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Mary-Mitchell has had an extensive career as a musician and humanitarian. In 2005 she founded Arts Ignite with some of her Juilliard students, and she recently transitioned as the Executive Director to the position of President. She has traveled the world using arts education as a way to inspire young people to pursue higher education. She has been the Music Supervisor/Music Director for eleven Broadway shows and conducts orchestras in concerts around the country. She is passionate about the power of arts education to transform the lives of young people. 

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With the motto “artistry onstage and off!,” Lindsay Roberts Greene is deeply rooted in the arts and arts education. For over ten years, Lindsay partnered with Arts Ignite in a varied capacity, supporting fundraising goals, strategic visioning, and working in the classroom as a teaching artist. Lindsay joined the Arts Ignite team full time in 2021 as the Director of Programs. In this role, she strengthened our program standards and evaluation, led the charge to transition our volunteer model to paid teaching artist positions aligned with equitable professional standards, and expanded our reach to new partnerships. In February 2023, Lindsay’s role was augmented as she was promoted to Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Operations. She now proudly serves as the Executive Director with oversight over Arts Ignite’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations.

Lindsay is a Certified Diversity Professional through the National Diversity Council and specializes in culturally responsive arts education and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the arts sector. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Maryland in Opera/Vocal Performance with a concentration in Music Education and a Master of Science in Arts Administration from Drexel University and holds graduate certificates from both Cornell University and Umass Amherst. Her performance credits include multiple television appearances, recordings, and onstage productions and was recently seen in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. 

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Lisa Dahlmeier is the Senior Director of Finance and Operations at Arts Ignite, where she combines her expertise in finance and operations with a deep passion for the arts. With a Master’s in Business Administration, Lisa brings a unique balance of financial expertise and creative insight to her role.

Before joining Arts Ignite, Lisa served in various nonprofit leadership roles, including at Alive & Kickin, an organization dedicated to empowering seniors through the transformative power of the arts. At Alive & Kickin, her work directly impacted the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of seniors, demonstrating how arts programming can foster community, create a sense of belonging, and provide purpose for individuals of all ages.

In parallel to her nonprofit career, Lisa has always been deeply involved in the performing arts. She worked as a makeup artist and show designer, contributing to theater productions and working with young people at theater camps and high schools. This hands-on experience in the arts allowed her to keep a strong connection to her creative roots, and continues to inform her work today, as she advocates for arts-based programming that brings communities together and enriches individual lives.

Lisa thrives in dynamic environments where mission-driven objectives intersect with financial and operational strategy. She is committed to fostering financial integrity, operational excellence, transparency, and a deep belief in the power of the arts to create lasting change.

Rachel Graf Evans (she/her) is a writer, theatre artist, arts educator, community worker, and fierce advocate for the arts as a garden for empathy and transformation. 

In her role as the Program Manager at Arts Ignite, RGE serves as the administrative catalyst to help young people connect with their own creativity capacity, courage, and community one workshop at a time, all the while working closely with our roster of brilliant Teaching Artists, passionate community partners, and generous supporters. Beyond Arts Ignite, RGE is an award-winning playwright and has worked as a teaching artist, playwright, performer, director, technical director, music director, props artisan, carpenter, education associate, and producer throughout NYC, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Southwest Virginia, and beyond. She also currently serves on the Music Team of the internationally acclaimed NYC-based competitive barbershop ensemble Gotham Chorus. 

RGE holds an M.F.A. in Musical Theater Collaboration from the George and Joy Abbott Center for Musical Theatre at Temple University and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from The Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University, as well as Graduate Certificates in Teaching in Higher Education and Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies, and a B.A. with High Honors from Oberlin College. She would love to talk to you about art.

She/Her

Anna Sosnovskaya is the Finance & Development Associate at Arts Ignite, where she supports the organization’s financial operations, fundraising initiatives, donor stewardship, and organizational systems. She works across finance and development to manage donor data, Salesforce administration, gift processing, financial reporting, grant administration, audit preparation, and special projects that strengthen the organization’s operations and advance its mission of empowering young people through the arts.

Anna earned her BBA in Accounting from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business and is currently pursuing an MS in Business Analytics. By combining accounting, analytics, and technology, she is passionate about improving organizational processes, supporting data-informed decision-making, and building strong relationships with donors and partners. She is excited to contribute to Arts Ignite’s continued growth while helping expand access to arts education for young people around the world.

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Alexandra Aurora Pupo is Cuban-American born and raised in Miami, now studying at Fordham University Lincoln Center in Costume Design and Performance, where she also leads the Student Organization of Latines(SOL) as President. She discovered her passion of teaching the arts at home in Miami, and is so grateful to be carrying it through to New York with Arts Ignite. Alexandra’s proudest performances were originating roles such as Anna and God in Leela Kiyawat’s original plays. In addition to performance, she loves to do a little bit of everything as she has Costume Designed for Fordham and Columbia University, and writes for the series ‘The Voice Inside’ with the nonprofit organization the Autism Theatre Project. Starting as an Assistant Teaching Artist with the Newcomer Youth Student Academy she was able to expand her role into Marketing and Communications. Alexandra thanks God, family, friends, and the amazing Arts Ignite team for their support and encouragement.

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Sheri Sarkisian is a Vice President and Senior Compliance Officer at Goldman Sachs. She is also a member of the Goldman Sachs Disability Network Steering Committee. Sheri is the current Board Chair and has been on the board of directors of Arts Ignite since 2015, and previously served as the Board Treasurer. Sheri participates on the Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Fundraising Committee, and Governance and Nominating Committee. Sheri has a B.S. in business administration from Northeastern University. She is passionate about the arts and serving children.

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Laura Chittick is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Chase.  She provides healthcare companies with corporate banking solutions, from financing to treasury services.  Her prior experience includes structured finance and equity derivatives.  Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.  She lives in NYC with her husband and two teenagers.    

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Dipti Verma is a Senior Director and Global Head of Data Management for the Capital IQ Solutions business at S&P Global Market Intelligence.  As a member of the Data leadership team, she is responsible for championing initiatives involving data assets, workflow, and technology capabilities, supporting business line strategy, and leading with a creative, client-first approach. Prior to joining S&P Global in 2010 in their Ratings division, she worked in various capacities at Merck and ABN Amro Bank. She is an AWS Certified Solutions Architect and a Certified SAFe® 5 Product Owner/ Product Manager. She has an undergraduate degree in Computer Applications from Panjab University and an MBA from Kurukshetra University in India. Dipti has been on the Board of Directors of Arts Ignite since 2021, and participates on the Fundraising Committee and the Audit Committee. She strongly believes working towards furthering the well-being and development of the under-privileged communities, especially younger people, ensures we all have a better future.

Dr. R. Keith Bell is a recognized expert in holistic health, women’s health and holistic fertility enhancement, with more than 25 years of clinical experience. He is a Doctor of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, and the founder of Central Virginia’s first Traditional Chinese Medicine practice. Keith also created one of the first Integrative fertility care programs in the US, bringing health care providers together to actively coordinate patient care.  Keith believes in the transformative power of the creative arts and the undeniable value of integrating the healing and creative arts for each patient and student. Working with Arts Ignite (Wellness Wednesdays, Connect:RVA) is important to Keith because he’s seen how the arts transcend medicine to support individuals in achieving resilient health and wellness. 

Dr. Simona Boroianu completed her Ed.D. at the University of Northern Iowa, and she is currently serving in a leadership role as the Dual Language Immersion and Second Language Learner Program Coordinator in the Waterloo Community Schools District. As a culturally diverse individual with extensive teaching experience, Simona works with the teachers and administrators of culturally and linguistically diverse learners on improving the quality of education and promoting equitable access to educational opportunities for every student, within a systems approach. She has expertise in curriculum design and assessment, student-centered pedagogical practices, as well as strategic planning and programming skills that she applies to mentoring, coaching and advising.

In her current role, Simona support teachers to become effective and reflective practitioners in their diverse classrooms by developing and facilitating professional development that focuses on practices such as differentiation, interdisciplinary teaching, writing across the curriculum, co-teaching techniques, as well as building empathy for all learners.

In the same capacity, she collaborates with district leaders, administrators, program coordinators and content area coaches on the development and implementation of specific district and building improvement plans in order to support equitable access to education for all students in general and underrepresented groups in particular, provide culturally relevant instruction, accurately identify and address academic needs, improve student attendance, and increase graduation rate.

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Steve Farkas, CFA, is a Director within the Fundamental Active Equities Team at BlackRock, where he has worked for the past 13 years. He has served on the Arts Ignite board for over three years, has chaired the finance committee for the past year, and serves as the Board Treasurer. His passion for being involved in Arts Ignite stems from seeing firsthand the ability of the arts to transform the lives of others. He currently resides in Manhattan with his dog, Frankie. Steve graduated cum laude with a BS in Finance from Tulane University in 2008. Steven is a CFA Charterholder and is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA).

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Sameer Garg is a Managing Director of Aerospace and Defense at Citi. Over his 15+ year career, Sameer has executed a number of transactions advising public and private companies, and financial sponsors on a variety of strategic initiatives including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and capital raising transactions. Prior to Citi, he was Managing Director in the Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Group at RBC Capital Markets and Vice President at Deutsche Bank focused on the Aerospace and Defense sector. Sameer began his career as a propulsion engineer for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center where he focused on designing propulsion systems for low earth orbit missions. In that capacity, he also served as an evaluation board member of the Small Business Innovative Research organization. Sameer currently serves on the board of New York City-based non-profit, Arts Ignite. He earned his MBA from University of Virginia in Finance and Accounting and his B.S. from The University of Texas at Austin in Aerospace Engineering.

Floyd is a philanthropist and founder of What a Concept LLC, a company focused on creating wow moments through strategic collaborations. In 2021, he retired as Vice President of Community Affairs from Aetna, a CVS Health company. He advocates the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math (STEAM) nationally and speaks on Strategic Philanthropy, Cultural Consciousness, and Marketing to Diverse Consumers. Floyd is the recipient of many professional and civic awards, including Black Doctors.org and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions’ 45 most influential Blacks in Healthcare, the CT Governor’s Patron of the Arts award, the National Council of Community and Justice’ Human Relations award, the Bushnell’s Yandow Award for Arts Education, and the OnCon Icon Top Marketer Award recognizing the top marketers in the world. He is a member of the Actor’s Equity Association and the Executive Leadership Council and a lifetime member of the National Black MBA and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Floyd graduated from Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, with a BS in History/Public Affairs. He received his MBA in Marketing/Strategy from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, Malibu, California. Currently a doctoral student at the University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, focusing on Arts Education.

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Jacob is the owner and managing director of Wesfair, a financial advisory and independent insurance agency. Over the years Jacob has practiced as a CPA both publicly and privately at Ernst & Young and Apollo Global Management. These various roles within the financial industry provides Jacob with a unique professional experience as it relates to operations, financial analysis, and risk & control management/mitigation. Jacob joined Arts Ignite in August 2019 and is currently a member of the Finance Committee. His interest in arts and education stem from the success his spouse has had teaching performing arts to inner city youth in NYC charter schools. Providing children with access to the arts is a vital mission that Jacob is passionate about pursuing with Arts Ignite.

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Jeffrey B. Korn is a partner in the Litigation Department and Co-Chair of the Antitrust & Competition Practice Group. His practice focuses on antitrust litigation and counseling, securities litigation, M&A litigation and other complex business law disputes. He has represented a wide range of clients including public and private companies, their officers and directors, mutual funds, private equity funds, hedge funds and securities underwriters in both state and federal courts and before the antitrust and securities enforcement agencies.

Ananie is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience coordinating events, construction, and other projects in various markets. Serving as Vice President, Commercial Banking Event Production division at J.P. Morgan, she implements and delivers world class events for clients and prospects by leveraging strategic marketing plans that increase sales and grow market share for Commercial Banking. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A., Ananie Construction Project Manager with Jones, Lang, LaSalle (JLL), the Senior Director of Planning with Kathy Romero Wedding and Events, and the Owner/Creative Director of Momplaisir Events, LLC. Leading clients, vendors, and colleagues, she managed all aspects of planning for new builds, remodels, and corporate and private events. Ananie also worked at Tiffany and Co., Corporate Real Estate Services. In her 13 years with the company, she held several positions, such as Global Store Planning Manager, Construction Project Manager, Project manager for the International Trade Wholesale group to name a few. Ananie earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Adelphi University in Long Island NY, where she majored in Political Science and minored in African American Studies.  She earned Certificates in Construction Management, Interior Design, and in Computer Aided Design (AUTOCAD) from NYU School of Professional Studies.

Faith Outland Nimineh is the Senior Advisor, Humanitarian Affairs at ChildFund Alliance in New York.

For over 20 years, Faith has worked in Humanitarian Development, implementing humanitarian and development programs in conflict and post-conflict settings, championing the rights of children, young people and their families affected by conflicts and disasters. 

Faith advocates for the protection of children from abuse, exploitation and violence and for their voices to be heard in matters concerning their wellbeing. This work began in her native country Liberia and other countries in Africa where she saw and experience the impact of armed conflict on children and their families. 

Her key areas of expertise include child protection in humanitarian action, Child Participation, child safeguarding policy development and implementation, and broader humanitarian and development work including work on social protection strategy and programs.

Before Joining ChildFund Alliance in New York, Faith worked with Save the Children UK, UNICEF, and Hiscock Legal Aid Society. 

She also works as an Independent Consultant with the Menelehleh Consultants LLC, supporting organizations to develop and implement Child Safeguarding policies and strategic plans. 

Faith has held senior advisory and program management roles, including Technical Advisor, prevention of Abuse and Exploitation, Team leader, and senior manager. 

Faith holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Liberia. 

Faith is married with three children.

Dick Scanlan is a writer/director who’s worked on Broadway and around the world, including the book and lyrics to the Tony Award-winning musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Current projects include a commission from the Metropolitan Opera.  He has also written numerous essays and articles, and the novel, Does Freddy Dance.  He is the founder of artsINSIDEOUT, an arts outreach organization working with the mothers and children infected/affected by HIV/AIDS in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Henry Sham is a Managing Director and Head of CIBC’s US Investment Banking Financial Institutions Group, advising financial institutions and financial technology companies on M&A and capital raising efforts. Prior to joining CIBC, he was a Managing Director at Barclays and was previously with Lehman Brothers. Henry earned his MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business, with distinction, and graduated from Binghamton University. Henry serves on the board of Arts Ignite, with the strong belief that arts enrichment and education are critical for all youth to improve their lives and their communities.