Current NEAP Board of Directors as of September 2026 |
Jenny has worked supporting the arts for over two decades throughout New England. She has produced festivals in Burlington, VT, run the First Night Burlington non-profit and held director positions at several other prominent Western Berkshire and Southern Vermont arts organizations including the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the HiLo Music Venue, Retreat Farm and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She currently runs Programming for Student Engagement at Bennington College. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD
MICHAEL SAKAMOTO (MA), CO-PRESIDENT Michael (MFA, PhD, UCLA) is a curator, scholar, educator and artist active in dance, theater, music and media. He currently serves as director of performing arts and director of the Asian and Asian American Arts and Cultures program at UMass Fine Arts Center in Amherst, MA. Michael is former faculty at University of Iowa, CalArts, Goddard College and Bangkok University. His creative works have been presented in 16 countries across Asia, Europe and North America. Michael's book monograph, "An Empty Room: Imagining Butoh and the Social Body in Crisis" (Wesleyan University Press, 2022) was shortlisted for the Dance Studies Association de la Torre Bueno Prize. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD |
JENNY CROWELL (VT), CO-PRESIDENT
Shannon is the Director of the Stockbridge Theatre in Derry, NH. She brings over 25 years of experience in the arts with extensive management experience in both professional and academic settings. Shannon's passion is to entertain and engage audiences, to inspire and enlighten the next generation of arts enthusiasts, and to champion the arts as vital to the soul of every community Shannon has served in leadership positions at the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College, Arts Brookfield in NYC, the Gerald W Lynch Theater at John Jay College, and at the Grunin Center for the Arts in NJ. She has served on the board at APNNE, and Monadnock’s Alive Board. Shannon holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS from Northwestern University. She has guest lectured at Theatre for a New Audience, Actors Theater of Louisville, Connecticut College, Queens College, College of Staten Island, and Georgia Southern University. She has also served on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maine Arts Commission. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD
After 30 years in arts administration - including 18 years at The Colonial Theatre, a performing arts venue in Keene, New Hampshire - Vicky has brought her extensive administrative, community engagement, and relationship-building experience to The Community Kitchen. Her responsibilities include coordinating fundraisers, volunteer training sessions, and partnership activities throughout the Monadnock Region. She also represents the organization through educational and outreach presentations to local organizations, schools and community groups. Vicky's work reflects The Community Kitchen's core values of dignity, integrity, teamwork, and sustainability. Her longstanding commitment to the performing arts remains central to her community service, as she continues to develop ways of bringing professional live performance into fundraising, education, and community engagement. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD |
SHANNON MAYERS (NH), VICE PRESIDENT
VICKY PITTMAN (NH), TREASURER
MELISSA HUBER (CT), SECRETARY
Melissa has been with the International Festival of Arts and Ideas since 2003, and serves as the Managing Director. As the Festival takes over the theaters, open spaces, and courtyards in an around New Haven, Melissa manages the transfer of artistic and programmatic ideas to live performances. Melissa is also founding member of Prospect Musicals in New York City, a company dedicated to re-interpreting classic plays and musicals to collaboratively create new works. Melissa holds an AB in History from Princeton University and an MFA in Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama where she received The Morris J. Kaplan Award. Prior to joining the Festival, she worked at the Guthrie Theatre in Minnesota, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Yale Repertory Theatre and Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara.
*ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD
Katie is a lifelong devotee to the performing arts. She has danced, played the oboe, and participated in plays and choir throughout her life. Her passion is dance, and she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance focusing on Education and Arts Administration. Katie is currently the Manager of Engagement Initiatives at the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. She oversees artist logistics, Arts for All education programs, community initiatives, calendar management, and camps. Additionally, she is a commissioner on the Fairfield Arts Commission whose goal is to stimulate, foster, facilitate and encourage the development and appreciation of artistic and cultural activities within the Town of Fairfield. Her biggest goal is ensuring as many people can participate and experience the performing arts regardless of income level, that she is striving to achieve at the Quick Center for the Arts, her time on the Fairfield Arts Commission, and beyond. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD |
KATIE LANG (CT), MEMBER-AT-LARGE AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE CHAIR
Victoria is an artist originally from Michigan who moved to Vermont in late 2021. They have been involved in performing arts since their youth — ranging from dance, choir, band, theater and DJing. No matter where they are located, Johnson always strives to be a part of the community in some capacity through performing arts. They work as the Music Program Manager at BarnArts in Barnard, Vermont, where they arrange a summer music series, music residencies, and school programs for rural schools. When not working, they enjoy attempting to teach themself instruments, crochet arts, and connecting with the land through gardening and communing with plants. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD |
VICTORIA JOHNSON (VT), MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Lucas (He/Him) grew up in the Upper Connecticut River Valley of New Hampshire where he currently resides and works. Having received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Keene State College (2021), Lucas joined the team at Lebanon Opera House (LOH), a thriving year-round presenting arts organization, and has served there for over four years. At LOH, Lucas serves as the Patron Services and Events Manager with an approach that blends advocacy work with the arts, helping foster and bring the events experience to life. Lucas has helped launch several initiatives during his time at LOH including the annual Pride Celebration, a venue-specific social story, FREE sensory tool kits for performances, an active social profit partner program, and more. Lucas also acts as the main experience coordinator for LOH’s annual three-day FREE multi-stage outdoor music festival, Nexus. Lucas serves on the Upper Valley Music Center’s Board of Directors; and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission, and the Arts & Culture Commission for the City of Lebanon. Lucas continues to grow personally as an artist as well, now the proud owner and artist behind I Can’t Print Straight his own studio art business. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD |
LUCAS MENDELSOHN (NH), MEMBER-AT-LARGE AND ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR
OWEN MURPHY (NH), MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Owen is Director of Programming at The Colonial Theater in Keene, NH, where he leads booking, programming, and creative strategy for the mainstage and SHOWROOM, shaping a curatorial identity rooted in artistry, access, and audience trust. He came to this role after serving as the Colonial's Director of Production, and before that as Technical Director for the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, NY.
A lifelong supporter of live performance and the stage, Owen brings two decades of professional experience in the field. A graduate of the Music Conservatory at SUNY Purchase with a major in Studio Production, his career has taken him through a wide range of roles: studio engineer, studio manager, event producer, live sound engineer, and touring musician and composer. A multi-instrumentalist at heart, he jokes that he eventually settled on the laptop as his instrument of choice, aka the new guitar.
*ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD
Liz Schildkret is the Director of School and Family Programs at Portland Ovations, nonprofit cultural organization based in Southern Maine. Prior to joining the staff at Ovations, she served as the Assistant Manager for Theater Education at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As a theater educator, Liz specializes in drama-based instruction and has worked with students and teachers in theater, music, language arts, social studies, science, and math, as well as English Language Learners. She holds an MFA in Drama and Theater for Youth and Communities from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Theater for Youth from Arizona State University. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD
Purna is a cultural arts producer and analog photographer whose work bridges artistic communities across India and the United States. Purna currently serves as the Assistant Director of Programming for Performing Arts at the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center, where she also leads the Asian & Asian American Arts and Cultures Program. Previously, she supported the growth of Nava Dance Theatre’s community initiatives and managed its national touring projects as Programs Manager. Her past work includes administrative roles within Brooklyn Raga Massive and Chelsea Factory in New York City, and with Serendipity Arts Foundation in Delhi, India. A former Bharatanatyam dancer trained in both India and the United States, Purna's interests center on supporting cultural work that remains underrepresented and under-resourced in performing arts spaces. *ELECTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD .png) DIANE BARGIEL (VT), MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR *APPOINTED VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD |
ELIZABETH SCHILDKRET (ME), MEMBER AT LARGE
PURNA VENUGOPALAN (MA), MEMBER-AT-LARGE
FIONA COFFEY (MA), IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Fiona is an arts leader, curator, creative producer and community builder with a strong track record of compassionate leadership, thriving artist relationships, strategic visioning, fundraising and a deep understanding of the national performing arts landscape. She currently serves as Director of the Office for the Arts at Harvard. Previous to joining OAH, Fiona was the Associate Director for Programming and Performing Arts at the Center for the Arts, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater at Wesleyan University. There, she curated and produced a visiting guest artist series, presented touring shows, and designed and produced development residencies to support new work by visiting artists. Fiona served as co-President of NEAP from 2023-2025. She has served on the American advisory board for Ireland’s Abbey Theatre, helping with fundraising and strategic planning for U.S. touring. She previously worked at the William Morris and Harry Walker Agencies in New York City, representing artists, politicians and celebrities, and is a member of the Creative and Independent Producer Alliance. Fiona works with artists, students, faculty and staff across disciplines to help shape and develop new creative work and integrate the arts across campus in innovative ways. She works closely with artists to improve equity practices, including living wages, disability justice, decolonizing contracts and greater access for BIPOC artists. Her first book Political Acts: Women in Northern Irish Theatre, 1921-2012 was published by Syracuse University Press (2016). Fiona holds a doctoral degree from Tufts University, a master’s of philosophy from Trinity College, Dublin, and a bachelor’s from Stanford University.
* NON-VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD
KEITH MARKS (VT), IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Keith Marks is the Executive Director of The Colonial Theater and Showroom in Keene, New Hampshire, and immediate past co-president of New England Arts Presenters (NEAP). Previously, he served as Executive Director of Next Stage Arts and Avant. With an MS in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, Marks brings a decade of international experience living across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to his cultural work. He has released albums on his own record label, co-produced and hosted a weekly radio show on an NPR affiliate, and launched numerous community-building projects that bridge arts and civic engagement, including his current service on the mayor's advisory council for regional economic development.
* NON-VOTING MEMBER OF THE BOARD