Norma Bowles is the Founder and Artistic Director of Fringe Benefits. She has conducted “Theatre for Social Justice,” acting, commedia dell’arte and new play development residencies at theatres and universities throughout the United States, as well as in Australia, Canada, Spain and England. In fall 2008, Norma served as the Intercollegiate Women’s Studies Scholar/Practitioner in Residence for The Claremont Colleges. Bowles completed a B.A. in Masked Performance at Princeton University, and an M.F.A. in Directing at the California Institute of the Arts. She edited Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry and Friendly Fire, both anthologies of plays, songs and poems created by Fringe Benefits. Bowles is a recipient of PFLAG/LA’s “Oscar Wilde Award,” Cornerstone Theater Company’s “Bridge Award” for “building bridges within and between communities,” and, in 2009, the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s first “Award for Leadership in Community-Based Theatre and Civic Engagement.”