Steppenwolf Theatre Company has announced Karena Fiorenza Ingersoll as its new General Manager, beginning in October.

“After a thorough and replete search, I couldn’t be more pleased to bring Karena on board. She brings a wealth of experience in strategic financial management, experience in and a passion for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work, and a variety of management experience and training which will add significant value to our work at Steppenwolf. I am thrilled that she will be joining us,” shares Executive Director David Schmitz, who was promoted from General Manager to Executive Director when David Hawkinson stepped down.

“I’ve been fortunate in my career to work alongside and support some of the most insanely talented and generous art makers on this planet. I look forward to continuing that through-line at Steppenwolf, working alongside David, Anna and the entire Steppenwolf team in forging an artistically brilliant and inclusive future for American theatre,” says Karena Fiorenza Ingersoll.

Fiorenza Ingersoll currently serves as the General Manager for Hubbard Street Dance, where she is the main line producer for the company and oversees all aspects of 0perations. Fiorenza Ingersoll also functions as the General Manager for the multi-disciplinary ensemble company, UNIVERSES. Previous tenures include associate managing director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley, CA) and Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven, CT), executive director of contemporary dance company Robert Moses’ Kin (San Francisco, CA), and annual fund manager at Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA). Ingersoll was invited in 2014 by Theatre Communications Group to be part of its SPARK Leadership Program’s inaugural class. She is part of Enrich Chicago, a movement of Chicago-based arts leaders who are committed to eradicating racial inequity in the arts, in addition to being a consortium member of the Chicago Dancemakers Forum. She holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and an MFA in Theater Management from Yale University.