Melanie YC Pepe is Weathervane's Chief Executive Officer & Artistic Director. She holds a BFA from Kent State University, where she is now serving on the School of Theatre and Dance Advisory Board, and is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).  In 2011 she was awarded Weathervane’s Board of Trustee Award, and in 2020 she graduated from the 36th class of Leadership Akron.  In 2022, she was awarded The Morgan Impact Award by Peg's Foundation.  At Weathervane, she has produced more than 90 plays and musicals, as well as 4 feature films during the COVID-19 Pandemic.  As a stage director, recent Weathervane credits include the feature films: Judgement Call, and My Cellphone Says You’re My Soulmate; and on stage: Matilda The Musical, Kinky Boots, Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Into the Woods, Doubt, Jesus Christ Superstar, Santaland Diaries, Red, Peter and the Starcatcher, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Ordinary Days.