Meet Our Team
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Deborah Orr - Executive DirectorDeborah Orr has dedicated her career to providing educational opportunities to increase literacy for children in historically disadvantaged areas. Originally from Detroit, MI, Deborah Orr founded Outreach Productions in 1991 to promote literacy through the arts in underserved communities. For the past twenty years she has worked to provide children in the Austin community with creative avenues to make learning an exciting adventure. Ms. Orr has served the community by providing puppetry, storytelling, and reading and writing workshops to encourage learning. She is the author of The Little Cornbread Girl, Mumba Tales, and Candice and the Beautiful Junk. You can order her books as an e-book or hard a copy from Amazon. Ms. Orr also work closely with the non-profit organization, Outreach Productions, helping them promote reading. She can offer your organization the programs listed below:
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Timika Mitchell - Community ArtistTimika Mitchell was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana and has been living in Austin for over 25 years. Timika has served as a Teaching Assistant with Austin Independent School District for over 5 years. Since 2012, Timika has taught art therapy to underserved students at AISD. Timika believes art reflects her life in a creative form. She creates art because it feels good and Timika wants to inspire other people to do something creative and positive. With her art, she strives to teach her daughters to never give up on their dreams. To find out about Timika's community project, "Art with Timika", click the following link. Her workshops include:
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Funmi Ogunro-Media EducationFunmi Ogunro, Austin native and a graduate of Baylor University, has over 7 years of experience in art programming and filmmaking. She served as the Director of Afterschool Enrichment Programming with the Austin Independent School District from 2011-2015. Now, she uses her skills to coordinate art shows, film productions, and additional programming to support underserved artists in the Austin community.
Her workshops include:
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Bethany Harbaugh - PuppeteerBethany Harbaugh earned a BFA in Theater from Texas State University-San Marcos, and went on to work for the Walt Disney Company in both the Attractions and the Entertainment divisions.
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Olivia Jimenez - PuppeteerOlivia Jiménez is a bilingual theater-maker, teaching artist, and yoga instructor for humans of all ages. Olivia earned a BA in Theater with an emphasis in Applied Theater from the University of Southern California before returning to her hometown of Austin, TX. Our puppeteers are bilingual which makes it nice to be able to reach more of our audience.
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Joan Stewart - StorytellerJoan Stewart is the daughter of the late Marian E. Barnes. Ms. Barnes is the official “Yellow Rose of Texas” for her excellent books and storytelling. Joanie has told stories professionally for over 25 years. She tells stories of healing, love and laughter to children and adults. Joan is a practicing attorney.
Her work includes:
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Narda Drizin - StorytellerNarda Drizin is considered a natural storyteller with a passion for sharing. She grew up in the province of Cusco, and went to high school and to college in Arequipa, Peru. She went on to teach elementary school in various regions of Peru, including in the Andes Mountains, the rainforest, and the Pacific Coast.
Her work includes:
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Odera Anyasinti - Planner of Youth ProjectsOdera Anyasinti works as the Planner of Youth Projects for Outreach Productions. She has over seven years experience providing programming for youth in all settings including schools, non-profits, and universities. Ms. Anyasinti is responsible for graphic design and craft activities at Outreach events.
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