Coya is a writer, director, scholar, and arts administrator with a deep commitment to racial and economic equity in the arts. She is the Strategic Director of the historic Free Street Theater in Chicago, whose mission is to create original performance by, for, about, with, and in Chicago's historically divested communities. She is the co-author, with Chloe Johnston, of Ensemble-Made Chicago: A Guide to Devised Theater. Coya is an Associate Professor in The Theatre School at DePaul University, and holds a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. She is particularly interested in ghost stories as cultural archives. In addition, Coya researches economic disparity and the arts in Chicago, and is an advocate for neighborhood-based arts, particularly on the South and West sides of the city. She serves on a wide-variety of advisory and advocacy boards focused on racial and geographic equity, and does organizational consulting via Free Street Talks. Above all, Coya believes in the power of performance and poetry to build community towards social change.