About Daria M. Sullivan
Daria M. Sullivan
Manager of Programs and Services
Daria M. Sullivan (she/her/hers) is a NJ/NYC based arts administrator, actor, director, writer, and teaching artist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts and communication from the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned the Helen Katz Award (granted to a senior with excellent contribution in performance) and graduated with honors.
Daria is a proud alumna of the Vira I. Heinz (VIH) Program for Women, Non-Binary, and Transgender Global Leaders. After studying performance, social services, and education in Ghana, West Africa, she served as an event facilitator. She helped individuals obtain cultural competency through engaging educational content, led roundtables, trained/mentored awardees, and worked closely with the program director to execute retreats. One of her most notable contributions to VIH is her joint project titled #StopTheShade: Exploring the Color Bias, which investigated the social, historical, and cultural impacts of colorism.
Daria is also a Humanity in Action (HIA) Senior Fellow. During her program placement in Denmark, she lived with a Danish host family and studied human rights on a local, national, and global scale. She brainstormed innovative solutions to issues of injustice such as religious and housing discrimination, racism, misogynoir, homelessness, and sexism. She demonstrated her findings while actively participating in a conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Following her time overseas, she partnered with the Montclair Art Museum to launch her original event titled 35, which raised awareness about the life expectancy of Black transgender women through interactive creative expression.
Additionally, Daria is a professional theatre-maker and member of Vivid Stage’s resident acting ensemble. Her theatre/film credits span NJ, NYC, and PA. You can learn more about her artistic journey on Vivid Stage’s Local podcast (Season 3; Episode 6).
There is an undercurrent of advocacy, equity, and inclusion throughout Daria’s career in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. She brings the following personal values to all her roles: compassion, thoroughness, curiosity, integrity, and tenacity. All in all, she comes with the self-awareness that learning is an ongoing process – one that she will never finish. She lives by this adage: No one knows everything but together we know a lot.