Board Community Newsletter #3

Hello All,

EST's 38th Marathon of One Act-plays is upon us! How exciting! We look forward to seeing you there. Click here for our New York Times Review.

In keeping up with Equity & Justice Report by RKG (See pages 33- 35) and our goal of Transparency at all levels of the company, you will find our third Board Community Newsletter below.

We are happy to let you know that we have voted in Kelli Lynn as our Interim Treasurer. We would like to thank Denny for his decades of service to our theater. (More To Come) And he will remain on our Board as a director. Kelli Lynn will be acting as our Treasurer until the end of the fiscal year (6/30/23), at which point she will step down as Treasurer and from the pro tem board seat, and return to being an ex officio Board Member as Members Council Co-Chair. Because Kelli Lynn was a non-voting ex officio board member as Members Council Co-Chair in order for her to be elected Treasurer, she was first elected on as a full board member pro tem and then elected Interim Treasurer. Kelli Lynn will still be serving as MC Co-Chair, but will have only one vote as Treasurer, with Sharina Martin continuing to vote on behalf of the MC. We all would like to thank Kelli Lynn for taking on this role while we continue on with our Transition.

We are excited to announce that we have voted in Lou Liberatore as a new Board member. Lou started out as an intern with EST and eventually became a lifetime member and has been a Member Artist (Acting) with us since 2011. He helped create our infamous FIRST BREW, (with Kelli Lynn and Dawn McGee) and he has served as a Members Council Co Chair. Lou currently serves on the Members Council , and he was part of the Transition Team which helped create a new template for hiring that is more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. We are happy to have his insight and experience in the room with us.

We are continuing our search for potential future Board members. To help build out existing skill sets within the current Board membership, we are especially interested in prospective candidates with experience in the following areas: finance and investing, development and fundraising, marketing, operations, human resources, equity/diversity and inclusion, real estate and/or contracting. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list and we welcome your suggestions. Please send any names and contact information of people who you feel would make great future candidates for our company here: Boarddevelopment@ensemblestudiotheatre.org

If you have missed any of our past Community Board Newsletters, please click here to catch up on what is happening at the Board level.

We encourage you to read the selected page numbers that we present to you from our report. If you have any questions regarding this newsletter or any section of the reading materials listed above, please do not hesitate to email us at Boarddevelopment@ensemblestudiotheatre.org and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

*Please note that your questions will be brought to the BDC & Board and together as a whole we will answer any questions you may have*

Sincerely,

--------------------

Board of Directors:
Erin Cherry*
G.H. Denniston Jr.*, Chair Emeritus
Ilena George
Robert Isaacson
Bob Jaffe*
Russell G. Jones
Kenneth Mandel*
Dee Dee Perry
Shawn Randall*
Jerry Zaks*, Trustee Emeritus
Janet Zarish*

Officers:
Board Secretary: Eddie Boroevich*
Interim Board Chair: Donna Ward
Interim Treasurer: Kelli Lynn Harrison
Members Council Co-Chairs: Kelli Lynn Harrison* & Sharina Martin*

Board Community Newsletter #2

Dear EST Family,

We hope you are enjoying the last few weeks of summer.

In keeping up with Equity & Justice Report by RKG (See pages 33- 35) and our goal of Transparency at all levels of the company, you will find our second Board Community Newsletter below.

We are excited to introduce to you our new Transition Manager Adriana Borzellino and our new General Manager Derrick Byars.

We have voted in Eddie Boroevich as our Board Secretary.

After years of dedicated Board service, and support that he has given to EST, we are happy to announce that we have made Jerry Zaks a Board member for life. (Emeritus).

For those who may not know, a Board Member Emeritus shall be entitled to receive all written notices and information which are provided to the Board of Directors, and attend as many meetings as they choose. The Emeritus shall not be subject to any attendance policy, counted in determining if a quorum is present at a meeting, entitled to hold office, or entitled to vote at any board meeting. Jerry, as an Emeritus Board of Directors, will also continue to be listed on our letterhead and website.

We are continuing our search for potential future Board members. To help build out existing skill sets within the current Board membership, we are especially interested in prospective candidates with experience in the following areas: finance, and investing, development and fundraising, marketing, operations, human resources, equity/diversity and inclusion, real estate and/or contracting. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list and we welcome your suggestions. Please send any names and contact information of people who you feel would make great future candidates for our company here: Boarddevelopment@ensemblestudiotheatre.org

We encourage you to read the selected page numbers that we present to you from our report. If you have any questions regarding this newsletter or any section of the reading materials listed above, please do not hesitate to email us at Boarddevelopment@ensemblestudiotheatre.org and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

*Please note that your questions will be brought to the BDC & Board and together as a whole we will answer any questions you may have*

Sincerely,

_______________

Board of Directors:
Eddie Boroevich*
Erin Cherry*
Ilena George
Robert Isaacson
Bob Jaffe*
Russell G. Jones
Kenneth Mandel*
Denaka Perry
Shawn Randall*
Jerry Zaks*
Janet Zarish*

Officers:
Interim Artistic Director : Graeme Gillis*
Interim Board Chair: Donna Ward
Treasurer, Chairman Emeritus: G.H. Deniston Jr*
Assistant Treasurer: Kelli Lynn Harrison
Members Council Co-Chairs: Kelli Lynn Harrison* & Sharina Martin*

Board Community Newsletter #1

Hello All, 

In keeping up with Equity & Justice Report by RKG (See pages 33- 35) and our goal of Transparency at all levels of the company, we are excited to share with you our first Board Community Newsletter as we begin the Transition of our Board.  

We are on the precipice of an enormous shift. The ongoing work of becoming a more inclusive and anti-racist organization, coupled with the upcoming artistic and executive leadership change, have presented an exciting opportunity to grow and develop our Board.  

Over the past few months, we engaged ALJP Consulting, who helped guide us through numerous conversations on the purpose of nonprofit boards, how to center anti-racism and how to establish a more inclusive culture at EST. Together, we developed a 6-month Action Plan and we will keep you informed of our progress with a monthly newsletter. 

Below you will find details of some of our first steps:

A)  Put together a Board Development Committee and Create a new interim Co-Chair(s).

As a first step in our 6-month Action Plan, we have created a Board Development Committee (BDC) to hone in on a sustainable and healthy Board structure, aligned with EST's goals in organizational transformation. This Committee will be led by Russell G. Jones and Ilena George, and includes Erin Cherry and Donna Ward.  

As Bob Jaffe steps down as our current Board Chair at the end of this fiscal year (after 10 years), Donna Ward will become our Interim Board Chair, with Erin Cherry, Russell G Jones, Ilena George serving as Interim Associate Chairs. The BDC will be taking on these positions with the understanding they are interim roles until the Board together defines what we want our Board leadership model to be once we conclude our transition. 

B) Electing New Board members: 

Our next priority is to begin building up our Board. We are happy to announce that we have voted in company members, Erin Cherry & Eddie Boroevich and non-member attorney Denaka Perry, all of whom bring enormous enthusiasm and experience. With these welcome additions to our Board, we also ensure compliance with our By-Laws regarding EST Member representation on our Board as well as NYS Charities Bureau's best practices guidelines regarding the recommended minimum number of non-profit board independent directors. 

As we continue to build our Board, we will be incorporating racial equity and diversity priorities into recruiting and selecting new Board members. As we move forward in this process, we will give every opportunity we can for you to meet and talk with our new Board (old and new) so you will know who everyone is  by the time you are ready to vote at our annual meeting.  

In addition to all the above, we are excited to share with you that we have voted in Kelli Lynn Harrison as our new Assistant Treasurer and have voted in Graeme Gillis as our Interim Artistic Director as we continue our programming and begin our search for new leadership. 

We are excited to share this journey with you and we encourage you read the selected page numbers that we present to you from our report. 

If you have any questions regarding this newsletter or any section of the reading materials listed above, please do not hesitate to email us at BoardDevelopment@estnyc.org and we will get back to you as soon as we can. 

*Please note that your questions will be brought to the BDC & Board and together as a whole we will answer any questions you may have* 

Sincerely,

--------------------
Board of Directors:
Eddie Boroevich*
Erin Cherry*
Ilena George
Robert Isaacson
Russell G. Jones
Kenneth Mandel*
Denaka Perry
Shawn Randall*
Donna R. Ward
Jerry Zaks*
Janet Zarish*


Officers:
Artistic Director Emeritus: William Carden*
Interim Executive Director: Susan J. Vitucci*
Board Chair: Bob Jaffe*
Treasurer, Chairman Emeritus: G.H. Deniston Jr*
Members Council Co-Chairs: Kelli Lynn Harrison* & Sharina Martin*