MINNEAPOLIS: Theater Latté Da has announced that director, choreographer, and educator Kelli Foster Warder will be joining the company as associate artistic director and Director of Impact. Foster Warder will participate in artistic planning and work on the company’s community engagement and inclusion, diversity, equity, and access initiatives.

“Collaborating with Kelli Foster Warder has made me a better artist and a better human being,” said founding artistic director Peter Rothstein in a statement. “Since our first collaboration, I have looked for opportunities to work together and to include her in the Latté Da family. She brings a palpable wisdom, passion, and commitment to the art form, and believes the performing arts can be a vital force in creating a more just world.”

Foster Warder first worked with Theater Latté Da on the company’s 2013 production of Aida with Rothstein, and she has since worked on 11 productions with the company. As a director and choreographer, Foster Warder’s work has been seen at the 5th Avenue in Seattle, Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Fla., and the ZACH Theatre in Austin, among others. She has over 25 years experience as a teacher and program director and helped to write the first district-wide diversity plan for the fourth largest school district in Minnesota.