Rafael Ascencio is the proud husband of Upstart Creatures founder, Michael Barakiva, and the chair of the Upstarts Food Committee. He is President of Intermarket Sourcing, an international business consulting firm based in New York City, specializing in strategic market consulting for food and other products and services mostly from Mexico, his country of origin. Former Deputy Trade Commissioner for the Foreign Trade Bank of Mexico in New York, he studied International Relations at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and Princeton University, where he was a Fulbright scholar.

Deborah Constantine is a freelance Lighting Designer based in New York City. She has worked on many theatrical productions both in the city and regionally and is a member of United Scenic Artists. She is proud to be a Board Member of Upstart Creatures and has been with the company since 2016.

Bryan Hagelin (he/him) is a theatre director from Philadelphia, PA and a graduate of Cornell University. He is an alum of the National Women's Theatre Festival's WTFringeLab for directing and producing, the Kennedy Center Directing Intensive, and La Mama's International Directing Symposium in Umbria, Italy. Favorite directing credits include The Nether, The Last 5 Years, and The Little Prince. Bryan serves as the Artistic & Literary Intern at the Wilma Theatre, where he will soon assistant direct the World Premiere of Hilma. www.bryanhagelin.com

Michael has 25 plus years in the San Francisco Bay Area theater world that includes producing, acting and directing. An associate member of the Actors Theater of San Francisco and founding member of the Off Broadway West theater company. Nominee for acting by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards. Theater has always been a love and major part of his life.

Retired from Professional Career as a Production Manager/Designer for major events such as the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics and 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. He was also a board member of an International event industry association. Proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity Association.

Andrea Winter works in fashion, specializing in production and technical design of knitwear in Italy, India, and China. She has volunteered in a variety of positions and boards, including the Cops and Kids program and Lenox Historical Commission. She is passionate about theater, literature, politics, dancing, travel, social justice and her wardrobe. She currently splits her time between Mill River, MA and NYC, where she is working on the “Inner city roof farm” project.