Board of Directors

Todd Trivette
President

Todd, a Knoxville native, has been an active supporter of KCT since 2013 when his oldest son, Grant, made his stage debut. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and has been in the technology industry for 19 years. He currently serves as the Sr. Director of Software Engineering and Product Development for Jewelry Television where he has worked since 2003. Todd is an outdoors enthusiast, but mostly enjoys spending time with his wife, Karen and their two boys, Grant and Baron.

Amy DeLong
Treasurer

Amy joined the Board in 2018 and first became involved in 2016 after her oldest son attended a summer camp at the KCT Academy. Amy, a CPA, serves as a Tax Manager at Covenant Health in Knoxville. She holds a BS and MAcc from the University of Tennessee and is a member of the Tennessee Society of CPAs and Florida Institute of CPAs. She also serves as Treasurer for Bethany Christian Services of East Tennessee and plays the oboe in the orchestra at Sevier Heights Baptist Church. Amy and her husband, Jeff, have three children, Caleb, Will, and McKenna. Caleb and McKenna enjoy participating at KCT in both productions and the Academy.   Their entire family loves to attend each KCT production!

Tiffani Waller

Tiffani, born and raised in Knoxville, joined the Board in 2018 after volunteering since 2011 while her daughter Averi was taking Academy classes and acting in numerous productions at KCT. Tiffani is the Director of Business Development and Marketing for Cellular Sales. She is a graduate of East Tennessee State University with a degree in Merchandising. Tiffani has a wealth of knowledge and experience in marketing, retail and E-commerce through her current work as well as her previous work at Jewelry Television, and Gap, Inc. Tiffani is an avid theatre supporter and enjoys spending time with her family, Will West and Averi. When she is not driving her daughter to and from KCT, they can be found taking in the latest Broadway production.

Darrell DeBusk

Darrell, the former Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Knoxville Police Department, and currently serving the FBI as Public Affairs Officer, has been involved with the Knoxville Children’s Theatre since his daughter Abigayle made her KCT stage debut in 2013. Darrell’s professional background includes 18 years in television, both as a photojournalist and as the assignment manager for one of the top NBC affiliates in the country. He is currently a member of the National Information Officer’s Association and was one of Tennessee’s longest-serving PIOs. In addition to Abigayle, Darrell has another daughter, Allison, currently in medical school.

Tom Cervone

Tom has dedicated most of his professional career (and life) advocating for and working in the best interests of the arts and culture industry, 25 years (and counting) serving proudly as the managing director for the Clarence Brown Theatre/Department of Theatre at UTK. He previously served as the first executive director of the Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation and the executive director for Dogwood Arts.

Cervone spent many years on the board of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Greater Knoxville, and currently serves on the boards of the WordPlayers, the Knoxville Children’s Theatre, Department of Theatre and Foundation Board at West Liberty University, his undergraduate alma mater, as well as the advisory board for River and Rail Theatre Company. He has also served as chair of the curriculum committee for Leadership Knoxville and has been a member of their BOD as well.

Cervone remains active within the UTK community as a member of the Exempt Staff Council and Chancellor’s Commission for LGBTQ people. He received the Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Service to the University in 2010.

He is a longtime member of the Actors’ Equity Association. Cervone holds his undergraduate degree in Speech and English Education with an emphasis in Theatre from West Liberty University in West Virginia and an MFA (1993) and MBA (2010) from UTK. He is a graduate of and was selected as the Class Representative of the Leadership Knoxville class of 2011.  Cervone is a member of his undergraduate alma mater’s class of 2015 Wall of Honor.

Barron Kennedy

Barron joined the Board of Directors in 2020 after seeing many performances at KCT by his oldest daughter, Lena. Barron is a CPA, with Pugh CPAs where he works with many companies in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, governmental and not-for-profit entities and closely-held companies. His expertise is in financial statement audits, internal audits, loan review and compliance services, review and compilation services. Barron is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Business Administration, Accounting (Magna Cum Laude) and a Master of Accountancy with a concentration in audit.

Barron is also involved in many professional and community organizations including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) – Knoxville Chapter (Financial Institutions Committee Member & Collegiate Outreach Committee Chair), Tennessee Bankers Association, Institute of Internal Auditors, Risk Management Association, and the Middlebrook Pike United Methodist Church-past Finance Committee Chair. Barron and his wife, Liz, are parents to daughters Lena and Alyssa.

Carol Anne Long
Secretary

Carol Anne joined the Board of Directors in 2022 after becoming involved with the theatre in 2019.  Her daughter, Janie, was bitten by the theatre bug in early 2019, and KCT has been her home-away-from home ever since.  Carol Anne, who was born in Nashville and raised in Jackson, has called Knoxville home for the past 30 years.  A two-time graduate of the University of Tennessee, she holds a B.A. in English Literature from UT Knoxville and a J.D. from the UT College of Law.  After first practicing law and then serving as a career clerk with the state appellate courts in Knoxville, Carol Anne joined the College of Law as the Associate Director of Career Services in March 2022.  When she’s not at work or driving Janie to and from KCT, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two children, and their rescue dogs. 

Kelley Segars

Kelley joined the Board in 2022 after being involved with KCT since 2016 when her daughter was cast in The Surprising Story of the Three Little Pigs, directed by Zack Allen. She is forever grateful that Zack was Lily’s first director. After living in nine different cities (and six states), Kelley has been settled in Knoxville since 2001. She was a transportation planner with local government for more than two decades before starting her own business, Made by Kelley, to have more time for parenting and volunteer work. She holds a M.S in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana and a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of South Carolina. She loves reading, planning trips, and seeing live theatre.