Jessica Kirson

Jessica Kirson is a powerhouse on stage. She’s a hilariously relatable performer of sheer silliness, vulnerability, and ridiculous characters. Her countless comedic character videos have racked up over 50 million views on social media. Her audience is multigenerational, creating an excuse for large groups of friends and families to spend a night out together. In an era where only 10% of all touring comedians are female, Jessica stands out as one of the strongest comedians regardless of gender. 

Jessica produced FX’s Hysterical, a feature-length documentary that premiered at SXSW 2021. The film explores the changing landscape of women in stand-up comedy and features Margaret Cho, Nikki Glazer, Chelsea Handler, Fortune Feimster, and other notable comedians. Her one-hour special Talking to Myself was executive produced by Bill Burr and debuted on Comedy Central. She is a regular on This Week at the Comedy Cellar and has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View, HBO’s Crashing, and Kevin Can Wait. She also recently acted in and served as a consultant, producer, and writer on the Robert De Niro film The Comedian. 

Jessica’s highly anticipated prank call album, The Call Girls, also featuring Rachel Feinstein, was released on September 24th. Recorded virtually during the depths of quarantine, the album features characters such as old Jewish grandmothers, sexy co-eds, a conservative mother and her gay son, and more. 

Jessica’s characters are coming to life in her new podcast, Disgusting Hawk with rave reviews. Through her Relatively Sane podcast, Jessica has interviewed the likes of Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, and Rosie O’Donnell. 

She was awarded “Best Female Comic” by the MAC association in New York City and received the prestigious Nightlife Award for “Best Stand-up Comedian.” In her spare time, Jessica is a regular contributor to The Howard Stern Show, where she produces and stars in prank calls for the program. 

Michele Balan

MICHELE BALAN was a finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, and titleholder of "Last Woman Comic Standing." Michele was voted one of the “Top 10 Comics” by Backstage Magazine and The San Francisco Bay Times. Broadway World honored Michele at number two in their Top 10 List of cabaret performers.

Michele headlines around the country at leading comedy clubs, festivals such as Montreal’s “Just for Laughs,” corporate events, JCCs, country clubs, on cruises, and more! She has appeared several times on The Joy Behar Show, The View, and has numerous appearances on HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed, and recently on NBC’s The Today Show, and Gotham Live.

Wendy Moten

Wendy Moten is an exceptional, adaptable singer, a pure musical spirit, and a bridge from Memphis to Nashville to the rest of the world. Respected in the music industry as a consummate professional for years, the wider public discovered her talent and charm through her remarkable run on NBC’s The Voice in 2021. She turned all four judges’ chairs on her blind audition and ended up in second place overall – unprecedented for an artist in her 50s. A native of Memphis, Moten sang R&B on a major label in the 90s then moved to Nashville to become an in-demand harmony singer. She spent 15 years as the key support voice for Julio Iglesias. And she has toured with Martina McBride, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, and Vince Gill. She’s performed as a soloist on the Grand Ole Opry multiple times and been a featured artist in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Musician Spotlight series. In 2019 she joined the Grammy-winning Nashville western swing band The Time Jumpers.  

Pam Rose

Few voices have the power to cut to the bone like Pam Rose’s. Layer that over her profound songwriting gift and her consummate musicianship on an assortment of instruments, and you begin to get a glimpse of a real artist. 

Rose has been nominated for two Grammy Awards with longtime writing partner Mary Ann Kennedy, with whom she formed the acclaimed duo Kennedy Rose. The twosome recorded on rock star Sting’s private label Pangaea Records, founded for “uncategorizable music,” and opened for one of his world tours. Kennedy Rose also performed twice for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton and at a Nobel Peace Prize presentation, as special guests of Emmylou Harris. 

Pam has enjoyed a vibrant life of touring, having toured multiple times as an acoustic trio with Kennedy and Harris, treating the crowds to their impressive three-part blend, and as a solo artist, appearing with Australian acoustic guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel.  

As a solo artist, Pam has recorded the CDs Morpheus, Fly, The Temple Sessions and Sacred Song. Sacred Song has already garnered exposure in a documentary currently on the festival circuit titled “Invisible”. Rose is also featured in the documentary. "Invisible" captured the audience award for "Best Documentary" at the Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival. Pam also enjoyed hit record status in Sweden; her song “Never You” (cowritten with Swedish icon Marit Bergman) soared in the Scandinavian charts and was a favorite on the soundtrack CD for Sweden’s most successful TV series, Jill’s Veranda. 

As a guest artist, she has sung harmony with the likes of Art Garfunkel and Neil Young and appeared on a host of hit records, most notably in “How Do I Live?,” recorded by LeAnn Rhimes, and “Independence Day,” recorded by Martina McBride. Pam’s appeared with Emmanuel on his PBS show, on which she performed one of her Grammy-nominated songs, “I’ll Still Be Loving You,” and “Haba Na Haba,” a composition cowritten with Emmanuel that appears on his CD Little by Little. Inspired by the Swahili proverb “Haba Na Haba”—which translates to “little by little, we fill the cup”—it is a story of hope and taking long, sometimes arduous journeys one step at a time. 

Born in Chattanooga, Pam moved with her family to Atlanta and then to Florida’s east coast, where she spent her formative years. After majoring in music at Florida State University, she lived in Atlanta and was mentored by jazz musician Paul Mitchell. Pam currently resides in Nashville, TN. 

Debórah Eliezer

Debórah Eliezer, (she/her,) is a mixed identity Arab Jew, theater maker, social activist and California fire survivor living and working on the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. Passionate about the power of human transformation, her work focuses on disrupting assumptions about art, human values and society. She is the Artistic Director of Aviva Arts, an Associate Artist with Golden Thread, an artEquity arts facilitator alumna, and serves on the MENA Alliance of Theatre Makers steering committee.  Formerly the Artistic Director of foolsFURY Theater, she has devised numerous world premieres in SF and NYC, working with playwrights Katie Pearl, Kate Tarker, Yussef el Guindi, Denmo Ibrahim, Torange Yeghiazarian, Fabrice Melquiot, Angela Santillo, Sheila Callaghan, Doug Dorst, Ben Yalom and Dan Chumley. Eliezer wrote and performs (dis)Place[d] which toured the FURY Factory Festival of Ensemble Theater, Ko Fest, Olivia Cruises, Limmud UK and is featured in Michael Malek Najjar’s book, Middle Eastern American Theatre: Communities, Cultures and Artists.  She stars in the short film Wresting Place written and directed by Coral Cohen release date TBD. As a professional voiceover, you may have heard her voice in over 25 Leapfrog Toys, Sims 2, 3 and 4 video games or numerous radio ads.  A San Francisco native, she holds a B.A. Cum Laude from SFSU, is a Certified Sound, Voice Movement Healing Arts Practitioner from California Institute of Integral Studies and a certified yoga teacher. She maintains a private coaching practice for students and professionals on zoom and in the SF Bay Area.    

DJ Rockaway

Born and raised in Queens, DJ Rockaway has been bringing her passion and love for music to US and international dance floors for nearly two decades. Although she is true New Yorker (just listen to her talk!), she is a regular on both the East and West coasts. You’ll find her spinning at nightclubs, weddings and other private events, and galas for national nonprofits, such as NCLR, HRC, and Equality California, to name a few—and she is also a regular DJ on Olivia cruise and resort vacations.

The executive producer of the San Francisco Women’s Stage and the founder of PLAY San Francisco and PLAY San Jose, monthly events for women who love to dance, DJ Rockaway has created a unique mix of music styles—dance, hip-hop, R&B, house, club, retro—that allows her to play for all who love to dance and feel the music. In her spare time, you can find her behind a camera lens, playing with her drone, or filming and editing music videos. For DJ Rockaway, music is more than a blend of sounds, music is an experience… she wants you to feel it, live it, escape into it.

Ashager Araro

Ashager Araro is the woman breaking down barriers in Israel. Born in Ethiopia, Araro came to Israel as an infant on Operation Solomon, a covert military mission that airlifted Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1991. One of eight siblings, she grew up in central Israel and went on to excel in the Israel Defense Forces, where she rose to the rank of Lieutenant in the prestigious Paratroopers Brigade (now Captain in res.). Following her military service, Araro pursued a career in diplomacy and social advocacy, visiting countries around the world to engage audiences as a proud black, Jewish, Zionist, Israeli woman. Active on social media, she uses her significant presence on Twitter/ Instagram to speak on crucial topics and shed light on the diversity of the Jewish people. Ashager received the "Light of Israel" award in 2021 by Israel MFA for her work. Alongside her fulfilling work in public diplomacy, Ashager built Battae, a center for Ethiopian Israeli heritage. Through educational programs, the center enables Israelis and members of the global Jewish community to explore the unique story and contributions of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. 

Yoni Shaked

Yoni Shaked was born and raised in Moshav Netiv Ha’asara, located 100 meters from the Gaza Strip border. From a young age, Yoni knew she was passionate about Israel, and today lectures groups from around the world about the reality of living alongside the Gaza Strip and the Geopolitics of Israel and the Middle East. During her military service in the Israel Defense Forces, Yoni served as a content development coordinator in the Information & Communications Technology Force. Her role was to oversee, train, and empower the commanders on the base. In 2014, she participated in the StandWithUs Israel fellowship, where Yoni continued working there for six years and served as the SWU Director of Israel Student Programs. Yoni is a Certified Lawyer and is currently working on her thesis about the American public opinion towards Israel through the lens of Intersectionality theory. This is part of her Master's Degree in Government with a concentration in Political Marketing at Reichman University. 

Nurit Shein

Nurit is a Sabra, born in Tel Aviv. She was one of the activists who in the seventies founded the Aguda and has been active in fighting for gay rights ever since. For the last twenty years, she lived and worked in Philadelphia as the CEO of the leading LGBTQ health and social services organization. She has been active in local and national advocacy in the U.S. on behalf of the community. She is also a retired Lieutenant Colonel. She now resides back in Tel Aviv and is the Chair of the Aguda.  

The Aguda - The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel - is Israel’s pioneer gay organization, advocating for full equality and acceptance of the community. The Aguda provides individuals with extensive support services, alongside public and governmental activism.