Meet our team

Kirsten Wilson is the Artistic Executive Director, founder, and visionary of Motus Theater. She is a narrative artist, master teacher in the field of autobiographical monologue work, and editor of the Motus Monologues and Shoebox Stories podcasts. Kirsten has created several award-winning multimedia performances exploring history through the lens of race and class. Wilson excels at co-developing autobiographical monologue projects with leaders on the frontlines of violence and oppression in the U.S., putting them center stage as the protagonists in the American drama. These autobiographical monologues expand perceptions, disrupt dehumanizing narratives, inspire more humane policies, and shed light on the root causes of injustice.

Since 2013, she has worked with undocumented leaders to co-develop their stories of living on the frontlines of U.S. immigration policy. In 2019, she began co-developing stories with formerly incarcerated leaders to highlight the criminality and injustice of the legal system, and in 2021, she began collaborating with transgender and nonbinary leaders. Wilson is known for creating spaces of courageous empathy and civic hospitality; she pairs Motus Theater monologists with local and national leaders who stand together and co-read their stories aloud on stage. Her work has been featured in media outlets as diverse as Theater Magazine, NPR, Fast Company, Ms. Magazine, The Washington Post, and USA Today. Through Motus Theater’s acclaimed Shoebox Stories project, she has collaborated with iconic figures such as Gloria Steinem, Yo-Yo Ma, John Lithgow, José Andrés, Ai-jen Poo, and many more.

Wilson’s recent recognitions include: Naropa University Commencement Speaker; Artistic Innovator award from the Alliance for Technology Learning and Society at CU Boulder; Women Who Light the Community Award from the Boulder Chamber; the Women Who Tell Our Stories from the City of Boulder; Art & Activism Award from Northern Colorado Dreamers United, Multicultural Action Award from Boulder County; Person of the Year Award from the Boulder Weekly; Peacemaker of the Year Award from Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice; the Windhorse Service Award from Naropa University; and the Square Nail Award from the Boulder Heritage Roundtable. Her work has been supported by several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Rita brings to Motus Theater 15 years of experience as an arts administrator and curator. She has led and collaborated with professional teams around the world to bring theater and dance projects to fruition for audiences in diverse contexts: the plains and villages of rural Portugal, the city theaters and slums of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the Fowler Museum, J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Department of World Arts and Cultures (WAC/D) at UCLA. Rita completed her Ph.D. in Culture and Performance Studies at WAC/D in 2017. Rita is responsible for oversight of Motus funding, staff, operations, and assuring Motus can continue to offer innovative theatrical programming for years to come. In 2023, Rita joined the Bonfils-Stanton Livingston Fellowship; you can watch her fellowship mini-documentary here.

Cristian Solano-Córdova (he/they) serves as the Director of Communications, Outreach, and Development for Motus Theater. In his current role at Motus Theater, Cristian leverages his extensive experience in immigrants rights advocacy and activism to foster dialogue and understanding among diverse communities. He is particularly focused on issues that intersect immigrant rights, criminal legal reform, and LGBTQIA+ rights. His work aims to build bridges through storytelling, advocacy, and community engagement, all of which serve as powerful tools for social change. A Denver-based DACA recipient from Chihuahua, Mexico, Cristian began his advocacy journey in 2015 as the first DACAmented Student Body President at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He united student governments across Colorado to prevent higher education budget cuts. From 2017 to 2020, he was the Communications Director at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC). There, he led communication efforts for legal services, voter registration, and legislative campaigns to protect the undocumented community in Colorado. After CIRC, Cristian worked with the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), coordinating advocacy and policy initiatives with 61 member organizations across 40 states.

Abby brings over 10 years of financial industry and operational management experience to Motus. For the past 5 years, Abby has owned & operated her own business, Osito Solutions, providing bookkeeping & tax planning services to her clients and their small businesses. By leveraging the latest technologies and employing a holistic, people-first approach, she helped her clients take control of their finances and gain valuable, data-driven insights about their businesses. Abby holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma in both Accounting & Entrepreneurship. She has previously performed bookkeeping, tax planning, and other custom financial services for ultra high net worth individuals and their entities. Abby has experience in a variety of industries, including Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Real Estate, Construction, Agriculture, Legal Services, and Retail. At Motus, Abby is responsible for providing organizational, financial, and operations management related to our infrastructure and production activities.

Juaquin was once incarcerated for the better half of a decade and knows all too well how a “helping hand,” as opposed to a “hand out,” can motivate one to success. He is the CEO of Community Anchor Academy. Juaquin helps those individuals who were recently incarcerated and/or at risk of becoming incarcerated to realize their true potential and manifest their limitless potential. Juaquin is a proud father of three beautiful girls and he refuses to let the next generation fall into the same traps that both he and his peers negotiated. Juaquin is also a monologist in Motus Theater's JustUs project.

David Breña has a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) a BA minor in Theater. He is passionate about fostering and advocating for the mental and physical health of marginalized communities and using theater for community conversation and healing. He has experience and knowledge working with LGBTQIA+ youth and adults, as well as Latin American immigrants. He is bilingual in Spanish and bicultural. David is also a monologist with Motus’ TRANSformative Stories project.

Areyana Proctor is a Media & Cultural Studies graduate student at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Born and raised in the Denver area, Areyana graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a double major in journalism and media production and a double minor in leadership studies and sociology. She has presented her honors thesis, focused on criminalized representations of the Black body in multiple conferences. She is interested in research on racial and educational inequality and media and technology's impacts on these issues.

Art is the Director of Student IT Services at CU System. He was the Board Vice­-Chair of the Boulder County Community Action Programs and he also served on the Board of the Boulder Asian Pacific Alliance, which he co­-founded in 1994. He served on the City of Boulder Human Relations Commission between April 2017 and March 2022, including as Chair.

David Breña has a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) a BA minor in Theater. He is passionate about fostering and advocating for the mental and physical health of marginalized communities and using theater for community conversation and healing. He has experience and knowledge working with LGBTQIA+ youth and adults, as well as Latin American immigrants. He is bilingual in Spanish and bicultural. David is also the project strategist and a monologist with Motus’ TRANSformative Stories project.

David is retired from a telecommunication engineering and program management career. He has thirteen years of non­profit experience in various board roles at OUT Boulder and BCAP, Boulder County AIDS Project. He currently serves on the City of Boulder Planning Board. Being on the board of Motus Theater has allowed David to follow his passion of working toward social justice, and his leisure time pursuits include running and cross-country ski racing.

Juan is a media professional who has worked as a freelance producer in Boulder for many years. He teaches media literacy, video and radio production at many local high schools. He is one of the producers of the Media Gardens program at KGNU, Boulder's community radio station. He is a bicultural and bilingual Guatemalan immigrant with family ties to Boulder that go back three generations. He is also an entrepreneur and owner of Green Belly Foods, a Guatemalan hot sauce company.

Lorenzo has been a theatre performer, director and an educator for the last twenty years. He is currently an Associate Professor at Naropa University and head of the BFA in Performance.  Among the various theatres he has worked are: The RED CAT and The Ahmanson Theatre in L.A., San Jose Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory, Arizona Theatre Company, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, El Teatro Campesino, and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

Margi is a retired nonprofit administrator who worked primarily in the arts and transportation. She has volunteered for many local, state, and national nonprofits and is particularly passionate about immigrant rights and social justice. Her past volunteer work has been with International Peace Initiatives, Intercambio, and Boulder County Circles.  In addition to Motus, she currently volunteers for Boulder Food Rescue, Boulder International Film Festival, and Chautauqua.

Pedro is a globally-minded leader with extensive experience and depth in a variety of sectors. Throughout his career in military, corporate, and ministerial spaces, as well as in his volunteer work, he has developed the relational acumen to inspire people, create compelling narrative, and articulate vision in ways that both challenge and comfort as required. He thrives and best serves with organizations that are imaginative, inclusive, vision-centered, and welcome relational accountability. He currently serves as Director of Engagement at YOUnify.