Meet our team of Professional Acting Teachers & Vocal Coaches

Yvette-Janine began working as a model/actor  right after high school. She took a sabbatical and spent many years in nonprofit management, but transitioned back to the arts (painting and acting) over decade ago. Her passion for the craft was invigorated when her son decided acting was for him. After years of training in acting and working as a child actor mom, Ms. Pardo decided to fill a gap. Bilingual actors needed a place to practice their craft in both languages. Such a place existed for stage but not for film and TV. So in October of 2013, she started Actors Youth Academy, a bilingual acting forum for film and TV. Ms. Pardo’s undergraduate studies in sociology at UCLA in (emphasis in deviant behavior) and her training in acting have allowed her to co-develop with Ms. Maegan McConnell a curriculum for acting that integrates sociology of emotions and behavior into authentic interaction (acting). Yvette-Janine Pardo works alongside Maegan McConnell and teaches acting as well as learn Spanish through Acting. She works closely with franchised and ATA-affiliated agents and talent managers. Her Child Performer Services Permit is CPS-000287606.

Maegan McConnell has worked with Disney, Abominable Pictures, Windsong Productions, Mr. Nice T.V., N.C.M. Entertainment, Evolve Media Group among others and has performed Off-Broadway, and in Regional Theatre and Concerts across the country. Maegan has directed/musical directed over 30 kids shows and has taught child actors for many years thru Jaxx Theatricals. Ms. Maegan, has been the head teacher for AYA since 2013. She is particularly fond of the Michael Chekhov technique which she studied with Jack Colvin and Mala Powers. Maegan along with her writing partner, Heather Wood, wrote for the Disney show, Sydney to the Max, and currently is a writer for Side Hustle on Nickelodeon and Enchantimals. Her Child Performer Services Permit is CPS-000276159.

Lili has been a student at AYA for over 8 years, almost since the very beginning of the school. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Communications from Stanford University, and upon returning to LA, entered the film industry to gain experience on set. She has worked for Disney, Hulu, HBO, and Paramount on shows such as Reasonable Doubt and The Offer, as well as a handful of other film and television productions. As an actor, Lili has had the honor to be a part of a wide variety of projects, including the School of Night production “Klingon Tamburlaine” (The Complex Theater), the radio play “William Shakespeare’s Tragical History of Frankenstein” (Masquers Playhouse), and cohosting the award-winning Star Trek talk show “A Captain’s Log” (which airs on local channels nationwide and is now onto its 3rd season!). Recently, she produced a webseries called Keep in Touch with her production company LillixLili (2021), the pilot episode of which was selected for several festivals. Lili is very excited to be teaching the talented students at Actors Youth Academy. Her Child Performer Services Permit is CPS-LR 1000984924.

Juanita Devis was born in Bogotá Colombia were she started her career as an actress at the early age of 6. She worked on film and television throughout her childhood, becoming well known in her country. After graduating from high school she went to London to study Drama at The Westminster College and The City Literary Institute. Three years after classical theatre training she returned to Bogotá and started to teach Drama to children at a very well known school “The Gimnasio Moderno” and continued working on TV shows and Soap Operas. In 1999, Juanita decided to try her luck in Los Angeles and since then she has been working on TV shows, theatre and many commercials in both Spanish and English. She has also kept teaching children in after school programs and producing and directing very successful plays for them. Juanita is the mother of 7 year old identical twin boys who have also been acting and acting up since birth. Juanita will be working at the Santa Monica location once that opens.

Voice Lessons will be taught by Marissa Pitts who teaches at CSULA, Cal Poly Pomona, and USC as an Adjunct Professor for Voice, Acting, and Theater Analysis.She holds both a MFA in Television, Film and Theatre/Acting, and a Master of Theatre Arts from California State University, Los Angeles. “Learn By Doing” is the foundation to her training and teaching. Marissa teaches Voice, projection, and articulation