Staff
Emma McCool
Executive Director
Just a small town girl, growing up in the danish tourist town of Solvang, California, Emma McCool (she/her) is a self-proclaimed pastry snob with a deep love of comedy. Upon graduating from the University of San Francisco with a BA in Performing Arts and Social Justice, she immediately began freelancing in stage management (enter Killing My Lobster). While continuing to stage manage throughout the Bay Area, Emma pursued her interest in arts management at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and found herself on the Rental Events Team. Having been ripped away from live events and performances by the pandemic, she is excited to be fully immersed in what she loves: surrounded by amazing artists and ready to laugh.
Nicole Odell
Artistic Director
Originally from the sleepy lil' East Bay town of Benicia, Nicole Odell (she/her) earned her B.A. in Drama from San Francisco State in 2010. Upon graduation, she went to Los Angeles and completed the Conservatory program through Second City Hollywood, performing sketch and improv all along the way. In 2014, she returned to the Bay Area, and began working in the comedy community. She taught and coached improv with Leela Improv Theatre, participated in various comedy festivals including The Denver Improv Festival, SFIF, Femprovisor Fest, and SF Sketchfest. She has appeared in productions around the Bay Area, including with Faultline Theatre Co, EXIT Theatre, and Livermore Shakespeare Festival. Nicole first began working with Killing My Lobster back in 2015 on the show Excellent Adventure. Since then, she's served as an actor, writer, head writer, and instructor, and began in her role as Artistic Director in November 2021.
Kate Elston
Co-Director of Writing Ed: Teacher & Curriculum Officer
Kate Elston (she/her) has worked with Killing My Lobster since 2014 as a writer, head writer, director and instructor. She's had a hand in around 20 KML shows, some of her favorites being "Lobster, Actually" and "Vicious Cycle The Musical." By day, Kate's a Peabody Award-winning producer with an international news outlet. She and her husband (fellow KML writer/instructor Karl Keily) live in San Francisco and are having fun prepping their almost-3-year-old daughter to learn recorder so they can start a silly band together.
JB Tang
Co-Director of Writing Ed: Student Officer & Fellowship Advocate
JB Tang (they/them) is a funnymaker hailing from the Bay Area. Having spent most of their career at the intersection of theater and education, they love supporting learners in their creative journeys and helping make comedy writing a more queer and colorful space. They’ve developed musical work for Berkeley Playhouse and co-wrote the QPOC musical Howdyland! with former lobster Dominique Gelin, which was selected for the 2022 Live and In Color workshop (NYC). JB has also written for the Baby Einstein YouTube series Ocean Explorers. JB has written for several KML shows since joining in the spring of 2020 (talk about comedic timing!) and feels grateful to have found such a hilarious creative home.
Board of directors
Jessica Baldwin
President
JESSICA BALDWIN has 12 years experience in arts management, with a demonstrated history in the non-profit and cultural sector. Having received her BA from the University of San Francisco with a double major in Performing Arts and Art History and her MSc in Arts & Cultural Management from the Paris School of Business, she is currently an Assistant Director with the Enterprise Events team at SFMOMA. Jessica previously held positions with the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and was the Director of Operations at the 500 Capp Street Foundation, overseeing the restoration and launch of the David Ireland House, San Francisco's first historic artist's home. Jessica is thrilled to be on Killing My Lobster's Board of Directors after having had the privilege of working with the company as a stage manager since 2011.
Noni Virani
Vice President
Scott Taylor
Treasurer
Scott has over 35 years of public accounting and private industry experience, including 10 years
with a Big Four accounting firm (Coopers & Lybrand) and 20 years as a partner at BPM LLP. He
has provided both public and private life science, health care, and nonprofit clients a variety of
accounting and tax services, including financial statements, audit reviews, compilations, agreed-
upon procedures and internal control evaluations. Scott also has consulted with management
on complex accounting, tax, and SEC reporting matters. Scott also has served as the Vice
President of Internal Audit at World Savings and Loan and Controller of Telecare Corporation.
Scott is currently semi-retired and serves “of council” for BPM LLP.
Raj Maradia
Board Secretary
Raj Maradia is a technology enthusiast with a passion for solving complex problems with technology. He holds an MS in computer engineering from New York University and is currently pursuing an MBA from Boston University. Raj has experience in managing and automating large-scale systems. Currently, he is working as a systems engineer at Grabango, a startup that provides checkout-free shopping technology. In his free time, Raj enjoys traveling, reading, and exploring new technologies.
John Foley
Board Member
John Foley is former Vice Chairman of the board of Z Space and has been an executive in the financial services industry for over thirty years. He spent his career creating and marketing transformational financial technology products including Intuit’s TurboTax software and the original online brokerage services of both Schwab and E*Trade.
He recently retired from Social Finance Inc. where he built and ran their online investment advisory service, SoFi Wealth.
John is also an actor and improvisor who has done roles for Boxcar Theater and SF Shakespeare Festival. He is a CFP ® professional and a member of SAG-AFTRA.
Sandro Tuzzo
Board Member
Sandro spent the first two decades of his career practicing family law- where he represented low income families, worked at various law firms, and then eventually started his own practice. He then built legal tech software in an effort to make legal services more accessible to all. He now spends his time alternating between practicing law, consulting with various early stage startups in the bay area, coaching his son's soccer team and/or officiating his daughter's swim meets...and dabbling in standup comedy.
Raised in California by New Yorkers, he has sort of a split-personality and approaches all of his west coast interests with east coast intensity.
Advisory council
Paul Charney
Founder and Board Member Emeritus
Gregg DiGiacomo
Advisory Council Member
Gregg DiGiacomo, PHR, SHRM-CP is a Human Resources consultant and
self-described “HR Geek”. He provides consulting and coaching services to
CEOs, Executive Directors and Managers of for-profit and non-profit
organizations. He also recruits for all levels of an organization from
administrative staff to middle management to C-level.
Before beginning his consulting business, Gregg worked as a HR &
Administration Manager at the Women’s Foundation of California and a HR
Representative at the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of
Dentistry.
In his spare time, Gregg loves to read science fiction books, practice yoga
and spend time with his husband and their dog Valentina at the beach.
Joe DiGiacomo
Advisory Council Member
Joe DiGiacomo, CPA has 20 years as a nonprofit executive and consultant with an expertise is starting and growing nonprofits. He is currently the CFO of XQ Institute a private operating foundation with a mission to rethink high school education and founder of his own nonprofit accounting, tax and consulting firm. He has been CFO of Common Sense Media, CFO of BAVC and Director of Finance of PFLAG National. He was the Nonprofit Audit Manager at Burr, Pilger and Mayer (BPM) with a client base that included American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Napa Valley Opera House. He is also on the Audit Committees for a PFLAG National and the Women’s Foundation of California. Joe joined the board in 2015 and has been a huge fan of KML for years.
Carla Lee
Advisory Council Member
Carla Lee is thrilled to join the KML Board and lend her combination of corporate, production, and performance experience to the team. Carla has performed and written with KML since 2016, and is the Creator/EP of her own WOC/QPOC-led sketch comedy project "Nice Tan.” In her past life, she managed corporate retail training and development programs at Apple, and managed client briefings at the Executive Briefing Center. She is fresh off of taking time to grow and birth her second whole entire human being, and is excited to help KML continue to expand its mission of bringing fresh, smart, and inclusive comedy to the Bay Area and beyond!
Kevin Kosik
Advisory Council Member
Originally from New York, Kevin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from State University of New York College at Buffalo and a Masters degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Illinois in Chicago. He has more than 25 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). He has held senior leadership and resource development positions with the Chicago Youth Symphony, American Lung Association in California (Greater Bay Area and Sacramento), Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS), YMCA of the Central Bay Area, Peralta Colleges Foundation, and Sierra Club. He is currently the Executive Director for the Book Club of California. Kevin joined the KML Board of Directors in June 2018.
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