About BATS
The BATS Communities of Color Scholarship is now accepting applications on a rolling basis!
You can think of BATS Improv as a multi-headed monster, failing constantly since 1986, yet gaining strength every day. One head of the beast is the performing company, the longest running improvised theatre company in Northern California. Another is the BATS Improv School, where beginners and experienced improvisers come to learn from some of the most talented and inspiring coaches in the world. Still another head is BATS @Work, offering corporate training to companies of every size. And then there’s the BATS Community: students, audience members, staff, volunteers, our Board of Directors… let’s make them the body of our creature. Their joy, curiosity, passion, generosity and laughter are the life force of the strange animal that is BATS Improv.
Mission, Vision & Values
Mission (our purpose, our reason for being)Â
BATS Improv changes lives through improv. We cultivate and innovate the craft of improvisation through engaging, playful, and high-quality performance and training.
Vision (what it looks like if we are doing things right)Â
The excellent work we do on-stage, in classes, and in trainings — and also behind the scenes — inspires our community to practice the skills of careful attention, joyful collaboration, and rich storytelling everywhere they go.
Our people come from all walks of life and we consciously share our resources to ensure access for all.
At BATS, people feel changed for the better.
Values (our core essence, our guiding principles)
Throughout BATS, we care about, stand for, and commit to:
- diversity, equity, and inclusion (specifically, working to become anti-racist and anti-oppression)
- creativity and innovation
- collaboration and connection
- joyful play and fun
Brief Company History
Founded in 1986, we are the most highly acclaimed and longest-running improvised theatre company and school in San Francisco and all of Northern California. BATS Improv is more than a theatre company and a school. We are a center for improvised theatre — an integrated universe of improv. We are a community of people who share our vision, who want to challenge themselves, have fun, and connect with others who feel the same way.
Staff & Board
Staff
- Co-Artistic Directors:
Karen Brelsford and Derek Yee - Managing Director:
Marilyn Langbehn - Head of BATS School of Improv:
Stephanie Dennison - Head of Corporate Training and Rentals:
Corey Rosen - Head of Marketing:
Beck Renne - School Administrator:
Will Gutzman - Production Supervisor:
Sage Simms
Board of Directors
OFFICERS
- Jade Shipman, President
President & Principal, Jade Shipman Economics - Dr. Jason Myrowitz, Vice-PresidentÂ
Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management, Northern Arizona University - Pat Pow-anpongkul, TreasurerÂ
COO, ReadMe; BATS Guest Player & student - Sana Ahmed, SecretaryÂ
Finance Partner, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
MEMBERS
- Basel Al-Naffouri
Senior Staff Software Engineer, Google; BATS Company Member & Coach - Â John Holmes
Audit Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco - Â Anusha Lalwani Jain
Head of Creator Success, YouTube; BATS student - Â Ethan Karson
Staff Software Engineer, Sony Interactive Entertainment; Co-Chair of BATS JEDI Task Force; BATS Company Member, - Shweta Mogha
Head of Global HR; Co-Founder, eWOW and Coactive Coach - Sara Ciarelli Walsh
Director of Legal, Google Payments
JEDI Statement
Our Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Task Force has been meeting twice a month since 2020, to helm our Equity Action Plan, track goals and progress, advise leadership, and provide an equity lens for organizational decisions.
BATS Improv is committed to creating an anti-racist, healthy theatre community which embeds spontaneous and creative risk-taking within a safe, inclusive environment. We aim for our leadership and casts to represent our region’s populations and cultures, to tell a broad diversity of stories on our stage, and to reduce barriers to participation to ensure improv is accessible.