Annette Niemtzow (Co-Chairperson) is a Broadway and West End producer whose credits include Jane Eyre and The Kentucky Cycle as well as numerous Off-Broadway productions.  She is a member of the Broadway League and a Tony voter, as well as an Advisory Member of Hal Prince's T Fellowship, which supports the development of gifted emerging theatre professionals.

 

Ellen Weiss (Co-Chairperson) is a composer/lyricist living in New York City. Before joining Transport Group, she served as Chairman of the Board of Theatreworks/USA.

 

Sarah Ackerman attended Vassar College where she received a BA in Drama with a minor in Art History. She received her Masters Degree in Elementary Education from New York University in 2003. She is currently employed by The Children's Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) where she teaches Early Childhood classes, focusing on helping children and families learn together in a unique environment of interactive exhibitions and programs.

 

Anne L. Bernstein is a Broadway and film producer whose credits include Marlene and the award-winning documentary, Broadway’s The Golden Age.

 

Irene Carney is an educator in Richmond, Virginia where she heads The Sabot School – a progressive program of Early Childhood Education.  She has also served as a Trustee of The Richmond Montessori School and as Founding Chair of the Board of Directors of Orchard House School – an innovative middle school for girls.

 

Jack Cummings III (Artistic Director) co-founded Transport Group and serves as its Artistic Director.  He received his BA in International Relations from The College of WIlliam and Mary and his MFA in Directing from The University of Virginia.  He is married to actress Barbara Walsh.

 

Tom Cunningham has worked in the advertising industry in New York for over ten years and currently manages corporate communications for Interpublic Group, http://www.interpublic.com.

 

Jeff Davis is the creator and owner of a number of companies related to the music field, including night clubs and digital music service providers.  Jeff is also a Broadway and Film producer.

 

Lori Fineman (Executive Director) is formerly the Executive Director of the National Women’s Theatre Festival in Philadelphia. She worked as a systems analyst for Andersen Consulting and as the Global Director of Knowledge Management for Capco. Lori also serves on the board of the Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan, an organization that develops educational and social programming for families living downtown.  She holds a BSE and BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Shawn Flowers is an Assistant General Counsel with Time Inc., the publishing subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.  Shawn specializes in contract and media law and her principal clients include health.com, Time Inc.’s interactive group and Time Inc.’s central advertising and custom publishing groups.  She earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1988 and her J.D. from New York University in 1993, where she was on the Law Review.

 

Barbara Freitag is an associate producer/investor in many Broadway shows including: The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, and Caroline, or Change.  Other projects include Tony Award-winning The Drowsy Chaperone with producer Kevin McCollum, Legally Blonde, The Homecoming, August: Osage County, and November with Nathan Lane.

 

Yael Jekogian is a fund-raising consultant to not-for-profit organizations.  Previously, she served as Director of Development for Women's Way, a women's funding federation in Philadelphia.  Prior to her fundraising career, Yael practiced as an environmental engineer with environmental insurance companies and environmental consulting firms, focusing on contaminated property remediation, environmental compliance, and landfill design.

 

Francesca James has five daytime Emmy Awards and was the first person in the history of daytime drama to travel the distance from acting to directing to Executive Producing, receiving several nominations in all three disciplines.  She began her professional life acting in the theater.

 

Tom Koltis is a lawyer with Covanta Energy, focusing on corporate finance and corporate acquisitions.

 

Scott Manville (Secretary) is a Senior Vice President of Computer Services for U.S. Trust Company, where he has spent his entire career.

 

Richard Page  serves as Senior Director of Enterprise Systems at NYU Medical Center and is currently responsible for oversight of a capital project re-engineering the financial processes and systems of the organization.

 

Rory Stanton (Treasurer) is the Finance Director for Conde Nast Portfolio magazine.

 

Artistic Advisory Board