Board of Directors
Lisa Whitson Burns (Treasurer & Founder) is a composer and educator with 15 years of experience teaching music and musical theatre to young people. Since spearheading FCCMT’s first project in 2005 while working as an intern at the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde, Costa Rica, Lisa formed and served on the initial Board of Directors and has worked in the capacity of Executive Director, Program Director, and Musical Director of numerous Far Corners productions. Lisa graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. in music; they received their MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and hold a Teaching License from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Vocal/Instrumental/General Music (All Levels). Lisa currently teaches secondary school music at the Nagoya International School in Japan, and has lived and taught in Costa Rica, China, Mozambique, India, and the United States. As a composer, Lisa’s original music has been performed at New York City venues including Merkin Concert Hall, Joe's Pub at the Public, Galapagos Art Space, and the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center.
Darío Villalobos (President of the Board) grew up in Monteverde, graduated from the Cloud Forest School and is a past alumn of Far Corners. Dario has been a long-term collaborator of Far Corners having served as the Music Director, Community Liaison, Orchestra Pit Musician and Translator/Adaptor for several of our summer musical productions. Because of his involvement in Far Corners, Dario decided to pursue a career in the performing arts and subsequently in theatre education. Dario received his B.A in Theatre with concentrations in Management and Media Studies from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. After graduating from St. Olaf, Dario relocated to Shanghai, China where he lived for four years. He first worked as a Drama Teacher & Public Speaking Instructor for an extracurricular education firm and then went on to work at a Chinese bilingual school where he served as the Head of Performing Arts Department and IBDP/IGCSE Drama Teacher. Dario also holds a K-12 Drama/Theatre Arts Teaching License from the State of Hawaii and a M.Ed degree with a Specialization in Educational & Instructional Technology from Moreland University in Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) and the Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA). Currently, Dario lives in Singapore where he teaches theatre at an IB International School.
Juliet Lamb (Secretary) is a founding Board member of Far Corners. Juliet holds a PhD in wildlife biology. Her field work has taken her to Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Scotland, Maine, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, and the Florida Everglades. Juliet received a B.A. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University, an M.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Ph.D. from Clemson University where she studied the movement ecology and reproductive biology of Brown Pelicans in the Gulf of Mexico. She completed a post-doctoral appointment at the University of Rhode Island studying the distribution and movement patterns of sea ducks and a Marie Curie Fellowship at the Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE-CNRS), France, studying spatial and disease ecology of Yellow-Legged Gulls. In addition to Far Corners, Juliet’s Advisory, Board and Committee experience includes the World Seabird Union, the Waterbird Society, the Pacific Seabird Group, the Gulf of Mexico Avian Monitoring Network, and the Matagorda Bay Waterbird Restoration Project. Juliet is a prolific writer not only in peer-reviewed literature, but also in media and outreach venues, including a biweekly column in the JSTOR Daily Online Magazine. Juliet has been passionate about musical theatre throughout her life. She participated in musicals as a performer during her teen years, and as a French horn player has continued to play in pit orchestras for musical theatre productions, as well as university and community orchestras and bands, whenever she has the opportunity.
Raquel Sánchez (Board Member) is a local business owner in Monteverde with 20 years of experience on Costa Rican tourism and mother of Far Corners participant Santiago (Santi). Originally from El Salvador, she grew up in San Jose, Costa Rica and holds various degrees in Natural Resource Management, Business Administration and Public Health. Raquel and her husband founded Cala Lodge in 2007. Cala Lodge is a small hotel at the edge of the cloud forest with the vision “to be the leading hotel in providing tourism that promotes natural and cultural experiences alongside comprehensive community growth.” She also works for Ingeniarte, a digital marketing company based in Uruguay. Raquel first became involved with Far Corners when her son Santi was cast in Les Miserables in 2016. At the time Santi was a student at the Cloud Forest School and he now attends the Monteverde Friends School. Raquel has supported Far Corners for the past 5 years through monetary and in-kind donations from her business Cala Lodge and in 2019 took a lead role in raising support for Far Corners from other local businesses. Raquel is deeply committed to the welfare of the Monteverde community and its natural environment she has served on the Board of Directors of the Cloud Forest School and the Monteverde Chamber of Tourism. She is part of the Chamber of Tourism’s Merchant Commission as well as the committee Hecho en Monteverde (made in Monteverde) which is a consortium of 33 businesses, working to develop a seal of authenticity for products and services of local origin.
Pedro Belmar (Board Member) grew up in Monteverde until the age of ten and attended the Friends School; afterwards his family moved around within Costa Rica and the United States. He attended university in Europe and Montreal, where he majored in comparative literature and philosophy. After working abroad for a short time, including an internship at MOMA in New York City, Pedro returned to Costa Rica to become the co-owner and General Manager of Hotel Belmar, which he has run along with his siblings for the past decade. The Hotel Belmar is a prominent family-run business in Monteverde that has long been known for its commitment to the community and to environmental sustainability. During the pandemic, the Belmar was part of an alliance of hotels in Monteverde that donated $1 for every client to the community. The Belmar has also been involved in supporting the Community Garden, an underserved school in Cebadilla, the Monteverde Friends School, and reforestation projects, among other initiatives. Pedro has served on the Board of the Monteverde Institute for five years, and was recently elected President. Pedro is passionate about the arts, which led him to start an artist residency at the Belmar, which ran successfully for two years prior to the pandemic and will soon be re-launched. The Belmar features local and national musicians at its restaurant and brewery, and hosted the Far Corners tenth anniversary concert in 2016. The hotel has supported Far Corners with donations since 2010 and has become one of our major sponsors. Pedro has always liked the project, which he learned about because his cousins were involved; the first production he attended was Little Shop of Horrors in 2011. He is dedicated to bringing world-class art to Monteverde and believes that the community can dream big.
Jennie Mollica (Board Member) has over twenty years of professional experience in the fields of workforce development, adult education, and community development. She has expertise in the design and sustainability of career education programs that are equitably accessible to individuals with barriers to employment, including limited English and basic skills, and in program and partnership development, fund development, strategic planning, qualitative research, writing, and evaluation for public and non-profit agencies. Her prior roles include Director of Planning and Program Development at Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco, a $7 million workforce development non-profit; staff to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections Oakland initiative; and Associate Director of Lao Family Community Development, a multi-site immigrant and refugee services agency. She currently works for High Road Alliance, a consultancy she co-founded in 2020 to support equitable career pathways into high quality jobs. Jennie's family moved to Monteverde in 2016. Her daughter, Alia, is in 6th grade at the Monteverde Friends School (MFS) and participated in several Far Corners classes during the past year as well as the 2022 production. Jennie played the violin in the pit orchestra for JCS and her husband Ed Dorrington did the set construction. Jennie is involved in a variety of community projects in Monteverde, working with the Monteverde Institute and the Monteverde Community Fund as well as volunteering to teach English to parents/caregivers of CEC students. Prior to moving to Costa Rica, Jennie spent most of her life and career in Northern California, but also volunteered for four years in Laos and Vietnam.
Darío Villalobos (President of the Board) grew up in Monteverde, graduated from the Cloud Forest School and is a past alumn of Far Corners. Dario has been a long-term collaborator of Far Corners having served as the Music Director, Community Liaison, Orchestra Pit Musician and Translator/Adaptor for several of our summer musical productions. Because of his involvement in Far Corners, Dario decided to pursue a career in the performing arts and subsequently in theatre education. Dario received his B.A in Theatre with concentrations in Management and Media Studies from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. After graduating from St. Olaf, Dario relocated to Shanghai, China where he lived for four years. He first worked as a Drama Teacher & Public Speaking Instructor for an extracurricular education firm and then went on to work at a Chinese bilingual school where he served as the Head of Performing Arts Department and IBDP/IGCSE Drama Teacher. Dario also holds a K-12 Drama/Theatre Arts Teaching License from the State of Hawaii and a M.Ed degree with a Specialization in Educational & Instructional Technology from Moreland University in Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) and the Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA). Currently, Dario lives in Singapore where he teaches theatre at an IB International School.
Juliet Lamb (Secretary) is a founding Board member of Far Corners. Juliet holds a PhD in wildlife biology. Her field work has taken her to Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Scotland, Maine, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, and the Florida Everglades. Juliet received a B.A. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University, an M.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Ph.D. from Clemson University where she studied the movement ecology and reproductive biology of Brown Pelicans in the Gulf of Mexico. She completed a post-doctoral appointment at the University of Rhode Island studying the distribution and movement patterns of sea ducks and a Marie Curie Fellowship at the Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE-CNRS), France, studying spatial and disease ecology of Yellow-Legged Gulls. In addition to Far Corners, Juliet’s Advisory, Board and Committee experience includes the World Seabird Union, the Waterbird Society, the Pacific Seabird Group, the Gulf of Mexico Avian Monitoring Network, and the Matagorda Bay Waterbird Restoration Project. Juliet is a prolific writer not only in peer-reviewed literature, but also in media and outreach venues, including a biweekly column in the JSTOR Daily Online Magazine. Juliet has been passionate about musical theatre throughout her life. She participated in musicals as a performer during her teen years, and as a French horn player has continued to play in pit orchestras for musical theatre productions, as well as university and community orchestras and bands, whenever she has the opportunity.
Raquel Sánchez (Board Member) is a local business owner in Monteverde with 20 years of experience on Costa Rican tourism and mother of Far Corners participant Santiago (Santi). Originally from El Salvador, she grew up in San Jose, Costa Rica and holds various degrees in Natural Resource Management, Business Administration and Public Health. Raquel and her husband founded Cala Lodge in 2007. Cala Lodge is a small hotel at the edge of the cloud forest with the vision “to be the leading hotel in providing tourism that promotes natural and cultural experiences alongside comprehensive community growth.” She also works for Ingeniarte, a digital marketing company based in Uruguay. Raquel first became involved with Far Corners when her son Santi was cast in Les Miserables in 2016. At the time Santi was a student at the Cloud Forest School and he now attends the Monteverde Friends School. Raquel has supported Far Corners for the past 5 years through monetary and in-kind donations from her business Cala Lodge and in 2019 took a lead role in raising support for Far Corners from other local businesses. Raquel is deeply committed to the welfare of the Monteverde community and its natural environment she has served on the Board of Directors of the Cloud Forest School and the Monteverde Chamber of Tourism. She is part of the Chamber of Tourism’s Merchant Commission as well as the committee Hecho en Monteverde (made in Monteverde) which is a consortium of 33 businesses, working to develop a seal of authenticity for products and services of local origin.
Pedro Belmar (Board Member) grew up in Monteverde until the age of ten and attended the Friends School; afterwards his family moved around within Costa Rica and the United States. He attended university in Europe and Montreal, where he majored in comparative literature and philosophy. After working abroad for a short time, including an internship at MOMA in New York City, Pedro returned to Costa Rica to become the co-owner and General Manager of Hotel Belmar, which he has run along with his siblings for the past decade. The Hotel Belmar is a prominent family-run business in Monteverde that has long been known for its commitment to the community and to environmental sustainability. During the pandemic, the Belmar was part of an alliance of hotels in Monteverde that donated $1 for every client to the community. The Belmar has also been involved in supporting the Community Garden, an underserved school in Cebadilla, the Monteverde Friends School, and reforestation projects, among other initiatives. Pedro has served on the Board of the Monteverde Institute for five years, and was recently elected President. Pedro is passionate about the arts, which led him to start an artist residency at the Belmar, which ran successfully for two years prior to the pandemic and will soon be re-launched. The Belmar features local and national musicians at its restaurant and brewery, and hosted the Far Corners tenth anniversary concert in 2016. The hotel has supported Far Corners with donations since 2010 and has become one of our major sponsors. Pedro has always liked the project, which he learned about because his cousins were involved; the first production he attended was Little Shop of Horrors in 2011. He is dedicated to bringing world-class art to Monteverde and believes that the community can dream big.
Jennie Mollica (Board Member) has over twenty years of professional experience in the fields of workforce development, adult education, and community development. She has expertise in the design and sustainability of career education programs that are equitably accessible to individuals with barriers to employment, including limited English and basic skills, and in program and partnership development, fund development, strategic planning, qualitative research, writing, and evaluation for public and non-profit agencies. Her prior roles include Director of Planning and Program Development at Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco, a $7 million workforce development non-profit; staff to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections Oakland initiative; and Associate Director of Lao Family Community Development, a multi-site immigrant and refugee services agency. She currently works for High Road Alliance, a consultancy she co-founded in 2020 to support equitable career pathways into high quality jobs. Jennie's family moved to Monteverde in 2016. Her daughter, Alia, is in 6th grade at the Monteverde Friends School (MFS) and participated in several Far Corners classes during the past year as well as the 2022 production. Jennie played the violin in the pit orchestra for JCS and her husband Ed Dorrington did the set construction. Jennie is involved in a variety of community projects in Monteverde, working with the Monteverde Institute and the Monteverde Community Fund as well as volunteering to teach English to parents/caregivers of CEC students. Prior to moving to Costa Rica, Jennie spent most of her life and career in Northern California, but also volunteered for four years in Laos and Vietnam.