Born in Queens, NY in the U.S. on Munsee Lenape and Matinecock land, C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek (they/them/theirs) is working toward a future where creativity and care are part of our social fabric. They are a civically-engaged artist, theater maker, urban planner, and skilled facilitator who utilizes creative and healing-centered strategies to spark dialogue, evaluation, or reflection. They specialize in documentary theater, facilitate community-based story projects, and hold space for healing-centered dialogue.Meranda is an Adjunct Instructor with the Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech, Artist-in-Residence with the Dr. Robert L. A. Keeley Healing Arts Program at Carilion Clinic, and Co-Investigator with the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine researching the measurable impacts of the arts in public health.Meranda collaborates with the arts-in-healthcare focused ensemble The Clinic Performance and award-winning theater Ping Chong + Company. C. has been recognized for their work through a Visiting Fellowship with Skidmore College’s Storytellers' Institute, and speaking engagements across the world.Meranda's dual-degree master’s in Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s Directing & Public Dialogue explore how theater and creative connection can help communities heal from the pandemic and the injustices and challenges it magnified. They acknowledge their Diasporic Ashkenazi Jewish lineage as a primary motivator of their aesthetic process and longings for liberation.