Meet our Board of Directors
Our fearless and untiring advisors!
Artistic Advisory Council
Kristen Anderson-Lopez |
Julia Jordan |
Aizzah Fatima |
Jelani Alladin |
Robert Lopez |
Peter Kim |
Tamika Lawrence |
Syndee Winters |
|
Advisory Council
| Lea DiPerna | John Oppenheimer | Nadine Myers Guilloteau |
| Martin Graves | Antionette Redman | Megan Mardiney |
| Briehan Lynch | Assiati Chikuhwa | Tina Novogratz |
| Rachel Gertzog | Jen Small |
Lakota Leijon
Board Chair
“Move with intention, live in authenticity” This is how Lakota Summer Leijon lives her life. Currently living in Brooklyn with her son Ricky and daughter Lulu (Tai) she is the Dean of Student Support Services at Coney Island Prep Charter School and has a private mental health coaching and mindfulness movement practice that is in its 4th year of operation. A dancer for well over 40 years, Lakota is a proud member of the National Dance Educator’s Organization, and National Honor Society for Dance Arts. She has leveraged both her love and expertise in mental health and education as a Ph.D. candidate in North Central University’s Social Emotional Learning program. Her other life passions include creator and founder of Lakota Moon Naturals, an all-natural body care company and writer, executive producer and development specialist for Iron Metropolis films, an independent film company based in New York City.
Ping Del Giudice
Board Secretary
Ping is an empathetic leader who is passionate about giving back to the community. She is a mentor at First Round and a founding member at RevRoom, and she is always looking for good conversations that challenge status quo and expand her knowledge. As a 5x high growth start-up/scale up Revenue and Go-to-market operator, she is focused on driving predictable, repeatable and scalable growth in B2B SaaS businesses. Outside of work, Ping is an avid baker and piano player who enjoys hiking when she is able to get out of the hustle and bustle of NYC. She first learned about BCT in 2016 through a friend and her daughter has been participating in the program since then. Ping has been volunteering for BCT in the past few years and wants to do her part to ensure that theatre is available to everyone regardless of who they are. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.
Janne Rosa
Board Director
Janne was born and raised in Honduras and has lived in Brooklyn with her daughter, Marian, since 2012. She graduated from Brooklyn College and currently works in HR at Harry Winston. Raised in a country where the arts was only for the privileged, Janne knew her daughter would have great opportunities in a place like New York. With that in mind and a little bit of luck her daughter found BCT back in 2013 in the after school program at PS 179.
BCT’s mission is clear in that theater should be accessible to all regardless of your background or financial means. It is as simple as kids coming together to create art for everyone to enjoy. Janne fell in love with the mission.
Since the time that Marian started at BCT In the second grade until the present, Janne has volunteered her time for fundraisers and special projects. She is a dedicated member of the community and is now BCT’s newest board member. Janne is committed to spreading BCT’s mission to numerous children and families.
Daniel Klaidman
Board Director
Daniel is an award-winning journalist and author. Currently he is a producer for CBS News’s investigative unit. Before that he was editor-in-chief of Yahoo News. He spent more than a decade at Newsweek, where he served as managing editor, Washington Bureau chief, Middle East correspondent, and investigative reporter. Klaidman was a key part of the teams that won National Magazine Awards for Newsweek’s coverage of 9/11 and the Monica Lewinsky affair. He previously served as Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and is the author of Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency. His latest book (written with Michael Isikoff) is “Find Me the Votes: A Hard Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election (Twelve, Jan. 30 2024). More importantly, Daniel is the father of two daughters who both thrived at Brooklyn Childrens Theatre and became the poised, confident and empathetic young adults they are now because of all of the wonderful things they learned and were exposed to at BCT. Daniel lives in Brooklyn with his Goldendoodle, Havanese and two mischievous cats.
Andy Pascal
Board Director
Andy is a Principal at Avion Consulting, a leading boutique executive coaching and leadership development firm. Prior to joining Avion, Andy had a private executive coaching practice and before full-time coaching, Andy spent nearly 15 years as a sales and business development leader at both established and growth tech companies. He received a BA from the University of Michigan and holds a PCC accreditation via the International Coaching Federation. Andy has always loved the theater and tries to get to shows as much as possible. He even dabbled in standup comedy and improv while living in San Francisco and NYC! He originally learned of BCT when his older child expressed interest in acting and singing. Watching her blossom on and off the stage has reinforced his passion for BCT’s mission and community. Andy lives in Brooklyn with his wife, two children and Havanese!
Jason Veasey
Board Director
Jason is a NYC based actor and singer. Jason created the role of “Thought 5” in the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical A STRANGE LOOP. That performance garnered him an OBIE award. Veasey is recognized for his multi-season arc as “Jonathan” on the hit Hulu series ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING, which garnered him a 2024 SAG Award nomination. TV: LITTLE VOICE (Apple), CHICAGO FIRE (NBC), HIGH MAINTENANCE (HBO Max), FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS (Showtime), BETTY (HBO), DASH & LILLY (Netflix), and the Hulu pilot OLGA DIES DREAMING. Film: I’M NOT HIM, HOME FREE, and the upcoming FRIENDSHIP (alongside Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson). In addition to performing, he continues to do work with young people in the arts from elementary school age all the way up to the university level!
Following him on socials: @Veaseyville
Nancy Robbins
Board Vice Chair
Nancy is a former New York City Teacher who spent 31 years teaching in Brooklyn. She saw firsthand the positive impact BCT had on students who were given the opportunity to participate in musical theatre regardless of economic or cultural barriers. Happily retired, Nancy volunteers for several organizations as well as savoring time with her grandchildren.
Marc Schlesinger
Board Treasurer
Marc is an attorney, having served as outside litigation counsel for 10 years, and is currently in house counsel at a New York based company. Marc graduated from Fordham Law School in 2010, obtained his BS in accounting from the University of Maryland in 2000, and completed his MBA from New York University in 2021. Marc also is a CPA, and worked at EY prior to law school. Marc has been involved in music and musical theatre from a young age. He has performed in local and off-Broadway theatre, starting at the age of 8, and toured the world with a Jewish boys choir from ages 9-13. He did acapella in college and was the co-founder of Fordham Law’s first acapella group. After college, Marc had his own band, writing and performing original songs. Now married with two daughters, Marc continues to sing with the Brooklyn Community Chorus, and satisfies his need for musical theatre by performing in an annual musical cabaret. Marc also is on the Board of the University of Maryland Hillel
Rohi Mirza Pandya
Board Director
Rohi is an award-winning Creative Producer in film, television, and theater, Co-founder of both SRC Partners, a cultural production firm and Box Office Guru Media, Inc., a multicultural marketing agency and has been in the entertainment industry for twenty years. She strongly believes that representation and empowerment matter—in all aspects of production. Her Pakistani-Filipina background has influenced her perspective on the world and is reflected not only in her produced works, but also in her joy in seeing wide, accurate representation on the stage and screen. She’s a traveller who loves to experience other cultures, a runner who ran the New York City marathon, and a Rafa Nadal Superfan. Rohi lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two children, who are both BCT alumni. She is particularly proud of her volunteer work championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the New York City public school system and has received her MBA in Marketing from the University of Colorado and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certification from Cornell University.
Jeremy Shamos
Board Director
Jeremy is a Tony Award nominated and Obie award winning actor. He has performed extensively on and off-Broadway and in Film and Television. His love of theater began when as a child his parents took him to see plays and musicals and he feels incredibly fortunate to have had those seminal experiences. He was accepted into The Colorado Children’s Chorale, a professional touring choir, at age 11 where he fell in love with performing and learned the art of both self-expression and collaboration and met other kids who shared his love of theater. Thanks to the Chorale he auditioned for a play at the Denver Center Theater Company and got his first professional acting job at age 13 which cemented his dream of doing theater for a living. He followed that passion throughout high school and all the way to earning his MFA from the NYU Graduate Acting program. Since he can trace his life’s work all the way back to his immersion in the world of theater as a child it is a no-brainer that Brooklyn Children’s Theater stole his heart when he first learned of it when his son told him about this activity some of his school friends were doing. He joined the board in 2018 and continues to be inspired by the mission of BCT and his belief in the power of theater to transform lives. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, two children and two dogs!
Maureen Ferry
Board Director
Maureen, a self-described “theater kid,” brings her passion for musical theater and extensive education leadership experience to Brooklyn Children’s Theater’s board. As a former middle school Principal with Explore Schools in Crown Heights, Maureen significantly improved academic achievement and school culture, increasing state assessment scores to historic highs and boosting BIPOC teacher representation significantly. Her personal connection to BCT began when she saw her cousins perform, later bringing her own students to audition, understanding firsthand the transformative power of BCT on children’s lives.
Maureen holds an MA in Education Administration and a BA in Economics and Psychology and her career spans from classroom teaching to executive leadership roles at Teach for America and Teach for India. Throughout her professional journey, she has focused on improving student outcomes and creating opportunities for growth. Beyond her work in education, Maureen is committed to community engagement and personal development, serving as a local yoga teacher, a leadership coach and consultant and on various community boards. She continues to pursue her mission of helping individuals reach their full potential and lead fulfilling, joyful lives.