National Council for the American Theatre (NCAT)

Comprised of leading trustees from member theatres from across the country, the National Council for the American Theatre guides TCG’s programs on governance and board development and serves as a “brain trust” for the organization. Members are nominated by the artistic or managing leadership of their theatres, and must make a financial commitment to TCG (a minimum of $5,000 annually) without compromising their giving to their home theatre. The Council meets twice yearly, including an annual meeting with TCG’s board of directors in New York. Members are invited to participate in TCG committees, grant selection panels and or/advisory groups, and host a trustee breakfast at the annual National Conference. Members are invited to all TCG events, workshops and conferences. The chair of the National Council is Judy Rubin, trustee at Playwrights Horizons and former TCG board member. For information on joining the National Council, please contact Kevin E. Moore, Managing Director.

*Judith O. Rubin, CHAIR, New York, NY

*Eve Alvord, Seattle, WA
Ralph Bryan, La Jolla, CA
Patricia Cox, Chicago, IL
Sophie Cripe, Costa Mesa, CA
Lynn Deering, Baltimore, MD
Nancy L. Donahue, Lowell, MA
Brad Edgerton, Ashland, OR
Carolyn Ferolito, Millburn, NJ
Virginia Gerst, Chicago, IL
Kiki Ramos Gindler, Los Angeles, CA
Lisa Naparstek Green, Chicago, IL
Laura Hall, Kanssas City, MO
John Hauge, Washington, D.C.
Judy Hansen, Milwaukee, WI
Ruth Hendel, Waterford, CT
Cynthia Huffman, Seattle, WA
Bruce E. H. Johnson, Seattle, WA
Carole Krumland, Berkeley, CA
Paul Lehman, Evanston, IL
Nancy Livingston, San Fransisco, CA

Rob Manegold, Milwaukee, WI
Jesse Marion, Houston, TX
Dawn Moore, San Diego, CA
*Eleanor Cook Nolan, Seattle, WA
Judy Lynn Prince, Washington, DC
Ann Ramsay-Jenkins, Seattle, WA
Heather Randall, New York, NY
*Toni Rembe, San Francisco, CA
Theodore Rogers, New York, NY
Deedie Rose, Dallas, TX
Theodore Rosky, Louisville, KY
Frank Risch, Dallas, TX
Jeremy Shamos, Denver, CO
Linda Sloan, Greensboro, North Carolina
Jim Steinberg, Denver, CO
Jean Z. Strunsky, San Francisco, CA
Elaine Weinberg, Costa Mesa, CA
*Jaan Whitehead, New York, NY
Cheryl Wiesenfeld, New Haven, CT

*Founding Member

BIOGRAPHIES

Judith O. Rubin, (Playwrights Horizons) of New York City, is chairman of the board of Playwrights Horizons and a member of the Tony Awards administration committee. For eight years she served on the NEA's National Council on the Arts, and for six on the board of TCG. Since 1989, she has been a member of the New York State Council on the Arts. She serves on the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission of New York City, the University's Council Committee on Theatre at Yale, and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) Board of Overseers. Rubin was a member of the Board of Regents of New York State, representing Manhattan. She is a trustee of Mount Sinai Medical Center, a former trustee of Public Radio International and of the Center for Arts and Culture, a think tank in Washington, D.C. She served as president of the 92nd Y from 1984 to 1988 and was Commissioner for Protocol during the administration of New York City Mayor David Dinkins.

Eve Alvord, (Seattle Children's Theatre) of Seattle, serves on the board of trustees of the Seattle Children's Theatre, where one of its two theatres is named for her. Alvord also serves on the board of trustees of the Seattle Art Museum and Cornish College of the Arts. She is on the advisory boards of Treehouse, a support organization for foster children and families, and the Pratt Fine Arts Center. Alvord is a founding member of Crescendo, a support group for the Seattle Symphony, and the Washington Women's Foundation.

Ralph Bryan (La Jolla Playhouse) is the immediate past chairman of La Jolla Playhouse where he served as board chairman from 2006 to 2009 and a trustee since 2000. He has served on or chaired committees for the Playhouse's capital campaign, finance, fundraising, long range planning and chaired the national search for Artistic Director and Managing Director. He also serves on the board of Tectonic Theater Project. Ralph is a two time Tony winning Broadway producer whose shows include Jersey Boys (Tony Award), Memphis (Tony Award), American Idiot (Tony Nomination), 33 Variations (Tony Nomination), Cry-Baby (Tony Nomination), Farnsworth Invention. Ralph is a Managing Director-Investments for a wealth management group at Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC focusing on high net worth, endowment, and foundation asset management. His group manages $400 million and is in the top 1% of the firm for assets under management.

Back to top Patricia Cox (Goodman Theatre) is Chair of the Goodman Theatre Board of Trustees. She has extensive experience in marketing, board development, and fundraising for nonprofit organizations. She started the St. Nicholas Theatre Company in Chicago with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Mamet, was the Executive Director of the Chicago Alliance for the Performing Arts, and was the Director of Marketing for the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Boston Ballet. As a consultant, she worked for the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Boston, and regional foundations like The Chicago Community Trust and The Cleveland Foundation. Patricia has been a trustee of Goodman Theatre for 20 years, serving in several leadership positions before becoming Chairman in the 2009/2010 Season. In addition to her work in the arts, she is a member of the Women's Board of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where she also serves on the research and education committee of the Foundation Board. Ms. Cox is a member of the board of directors of HIGH JUMP, Chicago’s leading tuition free 2 ½ year academic enrichment program for talented and motivated middle school students with limited family income.

Sophie Cripe, (South Coast Repertory) an avid theatre fan, is Vice President of Development for the Board of Trustees of South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa, CA. She has served in a variety of leadership positions with SCR including chairing board development and the 2010 gala. She was also a member of the committee to select the new artistic director. Sophie and her husband, Larry, have been patrons of the annual Pacific Playwrights' Festival for five years. Prior to being involved with SCR she was President of the Laguna Playhouse, as well as President of STOP GAP an organization that uses drama as a therapeutic tool in local schools, shelters and hospitals. A life long community volunteer, Sophie is a 44 year member of the Junior League. She is also currently on the board of the National Choreographers Initiative, and the Friends of the Newport Beach Library. For fun, Sophie assists in Dramaturgical work for the Chance Theater in Anaheim. In her professional career, Sophie has a BA and MA in Speech and Theater from the University of Illinois and she taught theatre at the high school level for many years. Her second career was as a professional fundraiser for the United Way of Orange County and Goodwill Industries.

Lynn Deering, (CENTERSTAGE) of Baltimore, MD, is president of the board of CENTERSTAGE, and has served as a member of that board since 1986. She has been a member of the Maryland Citizens for the Arts since 1994, and has also served as chair of that board. Since 2002, she has served as a member of the board of the Baltimore Museum of Art and as a member of the National Advisory Board of the Berman Bioethics Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She has also served as a volunteer at the Joseph Richey Hospice since 1989.

Nancy L. Donahue, (Merrimack Repertory Theatre) of Lowell, MA, co-founded that city's Merrimack Repertory Theatre and has served as one of its trustees for 27 years. Her credits also include her work as a trustee of the New England Quilt Museum, the American Textile History Museum, Lawrence Academy and Lasell College, and she serves on the advisory board of the Revolving Museum. She is a director of the Enterprise Bank & Trust Corporation.

Diane Durgin, (Actor’s Express) of Atlanta, GA, is a retired corporate lawyer with over 35 years experience, including post as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Georgia-Pacific Corporation. She has a long history of being involved in the arts and women’s organizations. She currently serves on the advisory board of Actor’s Express and previously served on the boards and advisory boards of Georgian Chamber Players, Hambidge Arts Center, Alliance Theatre Company, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Atlanta Girls' School. As a lawyer she offers extensive experience in contract negotiation, commercial arbitration, and the resolution of contract disputes.

Brad Edgerton, MD (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) serves on the board of directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland. He is a practicing reconstructive plastic surgeon in Los Angeles at Kaiser Permanente. He is the President of the Edgerton Foundation which has awarded Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award grants since since 2006 to art theatres nationwide to support the extension of rehearsal time of world premieres. He is also on the boards of Harvard-Westlake School, Pacific Council on International Policy and Southern Skis.

Jane Epstein, (Playwrights Horizons) of South Salem, NY, has served on the board of Playwrights Horizons for the last 12 years. She and her husband, Howard, split their time between South Salem, NY and Stratford-upon-Avon, England, where they enjoy the Royal Shakespeare Company's many productions and courses. Her academic background, both undergraduate and graduate, was in Drama-as-Literature. Gardening, knitting, needlepoint, antiquing and playing with grandchildren round out her non-theatre hours.

Carolyn Ferolito (Paper Mill Playhouse) has been a member of Paper Mill Playhouse’s Board of Trustees since 1997, and has served as Co-Chair of the Board since 2008. She is currently a Trustee of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and has been on that Board for over five years. She has served on the Board of the United Way of Millburn/Short Hills as president for two terms. Other Boards she has served on are the Valerie Fund, the New Jersey Child Care Advisory Council, the New Jersey Junior Leagues and the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services for Children Advisory Council. She is the founder and President of Hidden Ponds Foundation, whose mission is to support at risk women and children in the state of New Jersey. She resides in Short Hills, New Jersey is married and has one son.

Virginia Gerst, (Court Theatre) is immediate past chair of the board of The Court Theatre, Chicago, where she has been a trustee since 1997. A former journalist, she edited the arts and entertainment section of the Chicago-area Pioneer Press newspaper chain for more than a decade. Under her leadership, the section twice won the Suburban Newspaper Association’s award as the country’s best entertainment section. She is recipient of the Chicago Headline Club’s Ethics in Journalism Award and the University of Oregon’s Payne Award for Ethics in journalism. Virginia is a member of the Illinois Humanities Council Board of Directors and is a director of Chicago’s Green City Market.

Joanie Flatt, (Childsplay) is owner and president of Flatt & Associates, Ltd, public relations and public affairs, a company she founded in 1981 in Mesa, Arizona. Over the years, the firm has served a wide variety of clients in business, social services and education, along with managing many issue campaigns in the East Valley and school finance campaigns across the country. She has lived in the greater Phoenix community for more than 50 years, witnessing the growth and changes in the area firsthand. A resident of Scottsdale, her community service has been extensive. In 1989, she was named Mesa’s Young Woman of the Year. In 2000, she was again honored by being tapped as Mesa’s Woman of the Year. She was named Arts Board Member of the Year in 2006 by the Phoenix Business in the Arts organization. Joanie is past president and current member of the Childsplay Board of Trustees; former member of the Arizona Theatre Company Board of Trustees; currently a board member emeritus for Marc Center; past president (founding president) and board member of the Mesa Arts Alliance; past chair (founding chair) of the Mesa Arts Center Foundation Board of Directors; past president and current member of the East Valley Partnership Board of Directors; past president of the Equestrian Manor Homeowners Association Board of Directors; and former member of the Design and Architectural Selection Committee that oversaw the design and development of the Mesa Arts Center. In July 2011, Joanie will rejoin the boards of Arizona Theatre Company and the Mesa Arts Center Foundation following a year off due to term limit rules.

Kiki Ramos Gindler, (Center Theatre Group) of Los Angeles, CA, currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Ojai Music Festival, the Board of Overseers of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is a past trustee of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. She also has served the City of Los Angeles as a member of multiple historic preservation and community outreach boards. After receiving a JD from Harvard Law School, Ms. Gindler practiced corporate law with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, where she specialized in acquisitions, joint ventures, finance and intellectual property, and has held the positions of Vice President, Legal Affairs, with Columbia Pictures and Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs, with Rysher Entertainment. In recognition of her work to help establish low income housing for women and children, Ms. Gindler has received the State Bar of California Wiley W. Manuel Pro Bono Services Award.

Lisa Naparstek Green, (Lookingglass Theatre) is a life-long theatre lover and has been a member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company Board since 2000 where she served as co-chair of their capital campaign, chaired the strategic planning effort and currently serves as chairman of the board. She trained as an attorney, and while in practice she specialized in real estate law. She has been engaged in not-for-profit and community work for twenty years, serving various arts and community organizations including Children’s Memorial Hospital. Lisa is married to Howard Green and has three children, all of whom love the theatre as well.

Laura Hall, (Coterie Theatre ) of Kansas City, MO, is President of the Board of the Coterie Theatre and a member of the board of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. She also serves on the board of the Center for Practical Bioethics and on the advisory board of Horizon Academy, a private school serving children with learning disabilities.

John Hauge, (Shakespeare Theatre Company) Washington, D.C., bio coming soon.

Judy Hansen, (Milwaukee Repertory Theater) of Milwaukee, WI, is a trustee of Milwaukee Repertory Theater. She is a past trustee for the Milwaukee Art Museum as well as a past board member of the Chenequa Land Conservancy. She recently completed her studies as a special research fellow at the Yale School of Drama. She serves as a board member and executive committee member of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and served as a producer for The Jammer, which won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She served as an NEA panelist and is making her Broadway debut as a producer of Talk Radio.

Ruth Hendel, (Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center) Ruth Hendel has been producing theatre for ten years. Growing up in Norwich, CT, near the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, she had the opportunity to attend all the readings of new American plays there. This exposure blossomed into a life-long love of the theatre. After raising her three children, Ruth began her producing career with Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses on Broadway. From there she was on the producing teams of numerous Broadway shows, including A Raisin in the Sun; Caroline, or Change; The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Red (Tony); American Idiot; FELA! (conceived by her husband Stephen Hendel), and more. Off-Broadway, she produced The Exonerated, Red Light Winter and others. This season, Ruth is represented on Broadway by Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; The Motherf**ker with the Hat; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo; House of Blue Leaves; and Driving Miss Daisy.

Ruth serves as vice-chair of the Eugene O’Neill Theater in Waterford, CT. She also is on the boards of the LAByrinth Theater Company, The Play Company and the Yale School of Drama. She has numerous theatre projects in the works and is excited to be joining TCG.

Cynthia Huffman (Itiman Theatre) is President-elect of the Board of Intiman Theatre where she has been a trustee since 2007. During her tenure she has chaired the Education Committee, the national search for Managing Director and, most recently, the Planning Committee for Intiman’s new beginning. Cynthia is Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Seattle Children’s Hospital, and serves on their Quality and Safety Committee, Management Development & Compensation Committee, and Government Affairs/Advocacy Committee. Formerly she was a member of the Board of Trustees of Childhaven, a center for treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect, and served as Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Center on Infant Mental Health and Development at the University of Washington. Before retiring, Cynthia was Director of Bank Street Head Start in New York City, a child life specialist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and had a business career in broadcast sales management.

Bruce E. H. Johnson, (Seattle Repertory Theatre) of Seattle, has been a member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre board of trustees since 1992. A lawyer whose cases have involved defense of freedom of speech, freedom of press and other constitutional rights, he is a partner at the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and is the co-author of a major treatise on First Amendment protections for "commercial speech." Johnson has served as president of the Seattle Rep's board in 1999-2001, and as its chairman in 2004-2006. Since 2011, he has served as chairman of the SRT Foundation, which holds and manages the theatre’s endowment funds.

Carole Krumland, (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) of Orinda, CA, has served on the board of Berkeley Rep for eleven years. She also serves on the board of San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Roundabout Theatre Company, and Project Second Chance (Adult Literacy) where she was also a tutor. As a docent at the Oakland Museum she chaired the Contemporary Art Committee for several years. She is also a director of the Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Paul Lehman (Northlight Theatre) of Evanston, IL, has served on the Board of Northlight Theatre since 1998 and acted as President from 2003 to 2005. He is also a former board member of the Goodman Theater and a past Board President of Pegasus Players. Paul is involved in a number of other non-profit organizations in and around the Chicagoland area. He was a founder and board member of Winning Workplaces, a non-profit that helps small businesses develop better workplaces for their employees and for themselves. Paul worked for his family’s automotive parts business, Fel-Pro, for eighteen years. The company was consistently ranked as of the Top 10 Companies to Work for in the United States in Fortune and Working Mother magazines. In 2000, he created an active travel company, Austin-Lehman Adventures, which was named Number One Tour Operator in the World by the readers of Travel and Leisure Magazine. Now retired, he is married to Ronna Stamm and together they enjoy life with their three grown children.

Nancy Livingston, is the Board Chair of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.). She recently chaired the theater’s $31 million, first-ever endowment campaign, and is currently spearheading the organization’s strategic planning process. She recently rotated off the Board of Cal Performances, a multi-arts presenting organization, where she served as Vice Chair and led the Board through its branding campaign. Livingston serves on the National Advisory Board of Washington, D.C.’s National Museum of Women in the Arts, a private museum dedicated exclusively to recognizing women artists in all creative disciplines. Nancy is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of Boston University’s College of Communication, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Boston University Alumni Council. She is also a member of the Council of Advocates for the Boston Arts Academy, a pilot arts school that operates within the Boston Public School District.

Rob Manegold, (Milwaukee Repertory Theater) believes passionately in the importance of theatre. He is the immediate past Board President of the Milwaukee REP and continues to serve on their Executive Board. Rob currently serves as an Overseer for Dartmouth College - Hopkins Center for the Arts. He is also on the Board of the Blood Center of WI and the Lake Country Fire Department. Additionally, he serves as VP and Treasurer of the Four-Four Foundation, Inc. Other previous non-profit experiences include numerous years on the University Lake School Board, including President, and as Commodore of the Pine Lake Yacht Club.

Jesse Marion, (Alley Theatre) Houston, TX, bio coming soon.

Dawn Moore (San Diego Repertory Theatre) had a 21 year career as a software engineer and senior level manager. She has a B.S. in Psychobiology and Computer Science from UC, Riverside. After employment at a successful startup, she took early retirement, allowing her to explore other interests and passions, while giving back to the community. Dawn discovered San Diego’s rich theatre community and the power of theatre to educate and enlighten. She was especially drawn to the San Diego REP's mission of creating ‘intimate, exotic, and provocative’ theater, joining the Board in 2004, and now serves as its President. Dawn is also a member of the San Diego Women's Foundation, engaging her in the granting process. She has found exploring the non-profit world fascinating. Dawn has completed a 1-year management development program at UCSD. Dawn has found dramaturgy to be the perfect outlet for her curious soul, and has served in this capacity for multiple plays.

Elisabeth Morten, (President, Westport Country Playhouse Board of Trustees) is a theatrical producer (Tony-nominated Caroline, or Change, Is He Dead?), but started her professional life as a vocal soloist with operatic, Celtic and contemporary music ensembles. After receiving an MBA (finance/marketing/arts management) from UCLA, she earned a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and worked for many years as a securities analyst with Citibank and U.S. Steel Pension Fund in New York. From 1995-2001 she produced the Guildfest Concert Series in Southport, Connecticut. Other professional experience included Connecticut Grand Opera (teaching artist), San Francisco Ballet (public relations and development), and the Rice Council in Zurich, Switzerland (translation from French and German). Past and current volunteer and fundraising affiliations include ThinkQuest, the Connecticut Dance School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Columbia University, Skidmore College, and the New Jersey Junior Leagues.

Eleanor Cook Nolan, (Seattle Children's Theatre) of Seattle, is Past President of the board of Seattle Children's Theatre and a Trustee of SCT for 23 years. A Regent of George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, she is a trustee of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture/the State Museum of Washington.

Judy Lynn Prince, (Arena Stage) of Washington, DC and New York City is an avid theatregoer, seeing 100 plus productions a year as well as being involved with a number of not-for-profit organizations. She has been on the Arena Stage Board of Trustees since 1994, where she now serves as secretary of the Executive Committee and chair of the Annual Fund. During Trustee's Week at the O'Neill Playwrights in Residency Program, she represented Arena. Several years ago, she was one of six jurors for the NEA/TCG Playwrights in Residency Program. For Arts Advocacy Day, she can be found lobbying Congress for more money for the arts. Before retiring, she was Executive TV Producer for Mobil Corporation. Judy Lynn is President of the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, the largest benefactor to the Smithsonian outside the individual development offices. She also is a trustee of the Smithsonian National Board, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, and the University of Florida Foundation.

Ann Ramsay-Jenkins, (Seattle Repertory Theatre), is Co-Founder and Vice President of the Board of the College Success Foundation which provides mentoring and college scholarships to low income students in the state of Washington and Washington, D.C. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded over 8500 scholarships totaling more than $352,000,000. Ann served on the Seattle Repertory Theatre’s Board of Trustees for several years, co-chairing its capital campaign for the Leo K Theatre in 1993, and serving as the Rep’s board chairman in 1995. That same year she established the Seattle Repertory Foundation and continues to be a member of that Board. Currently, she sits on the Rep’s Strategic Planning Committee which is charged with formulating a plan for a sustainable future. Ann was a member of the board of the National Corporate Theatre Fund from 1993-1995. Among other boards and activities, Ann has been a member of President Carter’s Advisory Committee for Women and the President’s Commission on White House Fellows as well as Director of the office of Budgets at Harvard University, Washington state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board, The University of Washington Academic Medical Center Board, the Board of Selectors for the American institute of Public Service which administers the National Jefferson Awards and the United Way of King County.

Heather Randall (New York Theatre Workshop) is an actor, producer, and theatre activist in New York City. She has appeared on Broadway in several plays including Judgement at Nuremburg, Inherit the Wind and Three Men on a Horse. Off-Broadway and regional credits include playing a leprosy patient in Hansen's Cab and an evening of Dorothy Parker works called In Our Past Lives. As a producer she started the Off-the-Page reading series at the National Actor’s Theatre which hosted such theatre artists as Alec Baldwin in The Night of the Iguana, Marian Seldes and Rosemary Harris in Ladies in Retirement and the acclaimed Tales From Hollywood written by Christopher Hampton. As a theatre activist, Heather is the President of the Board of the New York Theatre Workshop, and is also a trustee on the boards of The Neighborhood Playhouse and The Actors Center. Heather is also the chairman of the Tony Randall Theatrical Fund which gives grants to performing arts organizations and the founder of the Tony Randall Grant, which gives a major grant annually for the production of a classic play.

Toni Rembe, (American Conservatory Theater) of San Francisco, is past president and a member of the board of trustees of the American Conservatory Theater. She is a senior advisor (former partner) with the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop LLP and president of a Bay Area foundation specializing in civil rights and social service issues. She currently serves on the boards of directors of AT&T Inc. and Aegon N.V., a multinational corporation headquartered in the Netherlands.

Theodore Rogers, (Theatre for a New Audience) of New York City, is chairman emeritus and a board member of the New York City Ballet, chairman of Theatre for a New Audience and vice chairman of St. John’s College Board. He also serves as a trustee of City Center for Music and Drama, Poets and Writers, Ballet Review and the Achilles Track Club, an organization he helped found that assists people with disabilities who wish to participate in long-distance running. Rogers co-founded the investment firm American Industrial Partners and serves as its chairman. He serves as non-executive Chairman of BI International a NASDAQ listed public company.

Deedie Rose, (Dallas Theater Center) of Dallas, is a past chair and life trustee of the board of the Dallas Theater Center. The past president of the board of the Dallas Museum of Art, she serves as trustee for numerous other not-for-profit organizations, including Public Radio International. She is a founding board member of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. She is a former member of the NEA's National Council on the Arts and a current member of the board of the National Park Foundation.

Theodore Rosky (Actors Theatre of Louisville) has served on the Actor's Theatre of Louisville board since 1995. Active in many of the arts, he also has served on the board leaderships of the Louisville Orchestra, Kentucky Opera, Louisville Fund for the Arts, and New Performing Arts, as well as on numerous other boards. Now retired, he spent his career in two large financial services concerns in a variety of line and staff positions. His wife and daughter both are professional musicians (viola and violin, respectively) who play in various ensembles and teach. He and his wife are avid collectors of outdoor sculpture.

Frank Risch, (Dallas Theater Center). For the past 20 plus years that Frank Risch has called Dallas home, he and his wife, Helen, have helped to make many new and exciting changes possible in the Dallas area through their community involvement, philanthropy, and volunteer service. Following his 38 year career with Exxon Mobil Corporation, retiring in 2004 as Vice President, Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer, Frank has actively served the Dallas community. He was instrumental in the transformation of the Dallas Theater Center as it moved following its 50th anniversary season to the state of the art new Dee and Charles Wyly Theater at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, and he is now Immediate Past Chair and Life Trustee of its Board. Deeply involved in the development and growth of Dallas’s performing arts center into the landmark AT&T Performing Arts Center, Frank now serves on its board of directors and executive committee and as Chair of its Nominating and Governance Committee. As a long-standing board member of Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), which supports the needs of abused and neglected children in Dallas, Frank is currently involved in the organization’s strategic planning efforts to enhance its growth and its ability to serve these great needs. Frank is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Communities Foundation of Texas, Chair of its Philanthropy Committee, and member of it Investment Committee. He is also a long time member of the board and executive committee of the Dallas Holocaust Museum, which, in 2011, honored him with its Hope for Humanity Award. In addition to these responsibilities, Frank is a member of the Business Board of Advisors of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. He also serves on the board of Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, where he was President from 2005-2007. In the corporate world, Frank is a member of the Board of Directors of Pioneer Natural Resources Company. (NYSE-PXD)

Jeremy Shamos (Curious Theatre Company) is the Board Chair of Curious Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Active in many performing arts organizations, he has served in leadership positions at Opera Colorado (where he and his wife, Susan, were Co-Chairs 2003-2007), Colorado Children's Chorale and the Acting Company of New York, on whose executive committee he currently sits. Now retired, he is a lawyer by training and spent much of his professional career with Mark Goodson Productions in New York and Los Angeles. He also had several years in Paris, France as a young lawyer at Coudert Freres, several more as the founder of a public interest law firm in Denver, Colorado, and several more as counsel to Governor Richard L. Lamm of Colorado. He is married with four children and six grandchildren. If you Google "Jeremy Shamos", you are more likely to find his son, a working actor in New York.

Linda Sloan, (Triad Stage) served for six years as the founding board chair of Triad Stage in Greensboro, North Carolina and continues to serve on its board. Now in its eleventh season, Triad Stage brought professional regional theatre to the area and also served as a major catalyst for downtown development. Linda is also active with the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, chairing its Women to Women initiative, a permanent endowment benefiting community women and their families. She is an Advisory Board member for the Arts and Sciences at the University of Rochester, her alma mater. She is a former chair of the Greensboro United Arts Council and the Green Hill Gallery for North Carolina Art; she has served on the boards of the United Way, and the Foundation Board for the North Carolina School of the Arts. For eighteen years she led the theatre program at Greensboro Day School (a K-12 private school), directing, teaching, and spearheading the design and construction of a 600 seat state-of-the-art campus theatre. Linda travels to New York often with her husband and has nine grandchildren who, so far, love New York as much as she does.

Jim Steinberg (Denver Center Theatre Company) has served on the board of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts since 2000. He sits on the finance, development and strategic planning committees. He is also currently a member of The Public Theater in New York, serving on the finance, building campaign and executive committees. For 11 years he was a board member of the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School (1991-2002), serving as treasurer, president and capital campaign chair. He currently is co-chair of their New Works Program. Steinberg is one of only two honorary members of the American Theatre Critics Association. He is a trustee of the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation, a director of the Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and treasurer of the Mimi & Harold Steinberg Foundation. He is also a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute and a member of the National Council on the American Theatre. The Rotary International Foundation honored him for his leadership efforts in helping victims of Hurricane Rita. He is the winner of the Foreword National Book Award and the Colorado Book Award. For the past 36 years his work as a professional photographer has garnered numerous national and international awards and in 2006 he was named one of the decade's 100 most important nature photographers. Steinberg is president of Portfolio Publications. He holds a bachelors degree from the University of Wisconsin (1971) and a masters (1974) and doctorate (1975) from the University of Oregon in English.

Jean Z. Strunsky, (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) of San Francisco, is vice president of administration for the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trusts, which promotes the music and legacy of Ira Gershwin. Jean is a member of the Board of Trustees of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where she has co-chaired the Narsai Toast Gala for the past eight years. She serves on the board of the Jewish Vocational Service and is an active member of their Strictly Business Committee. Back to top

Elaine Weinberg, (South Coast Repertory) of Newport Beach, CA, is an attorney who has served on many boards, including those of the Orange County Trial Lawyers, the U.N. World Hunger Project and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. She serves on the dean's advisory council for the School of Humanities, UCI. She has served as a trustee of South Coast Repertory for nine years

Jaan Whitehead, is the former board chair of the SITI Company and has also served on the boards of The Acting Company, Arena Stage, Living Stage, Whole Theatre, the National Cultural Alliance and TCG. She is also a founding member of the National Council for the American Theatre, and has been executive director of Theatre for a New Audience and development director for CENTERSTAGE. A former teacher of political philosophy at Georgetown University, she is the co-editor, with Nancy Roche, of The Art of Governance: Boards in the Performing Arts, published in the spring of 2005 by TCG, and also writes essays on art and culture.

Cheryl Wiesenfeld has served on the board of trustees of The Long Wharf Theatre since 2001. She also serves on the advisory board of Theater Resources Unlimited where she co-founded The TRU Mentorship program. In 2007, she received the TRU Spirit of Theater Award for her work with the theater community. She is a commercial theater producer both on and off Broadway. Some of her productions include: Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain with Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, Marsha Norman’s 'Night Mother, Tony Kushner’s Caroline or Change, Elaine Stritch at Liberty (Tony Award), Play Dead, In the Continuum (Obie Award), Shockheaded Peter, The Exonerated (Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle), Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads (Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critic’s Circle, NY Critic’s Circle Awards) and Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery. She encourages her mentees and those she lectures to have a mission statement, believing that producers have their own voice and vision. Prior to theatre producing, Cheryl was a magazine and book editor and produced industrial shows in the US and internationally.