Third Coast artistic director Julie Shapiro has been with the Festival since its inaugural year (2000). Before moving to Chicago, she spent years behind record stores counters before landing in North Carolina to work at the the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and gain a little radio experience at WUNC-FM. These days, besides Third Coasting, Shapiro teaches radio documentary in Chicago and beyond, keeps a blog about teeth signs, and can occasionally be heard on the public radio airwaves. 

Johanna Zorn is the executive director and founding mother of the Third Coast Festival, and enjoys working with the entire TCF crew on every aspect of this project. Additionally, Zorn takes the lead when it comes to budgeting, fundraising and public relations. Zorn has worked at Chicago Public Radio for more than two decades, including ten years as the executive producer of Chicago Public Radio's acclaimed documentary series Chicago Matters. She continues to contribute to the series as both an editor and a reporter. In her spare time she’s raising three children.