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Virginia Murphy
Founder and Executive Director
Virginia Reed Murphy holds a master's in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in drama therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. After 10 years of studying and performing Playback theatre, she founded Playback Memphis, a vibrant non-profit whose mission is to bring stories to life in a safe space to unlock healing, transformation and joy. Virginia is also a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher through the Greater Good Science Center, at the University of California at Berkeley, as well as a skilled facilitator delivering dynamic training in cultural humility, strengths based mindfulness, and emotional intelligence in leadership. -
Ozge Kovarik
Director of Finance
Ozge is a tri-lingual Turkish-American citizen with BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance, Marmara University of Istanbul as well as a professional MBA, University of Memphis. She was hired as a Management Trainee at Bayer Corporation in Istanbul Turkey before she and her husband moved to Memphis. There she joined the staff of the local TV station WHBQ FOX13 and fulfilled many different positions in her ten years of service including Research Director and Digital Sales Manager. Ozge entered into the non-profit world with Playback Memphis as a Development Coordinator in 2015 and shifted towards the finance side of operations since then. Email Ozge at [email protected]. -
Giovanna “Gio” López
Director of Training and Applied Playback
Gio is a native Peruvian, and a Costa Rican and Memphian by heart. Gio has studied theatre and has been practicing this profession for 20 years. In 2006, she founded the Bilingual Theatre group Cazateatro in Memphis, where she also had a weekly radio show on Radio Ambiente, a local Hispanic radio station. Gio was a co-founder of the Latino Cultural Center of Memphis, and for five consecutive years, she directed the Vagina Monologues in Spanish. She has a passion for social justice and has worked for eight years at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center as the Training Director, where she facilitated hundreds of training sessions and as a board member of both Workers Interfaith Network and Comunidades Unidas en una Voz. Gio has been a professional ensemble member of Playback Memphis since 2010. Email Gio at [email protected].
