professor in the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Program at Dartmouth College, Marcela focuses on multi-ethnic American literature, with a particular focus on Latinx coming of age stories and what they can tell us about who gets to inherit the future. Something that drew her to JAG was its focus on telling stories about the flawed world we live in without limiting our ability to imagine wildly beyond this world. Marcela is also a member of the Hanover School Board. She now lives in Hanover with her husband, Treb, two daughters, and dog.
Keiselim A. Montás (Keysi)
Born in the Dominican Republic, at age 16 he migrated to Queens, NY, where he completed high school; he earned a BA in Spanish and Secondary Education from Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY), and a MA in Spanish Literatures from the University of Cincinnati. Keysi moved to the Upper Valley in 2007, to work for the Dartmouth College Department of Safety and Security, where he currently serves as Director. He is an accomplished writer, and has published 5 poetry books, 2 books of short stories, and 2 books of essays. He has won multiple literary prizes and is the editor and founder of Élitro Editorial del Proyecto Zompopos a small independent publisher. Keysi is also an avid Argentine Tango dancer.
Laura Gillespie
Laura Gillespie joined the Upper Valley Haven in 2016 after ten years in development at The Aloha Foundation. Laura is a graduate of Dartmouth College with an MS in Nonprofit Management from Marlboro College. Laura is V.P of the Lifecare Board of Alice Peck Day Hospital, the Board of Hartford-Norwich Holiday Basket Helpers, volunteers with Hartford Dismas House and coaches high school rowing with Upper Valley Rowing Foundation.