Karen Mockensturm - Chief Executive Officer

Karen, L-31, F-28, holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Florida. A member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors’ Guild and the American Federation of Radio & Television Artists, Karen’s 16 year professional acting career (as Karen Hinton) included work in radio, television, film, improvisational comedy, and regional theater across the country. Favorite roles include: She in Maybe Baby, It’s You!, Viola in Twelfth Night, Frenchy in Grease, Kyra in Skylight, and Mary in Vanities. Some of Karen's most important work off stage was as a teaching artist and acting instructor at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia and with the Roundabout Theatre Company, Creative Acting Company, and Broadway Classroom in New York City. Karen relocated to Huntsville in November of 2002. After almost a decade in business development and transportation, she was honored to take the helm at Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theater & Academy (FPCTA) in 2012. Under her leadership, FPCTA was named the 2023 Regional Winner of Chick Fil-A True Inspiration Award and the 2017 Nonprofit of the Year by the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce and has increased revenues and registration numbers by over 400%.

Karen served as the 2018 President for the Women’s Economic Development Council. She has served as a grant panelist for the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the ALSDE Arts Integration Grant Program, and the National Endowment for the Arts. An alumni of Leadership Greater Huntsville's Flagship Class 31 and Focus 28, she received the Madison Alabama Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Award for Excellence in Service and Leadership, was recognized by the Girl Scouts of North Alabama as a 2018 Woman of Distinction and as The Catalyst’s 2021 Pandemic Pivot Entrepreneur of the Year. Karen currently serves on the Alabama Art Alliance’s Board of Directors as the Chair- Elect, on the Huntsville Committee of 100, and was appointed to the Alabama State Department of Education’s 2024 Fine Arts Course of Study committee and Task Force by Governor Kay Ivey.