Philip Rakoci
President
Philip Rakoci, best known as Wildman Phil, is a Casa Grande, Arizona native who has grown up with a passion for all things creepy, crawly, strange, and exotic. His unique brand of comedy has been enjoyed by tens of thousands of people annually, and his forays into wild places are frequent and legendary. His home is a living laboratory with over 150 amazing creatures including both species of venomous lizards in the world, the largest (and most dangerous) fresh water turtle species in North America, a porcupine, the longest 2 types of snakes on earth, a lemur, alligators, and the world-famous Stumpy the tortoise with a wheel.
He is a long-term board member of The BlackBox Foundation.
He is an enrolled volunteer at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park leading very popular interpretive walks.
He is the co-author and star of an interactive iBook about rattlesnakes.
He co-starred in episodes of The Discovery Channel’s Emmy award-winning series Breaking Trail.
He has appeared in episodes and worked closely with the infamous YouTube sensation and Animal Planet star Coyote Peterson and his Brave Wilderness channel.
He and his animals have appeared in Ghost Adventures, The Conan show with Conan O’Brien, and numerous other TV shows around the world.
He beat an illustrator of The Simpsons at poker.
He won an arm wrestling match against a professional linebacker.
AND…
He once rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher without his wife telling him to do so.
His giving spirit, desire for others to succeed, no-nonsense work ethic, community involvement, and personable nature allow him to be a valuable contributor to causes he supports.
Philip also enjoys diet Dr. Pepper, the 6 time world champion Arizona Rattlers football team, classic Spider-man comics, his family, traveling, exploring, and a good steak.
Rod Reasner
Vice President
Rod Reasner comes from Southern California and was in the early 80s punk rock scene of Orange County. First notable band he was in was a Ska-Punk group called The Pedestrians which had airplay on the world’s famous kROQ and on most of the college radio stations in Southern California. Second group was the punk band Monster X and after being kicked out for partying too much, he found God and left the secular punk rock scene. As a Christian artist he has played in popular punk rock and metal bands like Final Axe, Seventh Power, New Jerusalem and Nobody Special. He is credited on 4 albums with Robert Sweet the drummer of Stryper.
Rod moved to Casa Grande in 2006 and has been involved with bringing entertainment to this town ever since. He has been one of the founding members of the local band The Feel Good Factor for 12 years now. He also started a small venue called The Haven with good friend and band mate Bones Elias. It stayed open for a few years, but its legacy is still going to this day. Rod is always trying to get inspiring artists out from their garages and give them a place to showcase their talents.
He is married to his best friend Christy, and they have a combined family of 5 kids.
Kari Davis
Secretary
Kari Davis: She has been an active member of BlackBox since her first show with them “Lucky Stiff”. Prior to moving to Arizona she was involved in community theater where ever she happened to land including Milwaukee, WI and Willimantic, CT. She has enjoyed being onstage and working offstage with the talented members of this group and the wider community. When not on stage she is active in her Church and Community. She works full time at the local Casa Grande VA Clinic as a Family Nurse Practitioner and the Clinic Medical Director. She is thrilled to be serving as Secretary to the Board of BlackBox Foundation.
Krisenna Hancock
Board Member
Krisenna Hancock is a vocal/performance coach and dance instructor. She is also the director of the Amethyst World Dance Company and the producer of the Amethyst Dance Festival. Krisenna is passionate about performance arts and is thrilled to be a part of the Black Box Foundation.
Pamela Karpelenia
Board Member
Pamela Karpelenia(Social Media/Guest Director/Music Director) is delighted to join Blackbox Foundation’s board. Born and raised in Texas, Pamela made Arizona her home in 2005. Pamela is a wife, mom of 4 including twins. Previously, she has excelled as Music Director for Blackbox productions such as Heathers, Mean Girls Jr, James and the Giant Peach Jr and Frozen Jr. She made her directorial debut with the foundation with Little Shop of Horrors. With a distinguished career spanning over 25 years, Pamela has participated in hundreds of productions, showcasing her expertise in acting, directing, vocal performance, choreography, technical aspects, and producing. Her notable accomplishments include establishing, and serving as Director, Writer, and Producer of The Murder Mystery Players of Casa Grande in 2019. Pamela is also a classically trained opera singer offering vocal lessons in the Casa Grande area and works as a Speech Therapist(SLP-A) and upper elementary school Teacher at Thrive Cultural Academy.
Faedra Rutledge
Board Member
Faedra Rutledge, a native Phoenician, can’t sing, dance, or act her way out of a paper bag. However, from the time she was a little girl and took her Sound of Music double LP and hid it between the washer and dryer so her sisters couldn’t listen to it without her, she has admired and supported those who can.
While Faedra’s artistic abilities are questionable at best, she is good at math. She is a software Quality Assurance Engineer (i.e. she breaks perfectly good computer programs for fun and profit!) with over 20 years of experience in finance and retirement plan services. Faedra’s un-artistic brain gives her the ability to both read AND understand Internal Revenue Code and software code, which is not the party trick you would think it might be. She also has a passion for giving back to her community, having spent many volunteer hours serving with organizations such as Andre House of Arizona, One N Ten, GLSEN, and the Arizona Animal Welfare League.
Faedra and her husband Shawn, an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, moved to Casa Grande in 2022 with two teenagers and a rotating selection of foster and failed foster cats. They also have an adult son out in the wild.