She is head of the M.F.A. program in Theatre for Youth and Artistic Director of the North Carolina Theatre for Young People. She previously taught at Western Michigan University and Gallaudet University. In 2004, Rachel was awarded an Ann Shaw Fellowship from TYA/USA to devise Visual Theatre techniques with Tyst Teater in Stockholm, Sweden. She was a member of the 2014 Women’s Executive Leadership program through the Impact Center in Washington, DC. In 2017, Rachel was invited to represent Theatre Communications Group (TCG) as a U.S. delegate in Santiago, Chile at the 2017 Santiago a Mil festival. Rachel graduated Phi Beta Kappa from The Catholic University of America in piano and received her M.F.A. in Theatre for Young Audiences from Arizona State University. She is fluent in American Sign Language and is proficient in Spanish.