Lisa Marie Rollins is a highly skilled freelance director, writer, and new play developer who has worked with renowned theaters and playwrights in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a Sundance Institute Theatre Lab Fellow and a member of the Directors Lab West. With graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Claremont Graduate University, Lisa's specialization is in African diaspora studies, performance, transracial adoption literature, and cultural studies. Additionally, Lisa is a former Executive Director at Adopted and Fostered Adults of the African Diaspora (AFAAD) and Adoption Education Specialist at Pact, An Adoption Alliance. She has also shared her expertise as an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University and Graduate Instructor at UC Berkeley. Lisa is a recipient of several writing fellowships including the San Francisco Writers Grotto, CALLALOO London, VONA, Just Theater Play Lab, and the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency. She is currently a Resident Artist with Crowded Fire Theater and Artist-in-Residence at BRAVA Theater for Women in San Francisco. Her new book of poems, "Other Words for Grief," was recently released by Finishing Line Press.