Now a recovering academic, Lisa A. Kramer (MFA, PhD) is an author, creativity facilitator, speaker, Gateless writing instructor, and activist. She worked for many years as an interdisciplinary educator. She taught at various colleges and universities throughout the country, in programs as diverse as theatre, writing, education, liberal studies, honors, English, history, and first year studies. Her passion lies in exploring ways in which creativity, storytelling, and the arts (particularly theatre) can empower people, strengthen communities, and advocate for a better world.
She can be found leading workshops and programs for Spark Collaborative, a (mostly) online community of people with many different interests and creative pursuits who desire to embrace our multiple potentials and redefine how we live, work, and function in a complex world by incorportaing more creativity and collaboration. As part of Spark, Dr. Kramer uses the Gateless technique—a methodology that combines creative brain science with Zen philosophy—to develop programming that inspires creative action.
She holds a Ph.D in Theatre for Youth (with an emphasis on Theatre for Social Change) from Arizona State University, an MFA in directing from the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and a BA in English Language & Literature and Theatre from Smith College. She has spent much of her career teaching, directing, and developing collaborative projects with and for people of all ages throughout the United States and abroad. When not teaching, creating, or collaborating, she spends time with her family and two dogs in Massachusetts.