Avital Shira

Avital Shira is a community organizer, arts leader, and educator who is passionate about working at the intersection of community, story, and social impact. A theatre director by training, Avital also has a background in creative entrepreneurship. In addition to her arts practice, Avital is especially interested in applying the foundational skills of storytelling and the creative arts outside of traditional arts settings, influencing the ways we use narrative in the realms of science communication, political advocacy, and business leadership.

Avital has taught at Tufts University and Boston University, and is now a lecturer in the School of Literature, Media, and Communications at Georgia Tech. She is also the interim Director of Campus Engagement for Georgia Tech's Office of the Associate Vice Provost for the Arts, the Director of Strategy and Engagement for Creative Re/Frame, and the Strategic Director for IDEA Con, the largest student innovation and entrepreneurship conference in New England.

Avital graduated from the MFA Directing and Arts Administration certificate programs at Boston University in 2020, where she was also a Spark Grant award winner. Avital also holds a degree in Theatre Studies and English literature from Yale University, where she was awarded both the Branford Arts Prize and the James S. Metcalfe Prize for drama.

Avital's professional directing credits include WINTER PEOPLE by Laura Neill (Boston Playwrights Theatre), LIFEBOAT by Nicola McCartney (Corrib Theatre), BETWEEN FRIENDS by Danielle Frimer (Sycamore Theatre Co @ The Brick), and LOVE'S LABOURS LOST (Post 5). Avital also has a strong interest in developing new work, and has recently been involved in workshopping and directing staged readings of new plays by playwrights including Sarah Mantell, E.M. Lewis, Ali Viterbi, Danielle Frimer, and Ash.

Prior to graduate school, Avital worked for two years leading community engagement strategy on the ground in Colorado for the Markle Foundation's Skillful initiative, and spent six years traveling the United States, directing and assistant directing in cities all around the country.

Avital is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and was named Best Director at the 2012 Portland Outdoor Shakespeare Festival for her production of Twelfth Night.