Meet the Team
Board of Directors
President
Jessica Pluta
Jessica (She/Her) is proud to be a mom of 4 awesome and talented kids! She and her husband, Jeff, decided to move the family to Fort Collins, Colorado in 2020 (what a year!) and are so glad they did! As their kids started exploring the theatre and performance worlds, they discovered a need for healthier spaces for teens in the performing arts. When Jessica met Amanda Ercole, they became friends and found they had the same dreams for inclusive teen theatre where teens have a voice and pathways to success! And so Places Everyone! was born!
Jessica is a certified teacher in K-12, with an emphasis in child psychology. She has been working with kids for over 30 years and has brought creativity and performance into every learning environment! Jessica is part of the queer and neurodivergent communities and finds joy in creating safe and inclusive spaces where adults, teens, and children are empowered and welcomed equally! And she is so very thrilled to be working with a team of like-minded and like-hearted people!
Vice President
Allen Edwards
Allen is a director and actor in Fort Collins. Allen began his theatre journey in 2002 playing Mendel in Fiddler on the Roof, and graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Theatre. He recently played Mr. Krabs in The Spongebob Musical, Archie Beaton in Brigadoon, and Roger De Bris in The Producers. He also directed Be More Chill with Places Everyone! in 2025. Allen believes theatre can be a place of healing and community, and that a supportive company unlocks the greatest potential in an artist.
Treasurer
Jasper Day
Jasper is a costume designer and technician from Fort Collins, Colorado. He studied Molecular Biology at the University of Denver and Theatre Technology and Costume Design at Colorado State University. He has worked in opera, theatre, and dance with theatres across Colorado including OpenStage Theatre & Company, The Vintage, and Little Theatre of the Rockies. In addition to designing, he enjoys teaching and mentoring young artists through theatre companies like Tapestry Theatre, the Performing Arts Academy, and Places Everyone!. Places Everyone! offers a special community to young artists, and Jasper is thrilled to have a chance to foster that environment, helping students become the best possible theatre makers they can be.
When he isn’t working on a show or bent over a sewing machine, Jasper enjoys drawing, writing, and playing tabletop games like board games or TTRPGs. Some of his favorite people in the world are his amazing and supportive partner and their two cats.
Secretary
Kiley Hemphill
Kiley is so excited to be on the Places Everyone board! She started dancing at 3 years old, eventually leading her to an audition in which she was chosen to compete and perform with a professional studio dance team at 8 years old. Her team won second place at nationals in Las Vegas! A year later her and her family moved from California to Colorado where she decided to expand her skills and try something new; she found theatre! She immediately fell in love and now theatre is the most incredible part of her life. She has worked as a Performer, Production Assistant, Stage Manager, Choreographer, Stagehand, Deck Engineer (A2), Student Director, Assistant Set Dresser, and now a theatre board member while continuing her theatre career! When she's not in the theatre world, she enjoys thrifting, psychology, and anything arts and crafts. She is beyond honored to be in a position where she can help create theatre magic for others and make sure everyone has a place!
At-Large Members
Kelly Vander Woude
Michelle Vander Woude
I’m Kelly, and apparently theatre is a family business now. My daughter is an actress and singer, my wife does props, and I build sets—which is basically my excuse to play with power tools. Between the three of us, we can probably construct, decorate, and perform in a show! I love working with my hands, solving creative problems, and being part of a team, so I’m thrilled to be part of the ground team helping launch Places Everyone! I’m excited to see what we can build together—and I’m sure there will be plenty of creativity, laughter, and wonderfully chaotic theatre moments along the way.
Michelle is a founding Board member of Places Everyone! and one of the many people who prefers to make the magic happen behind the scenes rather than stand in the spotlight. In fact, give her a stage and she’ll probably run from it like a vampire from the sun.
Michelle has been creating sets and props since before 2019, but props are really where she shines. Need an apple? She can make it. A torture chamber? She’s got you. A meticulously carved boar’s head made entirely out of foam? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. As the mom of a daughter who happily craves the spotlight, Michelle has embraced her natural role in the family business: making sure the people onstage have everything they need to bring a story to life—while remaining safely out of sight herself.
But for Michelle, Places Everyone! is about much more than theatre. As a founding Board member, she is passionate about helping create a place where all kids are safe to be exactly who they are—and safe to figure out who they are becoming. A place where everyone is literally welcomed, embraced, loved, and encouraged. She loves that Places Everyone! is creating a space where kids don't have to fit a mold, have all the answers, or even know exactly where they belong yet. They simply get to show up, be themselves, create something amazing, and discover a little more of who they are along the way. And Michelle will be right there behind the curtain, probably covered in paint, holding a hot glue gun, and making sure they have everything they need...or, most likely, trying to unstick her fingers that were accidentally super glued together while creating some magical prop.
Sam Kemeny Gambrell
Sam (He/They) is a writer, actor, and director based here in Fort Collins, Colorado. He is currently a second year Musical Theatre student at Colorado State University. In addition to Places Everyone!, Sam co-founded Lantern Arts, another youth arts nonprofit based in Fort Collins focused on film and theatre. Outside of theatre, Sam loves to read, write, hike, and play games (whether they be board, video, or tabletop). He also loves music and plays the cello, sings, and does some composing and lyricism. He hopes his passion for all things performing arts will be able to be an asset for Places Everyone! and the wider Fort Collins theatre community.
Teen Advisory Board Members
Ava Pluta
Ava (She/Her) enjoys all things theatre! She sings, dances, acts, plays cello, and paints. Ava attends Rocky Mountain high school in Fort Collins, CO and participates in several choirs and orchestra, as well as drama club, where she performs and works on set builds and painting. Ava creates much of the Places Everyone! social media content (if you see any mistakes on social media, it’s her mom’s fault! Haha). Ava continues to explore ways to enhance engagement on our social media platforms! We are thankful to have her at Places Everyone!
Max Pluta
Max (He/Him) enjoys composing music, playing the trombone and drums, singing, and acting. He attends Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, CO where he is in several bands and participates in the theatre program as well as choir. Max created this website, as well as the Places Everyone! logos for print and online platforms, and for social media. Max continues to learn and explore these creative endeavors (and helps his mom with all things technology!) He is a true asset to Places Everyone!
Taylor Vander Woude
Taylor Vander Woude is a senior at Rocky Mountain High School and a proud founding member of Places Everyone! Taylor loves Places Everyone! and, really, she loves everything about it because everything about Places Everyone! is something Taylor loves: the lights, the stage, the acting, the music, the people, and all the wonderfully unexpected things that happen when they come together.
For Taylor, Places Everyone! is more than a place to perform. It is a place where you can be exactly who you are, discover who you might become, or step onto a stage and become someone completely different and still be loved and welcomed just the same. Taylor believes that simply because you exist, you deserve love, encouragement, challenge, and someone cheering you on as you learn to fly (or swim!). Places Everyone! believes that, too - and that shared belief is a big part of why Taylor believes so deeply in Places Everyone!
And the fact that all of that happens through theatre is HUGE for Taylor. Theatre is where she feels at home, where she gets to explore, create, laugh, stretch herself, and dream very, very big.
Taylor intends to fly the coop, land squarely on Broadway, and take the world by storm. She has big dreams, big energy, and absolutely no intention of arriving quietly. Look out, Broadway...Taylor is bringing her own lights.