Bruce Cornwell
Bruce Cornwell is one of the Founders of the Hippodrome Theatre and currently serves on its Board of Directors. In addition to the Hipp, he has worked with Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Circle Rep and Pearl Theatre Company in New York City, Capitol Repertory Theatre in Albany, Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, and Edgemar Theatre and Ark Theatre Company in Los Angeles. For five years, he reviewed the work of close to 80 theatre companies throughout the United States as an adjunct to the National Endowment for the Arts’ Theatre Program. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and for the past 15 years has worked at Gainesville’s V.A. Hospital with veterans struggling with chronic serious mental illness.
Gretchen Casey
For over 3 decades, Gretchen Casey has been an advocate for crime victims in Gainesville. She has worked with and responded to over 500 hundred families who have experienced a homicide, DUI fatality, or unsolved murder. In 2006, she wrote a screenplay that was developed into a short film, (Somewhere Beyond) a fictionalized story of a restorative dialogue between sexual battery victim and the offender.
In 2017 Gretchen retired as the Director of Victim Services at the State Attorney’s Office to practice restorative justice. For the past 5 years, Gretchen has been asked to facilitate 100+ Restorative Dialogues through the Amend Initiative Gretchen is the immediate Past President of the Florida Restorative Justice Association and frequently presents introductory restorative justice practices to a wide range of audiences. To relax and wind down, Gretchen enjoys gardening, creating fused glass, and the Hippodrome’s delightful theatrical performances and educational offerings that consistently invite a sense of community and belonging.