The Board

Nathan has been a part of Curious Comedy since the very beginning. Nathan was an original cast member when Curious opened its doors and performed for years before taking a brief break after having two kids. To our delight, Nathan is currently working his way back on to the stage. Nathan officially joined the Curious board in June 2011and became Board Chair in fall 2013. Nathan serves as Chief Revenue Officer at Breinify
and combines his marketing and business management skills with his perspective as a performer to bring incredible value to the Curious board.

Stacey founded Curious in 2008 – establishing the organization as well as acquiring and building out the space. She has served as Artistic Director ever since. She also served as Board Chair from 2008-2013. Stacey works closely with the Board, its committees, the Managing Director and the staff to develop and implement the theater’s five year strategic plan. Artistically, she is responsible for working with the theater’s teachers, performers, producers and tech team to develop the artistic voice of the theater’s classes, shows and outreach programs to ensure fulfillment of our mission and artistic satisfaction for performers, students and our audience.

Kay Little, Jr. is Prosper Portland’s Asset & Investment Manager. In his current role, Kay manages the agency’s lending and real estate asset management teams. He has been with Prosper Portland since 2013, serving first as a Small Business Finance Officer and then as the Strategic Capital Improvement Consultant, with a focus on creating equitable lending programs and business development strategies. Prior to his time at Prosper Portland, Kay served as the Real Estate Asset Manager at Cook Inlet Region, Inc (CIRI), an Alaska Native Corporation, and as a commercial lender at national and community banks. He also has owned and operated loan and equity brokerage businesses and started his journey as an entrepreneur by operating a commercial construction clean-up business. Kay is originally from Colorado and has been in Oregon since 1990

Gretchen joined the Curious board in 2019. She brings years of experience in the grant world – from her days administrating the Miller Foundation grants to her current role at the Autzen Foundation. Gretchen is also an artist with a studio in Portland where she paints, draws, and illustrates. She dabbled in all kinds of comedy before returning to her painting roots.

Michael Waghalter is the Head of Business Development at Laika. Prior to Laika, Micheal served in the same role for the video division of Buzzfeed, where he established the TV and premium content production business. He also served as VP of Business Development and Franchise Management at FX Networks, where
he oversaw international and digital distribution, home entertainment and consumer products licensing for original series including Sons of Anarchy, Archer, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Karin Wandtke discovered Curious on NYE 2010 and has been one of our greatest advocates ever since. Karin is one of Portland’s top CPAs and a partner at McDonald Jacobs Accountants and Consultants. She provides tax accounting and serves on boards for Oregon’s biggest non-profits including PCS, Oregon Shakespeare Company, Portland Ballet and more. Her skills, experience, and perspective have been incredibly valuable to us as we navigate the challenges and victories of being a performance-based non-profit.

Karen Vickers has been representing public and private employers for nearly 23 years. Her practice includes
employment counseling as well as representation of clients in adversarial proceedings up to and including trial.
A large portion of Karen’s practice involves representation of school districts and other public entities in civil
rights and tort claims. She brings invaluable employment law insights and perspective to our organization to ensure we stay both compliant and protected as employers in an extremely complicated world.