Brooke Tansley

Brooke is the founder and Executive Director of Folklight, a 501(c)(3) non-profit strengthening communities through authentic storytelling. Under Brooke’s leadership, in the past two fiscal years Folklight was awarded approximately $4MM in grant funds earmarked for meaningful projects, chiefly including a documentary series developed with Warner Bros Discovery; an unprecedented exploration of cave art up to 65,000 years old throughout Europe, expanding our understanding of early humans and our ancestral relatives - together with her colleagues at production company Practical Magic - to be distributed to a global audience.
Brooke’s interests build upon her 30+ years in entertainment and success on- and off-stage, and on- and off-camera, including starring roles on Broadway such as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Penny Pingleton in Hairspray. Off-stage/off-camera, Brooke excels as a founder, supporter, and growth-driver for arts and entertainment startups - both for profit and non-profit.
Prior to leading Folklight, Brooke successfully attracted investment, sponsorship, and 100+ comedians to the nationally recognized comedy festival Sonoma Laughfest, bringing rapid growth to the festival and achieving profitability in its second year -- three to five years ahead of projections. As Artistic Director of Sonoma Arts Live, she created and executed a rebranding and relaunch, leading to a 219% sales volume increase in 6 months, tripling the subscriber base in her first 2 months leading the company. Encouraged to lend her skills to the nascent Transcendence Theatre Company, she contributed to building and operating multiple new departments, including marketing & publicity, front-of-house management, design & branding, casting, ticket sales, event planning, stage management, community outreach & service, merchandise sales strategy, and arts education – contributing to millions of dollars in revenue growth and helping drive over half a million dollars in outgoing non-profit contributions to Jack London State Park. Brooke also lent her expertise in growing arts publicity to Nickelodeon’s Goosebumps and Lily Tomlin’s The Magic School Bus.
Following the organization of her non-profit interests into a proper 501(c)3 as Folklight, Brooke continued to secure high-end corporate partnerships for both her for profit and non-profit work with global travel, automobile, food and beverage, outdoor, and technology brands providing both cash and in-kind contributions. Brooke studied Business and Management of Entertainment at UCLA and Acting and Design at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Brooke is also a certified Rainbowdance practitioner, which is an early childhood intervention for children who missed the critical learning windows for self-esteem, social empathy, and self-regulation.

Brooke loves to eat. She's lived in eight countries, eaten street food and at Michelin star restaurants, and her favorite food is still the food her Italian American grandmothers made while she was growing up in Connecticut (the most Italian state in the union). She currently lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, two young kids, and two old dogs.