Board of Trustees
FY22 Board of Trustees
As of Dec 2, 2021
David Riemer, Chair
Robina Riccitiello, President
Patti S. Hart, Treasurer
Joaquín Torres, Secretary
Celeste Ford, Vice Chair
Priscilla Geeslin, Vice Chair
Rusty Rueff, Vice Chair
Steven L. Swig, Vice Chair
Adriana López Vermut, Vice Chair
Kirke M. Hasson, Immediate Past Chair
Nancy Livingston Levin, Chair Emerita, in memoriam
Schatzie Allen-Jefferson
Jennifer Bielstein
Ralph A. Clark
Jill Cowan
Patrick Devlin
Kathleen Donohue
Jesse Lee Eller
Linda Jo Fitz
Frannie G. Fleishhacker
Ken Fulk
Jo S. Hurley
Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr.
Cristy Johnston Limon
David L. Jones
Jascha Kaykas-Wolff
Heather Stallings Little
Pam MacKinnon
Rodman Marymor
Katherine McGee
Michele Ballard Miller
Jeffrey S. Minick
Gerine Ongkeko
Toni Rembe
Michael Richter
Jomar Tagatac
BD Wong
Jay Yamada
Nola Yee
Emeritus Advisory Board
Barbara Bass Bakar
Rena Bransten
Jack Cortis
Joan Danforth
Jerome L. Dodson
Dagmar Dolby
William Draper III
John Goldman
James Haire
Sue Yung Li
Christine Mattison
Joan McGrath
Deedee McMurtry
Mary S. Metz
Abby Sadin Schnair
Cherie Sorokin
Barry Lawson Williams
Carlie Wilmans
Kay Yun
Board
David Riemer
Board Chair
Biography
David helps entrepreneurs and innovators focus their ideas through the power of narrative. In short, he helps people get their story straight. Earlier in his career, David was president of the ad agency J. Walter Thompson in San Francisco, held senior marketing roles at two tech startups, and was VP of Marketing at Yahoo! in its heyday. Today, he teaches innovation methods and storytelling at Berkeley-Haas School of Business and several Bay Area accelerators. He is the author of the upcoming book: Get Your Startup Story Straight: The Definitive Storytelling Framework for Innovators and Entrepreneurs. David also co-founded Spiral Staircase Productions and is developing two original musicals. He holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from Columbia University.
Robina Riccitiello
Board President, Executive Committee Chair, Producers Circle Chair
Biography
Robina Riccitiello works as communications director for Million Person Project, a company that helps people identify their core values and tell their personal story to connect with audiences. Robina worked as a journalist for years, covering everything from the criminal courts and City Hall in Los Angeles to the European space industry in Paris and the Scott Peterson trial in Redwood City. An active volunteer for NARAL, a reproductive rights group, Robina also is involved with the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge, an effort to raise $500 million to cure depression by the end of this century. Robina also serves on the board of One Mind, a non-profit that provides grants to early career scientists to accelerate treatments for mental illness. An avid film fan, Robina has been involved with the production of films including The Social Dilemma, The Infiltrators, Dark Money, and the PBS series Philly D.A. Robina lives in San Francisco and is the mother of two daughters – a fine arts photographer and a glass blower.
Patti Hart
Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair
Biography
Patti Hart serves in a variety of capacities in both the public and private sector. Patti is a Board Trustee of the United States Soccer Federation and also serves as a Board Trustee of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Patti spends much of her time mentoring, advising and personally investing. Patti’s career spanned 3 decades of various leadership positions in the technology sector, the most recent of which was as CEO of International Game Technology. In this capacity, Patti led one of the most innovative and profitable gaming companies in the world. She served on IGT’s board of directors from June 2006 until June 2019. Prior to joining IGT, she was the Chairman and CEO of Pinnacle Systems Inc., Excite@Home Inc. and Telocity, Inc. and held various executive positions at the Sprint Corporation from 1986 to 1999, including President and COO of Sprint’s Long Distance Division where she graced the inaugural Fortune list of “Most Powerful Women” in 1998. Patti has served shareholders through her appointment to numerous Boards of Directors. In addition to IGT she has served on the boards of: Korn Ferry, Plantronics, Yahoo, Spansion, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Vantive, Lin Media, Excite@Home and Pinnacle Systems. Patti has always valued community involvement. She has served on the Board of Visitors at the Public Policy School at Duke University as well at the Southern Methodist University Meadows Art School and the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Patti is a Silicon Valley American Leadership Fellow and a member of the Legacy Ventures family. Patti holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Economics from Illinois State University, where she was named a Distinguished Alumni in 2015. An Illinois native, Ms. Hart splits her time between the beauty of Lake Tahoe and the intellect of Silicon Valley.
Joaquín Torres
Secretary, Organizational Health/EDI Committee Co-Chair
Biography
Joaquín serves as the Assessor-Recorder of San Francisco and serves as a Board Member of SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association) and Aspire Public Schools. He formerly served as Mayor Lee's Director of Neighborhood Services, and as liaison to the Latino Communities on behalf of former Mayor Gavin Newsom. Joaquín leads Mayor Lee's Invest in Neighborhoods initiative to leverage City resources across city departments to maximize positive economic and social impact in low-moderate income neighborhoods and throughout San Francisco's commercial corridors. His work at the Housing Authority Commission has supported one of the nation’s largest and financially impactful reform efforts benefiting over 3,400 San Franciscan households. He lives in the Outer Mission with his wife, actor Ruibo Qian.
Celeste Ford
Vice Chair
Biography
Celeste Ford is Board Chair and Founder of Stellar Solutions, Inc., a global provider of systems engineering expertise and a Fortune Magazine “Great Place to Work”. Ford founded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-winning aerospace company with the vision to satisfy customers’ critical needs while realizing employees’ dream jobs, through high-impact performance for projects on earth and in space. Ford’s significant experience as CEO included guiding the Stellar Solutions “constellation” to cross boundaries between aerospace sectors and geographies, to offer global reach through its international sister companies, and to improves lives through its corporate foundation and through QuakeFinder, its humanitarian R&D effort.
Inducted to the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame in 2011, Ford is a valued board member of multiple organizations in the private and public sectors, and an advocate of community and charitable outreach. She was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, and she contributes well-respected thought leadership to panels and commissions focusing on entrepreneurship and women in business. A mother of three adult children with her husband Kevin, Celeste Ford received her BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and MS in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford University.
Priscilla Geeslin
Vice Chair
Biography
Prisca Geeslin is a civic leader, active arts patron, and community volunteer in the Bay Area. She currently serves as a member of the board of governors of the San Francisco Symphony, Chairs the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation Board and is on the board of Grace Cathedral. She has served as a director of the French-American International School, the San Francisco Arts Education project, and was the San Francisco Symphony's volunteer council chairman. In 2016 and 2017, Prisca chaired the SF Symphony's Opening Night Gala. Prisca is a member of the NARAL/Pro-Choice leadership council in SF and chaired their Annual Luncheon in 2012 and 2013. Prisca has lead a remarkable number of events and campaigns to support A.C.T. This includes charing A.C.T.’s 50th Anniversary gala fundraiser in 2017, co-chairing the 2018 Gala that bid farewell to Carey Perloff with Nancy Livingston Levin (A.C.T.’s highest grossing gala to date), and co-chairing the Rocky Horror themed Fall Gala in 2019 with her daughter, Catherine. She co-chaired the Next Act campaign with Kay Yun, which has raised over $18.1 million.
Rusty Rueff
Vice Chair, Long Range Planning Committee Chair
Biography
Rusty serves on a number of corporate and philanthropic boards and invests in and advises start-ups. He was an appointee of President Obama’s to the President's Advisory Committee for the Arts for The Kennedy Center. Rusty was the Coordinating National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama and a Founding Member of Innovators for Biden. He was the CEO of SNOCAP through the sale of the company to imeem, Inc. in 2008. Previously, he was an Executive Vice President at Electronic Arts (EA). Joining EA in 1998, Rusty was responsible for Global Human Resources, Talent Management, Corporate Services/Facilities, Corporate Communications/Government Affairs, reporting to EA’s Chairman and CEO. Before joining EA, Rusty held positions in the PepsiCo companies for over 10 years, concluding his career with PepsiCo as Vice President, International Human Resources. Prior to his tenure with PepsiCo, he was with the Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies. In addition, he spent six years in commercial radio as an on- air personality. He holds an M.S. degree in Counseling and a B.A. degree in Radio and TV from Purdue University and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Hanover College. He was also named a Distinguished Purdue Alumni. He and his wife are the named benefactors of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Design, Art and Performance. He currently serves on the Corporate Boards of runcoach, Alioth Talent and The Flour and Water Hospitality Group. He is a former Chairman of The Grammy Foundation in LA and Founding Board Member of The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition. He is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) and the co-author of Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. Rusty regularly contributes to his blog, Purposed worKING and co-hosts the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast. Rusty and his wife, Patti, reside in Burlingame, CA. and Charlestown, RI. This is Rusty’s second term as an A.C.T. Trustee, prior he served from 2003-2013 with the last three years as President of the Board. Before returning to the Board in September 2017, he was an Emeritus Trustee.
Steven Swig
Vice Chair
Biography
Steven Swig is the Co-Founder and President Emeritus of Presidio Graduate School, a fully accredited business school offering an M.B.A. in sustainable management and located in the Presidio of San Francisco. Formerly a practicing attorney, Swig is involved in many civic and charitable activities, as well as numerous real estate developments and investments throughout the United States.
Adriana López Vermut
Vice Chair
Biography
Adriana Vermut is the owner and president of Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen, a Venezuelan restaurant in the Mission District. She previously worked in marketing for a remittances startup and later as a research analyst for RedShift Ventures, a Virginia-based venture capital firm. She is a graduate of UPenn.
Kirke Hasson
Immediate Past Chair
Biography
Kirke Hasson was a trial lawyer with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. He acquired an appreciation for live theater while an undergraduate, and he has been a subscribing member of A.C.T.'s audience for many years. He and his wife, Nancy, make their home in Sausalito, and they had the pleasure to serve as local hosts over the years for eight students in A.C.T.’s Master of Fine Arts program. Their daughter was a frequent student in the A.C.T. Young Conservatory, which added another dimension to their family’s appreciation of A.C.T.
Schatzie Allen-Jefferson
Education and Community Programs Committee Co-chair
Biography
Schatzie Allen-Jefferson has had a distinguished 35-year career. She continues a family entrepreneurial legacy as President of The Allen Group, LLC, a project and construction management firm founded by her mother, LaVerda Allen. Under Schatzie’s leadership, the company has developed added-value services to help public and private sector clients deliver prominent infrastructure projects successfully—meeting demands for efficiency and quality, creating meaningful opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses, and garnering community support. Schatzie’s management strategy is based on developing strong, collaborative partnerships with team members, clients, and other industry stakeholders. This has led to a 15 percent increase in revenue over the past 5 years. The Allen Group’s clients have included the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, Federal Transit Administration, Caltrain, San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Miami-Dade Transit, and Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, among many others.
Schatzie received a B.A. in Telecommunications from the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communications. She spent the first 10 years of her career in television production, serving as Production Manager and Associate Producer for ABC News programs such as 20/20 and Good Morning America, and for Metromedia Studio including Maude, The Jeffersons, Diff’rent Strokes and musical variety specials. Schatzie has a life-long affinity for artistic expression particularly through television production, visual and performing arts. She recognizes how art carries great power in shaping and enhancing the human experience especially for our youth. She is honored to be the Chair of the Education and Community Programs Committee for the American Conservatory Theater.
Jennifer Bielstein
Executive Director
Biography
JENNIFER BIELSTEIN (Executive Director) joined A.C.T. in 2018. She serves on the board of Theatre Forward, is a member of the International Women’s Forum and the Advance SF Advisory Panel, was part of Mayor Breed’s Economic Recovery Task Force, and is the immediate past-president of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT)—an organization that represents 76 theaters nationwide—having previously served as LORT’s vice president; chair of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee; secretary; and on multiple union negotiating teams. She has been recognized as among the 25 Most Influential San Franciscans of 2020 by San Francisco Magazine, along with Pam MacKinnon, and as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times in 2021. Before relocating to the Bay Area, Bielstein was the managing director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, managing director of Actors Theatre of Louisville, and executive director of Writers Theatre in Chicago. She has also worked for Steppenwolf Theatre Company, About Face Theatre, Northlight Theatre, and the Lincoln Park Zoo, as well as served on the boards of the League of Chicago Theatres, the Arts and Cultural Attractions Council, and other civic boards. She has received the Center for Nonprofit Excellence’s Pyramid Award of Excellence in Leadership, has been recognized as one of Louisville’s Business First’s 40 Under 40, was named by Twin Cities Business as a Person to Know, and a Minnesota Business magazine Real Power 50 member. Bielstein is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, attended Stanford’s Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts, and received an MBA from Bellarmine University, where she received the MBA Faculty Merit Award, was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the honor society for business programs and in 2021 was recognized as a Distinguished Alumna.
Ralph A. Clark
Committee on Trustees and Governance Co-Chair
Biography
Ralph A. Clark brings 30 years of extensive corporate, financial and organizational leadership to his position as ShotSpotter’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Most recently, Clark was CEO of GuardianEdge Technologies Inc., where he led the transformation of the company into a leader in endpoint data protection and was instrumental in its acquisition by Symantec. Prior to GuardianEdge, Clark served as Vice President of Finance for Adaptec through its acquisition of Snap Appliance, which he helped engineer. He was responsible for worldwide financial planning and analysis of Snap Appliance, serving as its Chief Financial Officer. Previous to his role at Snap Appliance, he worked at several venture capital backed start-up companies, leading several to successful acquisitions. Early in his career, Clark held executive sales and marketing roles at IBM; post business school he was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. He is a member of the board of directors Tactical Survey Group, and also serves as Chairman of The Board of Pacific Community Ventures. Clark holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of the Pacific, and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. Ralph and his wife, Rebecca, have been A.C.T. subscribers since 2006.
Jill Cowan
Education and Community Programs Committee Co-chair
Biography
After graduating from Wellesley College in 1988, Jill Cowan launched her business career in New York City with the management consulting firm Jewell Jackson McCabe Associates. While there, Jill worked under founder Jewell Jackson McCabe and learned everything from fundraising, event planning, to how to develop and implement employee volunteer programs for major corporations. McCabe also made sure Jill knew a very important life lesson; your work does not end when you leave the office at the end of the day. Volunteering and always reaching out to improve your community was your civic duty. McCabe then introduced Jill to The National Coalition of 100 Black Women. While volunteering at NCBW, Jill developed a guiding life principle she continues to follow today; always work to improve the lives of those less fortunate.
Jill’s career path kept her in New York working in the development and special events fields for the New General Hospital and various other businesses over the next decade. At that time, Jill and her husband Stephen decided it was time to trade coasts. They moved across the country and started a family in San Francisco.
In addition to being a busy mother of three, Jill has continued to work hard on behalf of children and her community, and has been actively involved on many boards including: The San Francisco Boys and Girls Clubs, The Children’s Creativity Museum of San Francisco, The San Francisco YMCA, Pacific Primary Preschool and Slide Ranch. Jill is currently on the boards of Museum of African Diaspora, National Summer Search Board, San Francisco University High School and the American Conservatory Theater.
Additionally, she has been invited to participate on the following councils: The Wellesley College President's Advisory Council and The Whitney Museum Director’s Council. Whatever she puts her mind to, Jill remains dedicated to using her skills at outreach and fundraising to give back to the communities she holds dear.
Patrick Devlin
Biography
Patrick Devlin completed his undergrad at UC Berkeley with a BA in English and received an MBA in Marketing from USF. He has worked in financial services for over 25 years and has held leadership roles in companies such as American Express, Chase, Visa, and more. Patrick is currently the Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning Partnerships at Freedom Financial Network, located in San Mateo. A second generation San Franciscan and fourth generation Californian, he lives in the Jordan Park neighborhood with his wife, Frances Epsen, an A.C.T graduate (1993) and A.C.T instructor for more than 20 years, and two daughters, Penny and Lillian. Penny is a former A.C.T intern and Lillian is a new member of A.C.T’s High School Cabaret Group. Patrick has previous Board membership experience with the Laguna Honda Hospital Volunteers, where he was former Board President and active board member for over 10 years. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, acting, singing, and historic automobiles. He is fluent in Spanish.
Kathleen Donohue
Biography
A longstanding A.C.T. subscriber, Kathleen Donohue is a clinical
psychologist with a private practice in San Mateo. For nearly a decade
she served on the faculty at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education and Department of Psychology. After receiving her BA in English with Theater Studies at Yale, she went on to earn her MA and PhD in Clinical and Community Psychology at UC Berkeley. She is currently the Board Co-Chair at The Nueva School, where she helped lead the biennial Innovative Learning Conference and the Twenty-First Century Learning Task Force, which envisioned programming for the new high school. An Ambassador for KIPP Northern California, she served on the Transformation Fund Committee for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.
Jesse Lee Eller
Biography
Jesse Lee Eller is the Founder of Studio 5 - Learning and Development, a firm that has become a destination for leaders and organizations seeking guidance for how they can define and redefine what their people development experience looks like. Under Jesse’s leadership and guidance, his team partners with today’s visionary companies to build high-performing teams around the world. Studio 5 grows people that grow companies. In addition to Jesse’s professional life, he enjoys giving back to the communities in which he holds dear to his heart. Jesse is a six-time cyclist of the AIDS LifeCycle, a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. He is among many who help fund the work of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center to provide free HIV/AIDS medical care, testing, and prevention services. When he is not on a bike, he is actively involved on boards both here in San Francisco and around the state of California. Jesse is the Chair of the San Francisco StartOut Programming Board. StartOut connects and educates LGBT entrepreneurs to empower great leaders and businesses. Jesse is also a Superior Ag Board of Directors member for the College of Agriculture at California State University, Chico. They champion the mission to help find opportunities for the next generation of agriculturalists to stay in the food, fiber, and natural resources industries. Jesse’s roots lie deep within the agriculture industry and is proud to say that he is from a fifth-generation ranching family. In 2015, Jesse launched the Cultivating Change Foundation. The San Francisco based Foundation is the largest organization globally that focuses on valuing and elevating LGBT agriculturists through advocacy, education, and community. Annually, the Cultivating Change Foundation brings together over 500 agriculture LGBT employees, human resources and diversity and inclusion professionals, organizational leaders, and allies to grow and learn at the Cultivating Change Summit. Jesse has called San Francisco his home for the past ten years and cherishes the moments when he is enjoying the hum of the city or the tranquility of the surrounding outdoor opportunities the Bay Area offers. When not in the office, Jesse’s passion lies on the polo field. Jesse is in bliss when he gets to be out on the field with teammates or take his horse, Sasha, out for a ride to explore the Petaluma landscape.
Linda Jo Fitz
Investment Committee Chair
Biography
Linda Jo Fitz, a former principal of Aspiriant, co-founded Kochis Fitz, a predecessor firm to Aspiriant, in 1991. As a wealth manager for over 30 years, she has worked with high net-worth families to help them define, plan for and achieve their financial objectives. Linda enjoyed teaching in the Personal Financial Planning Program of UC Berkeley. She served for nearly 20 years on the Board of Directors of San Francisco Heritage, where she was Board president, and she more recently chaired the Board of Directors of SPUR, where she continues to serve, promoting good government and civic involvement in the San Francisco region. In 2017, she received the Greenbelt Alliance Champion Award. In 2010 and 2011, Linda was named one of the Top 50 Women in Business by Wealth Manager Magazine. She was honored as one of The Most Influential Women in Business by the San Francisco Business Times, joining their Forever Influential list in 2011. She graduated from UC Berkeley and was awarded the Professional Designation in Personal Financial Planning from UCLA.As an avid theater-goer, she began subscribing to A.C.T. over 40 years ago when she moved to San Francisco. She joined the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee in 2013, and in 2016 became Treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee.
Frannie Fleishhacker
Biography
Frannie Fleishhacker has been actively involved with A.C.T. for over 21 years. She has chaired several season galas and, in recent years, she has served as co-chair of the Producers Circle and as a member of the Development Committee. She has also been a major financial supporter of A.C.T. She has funded an MFA Scholarship in Mort Fleishhacker's name for many years, and made additional contributions to support the refurbishment of the Garret in the Geary Theater. She is currently the co-chair of the Producers Circle and a major donor to the theater. She was the Treasurer of the Junior League of San Francisco for two years and the Treasurer, First Vice President and President of the Franciscan Club, and Co- Chair of the KQED Auction. Frannie is currently the Treasurer on the board of That Man May See. She enjoys travelling, skiing and hiking.
Ken Fulk
Biography
For more than 20 years, Ken Fulk has designed experiences large and small. Based in San Francisco and New York, he's become known for a portfolio of layered interiors, clever branding and over-the-top parties. Leading a team of architects, designers, branding and event specialists, Ken Fulk is responsible for some of the most celebrated homes and restaurants in the Bay Area. Whether it’s creating distinguished estates, collaborating with one of fashion’s greatest, or hosting a private Stevie Nicks concert for 400 costumed Halloween dinner guests, Ken imbues every project with timeless wit and effortless elegance.
Jo S. Hurley
Biography
Jo Hurley has been a subscriber since 1970 and a donor since 1975. She is a member of the Prospero Society and the Producers Directors Circle. Besides her love of theater, Jo is a patron of the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera; a member of the advisory board for WP4KU; serves on the Kansas University Endowment Association; and is a volunteer at Lima Center, a daytime center for the homeless near her Marina neighborhood. She is also active in her church, St. Dominic's Catholic Church in San Francisco.
Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr.
Biography
Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr. is the Artistic Director & Co-Founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre (SFBATCO). He made his Broadway debut in “The Book of Mormon” and was last seen at American Conservatory Theatre in the West Coast premiere of “Toni Stone”. Prior to that he traveled North America in the first national tour of “Motown: The Musical.”
A San Francisco native who built his love and foundation for art and theatre in public city organizations such as SFartsEd, San Francisco Recreation and Park’s Young People’s Teen Musical Theater Company, and the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts’ where he graduated from the theatre department. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama.
Other theatre credits: Berkeley Repertory “Ain’t Too Proud: the life and times of the Temptations”, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company “I, Too, Sing America.”
Cristy Johnston Limon
Biography
Cristy Johnston Limon is the Executive Director at the Center for Social Sector Leadership at the Berkeley Haas School of Business where she leads social impact programs and partnership that train and empower leaders and nonprofit organizations to advance social change. Cristy is a serial social sector leader having most recently held executive director roles at national poetry and spoken word organization Youth Speaks, Oakland based performing arts organization Destiny Arts Center, and having founded and scaled an economic development nonprofit in San Francisco. Her professional experience includes real estate and community development, public policy experience as a State Senate aide, and advancing nonprofit leadership and sustainability with a focus on organizational and systems change. Cristy grew up in San Francisco immersed in music as a youth cellist, theater performer, and youth sports. On the board of Oakland’s Bandaloop and former co-chair of the Haas Alumni Diversity Council, Cristy mentors and leads rising and established leaders in arts, culture, and business with a focus on mentoring rising women and leaders of color. Cristy speaks often about distributed leadership models, community engagement, diversity in recruitment, hiring, board engagement, and how to sustainably develop arts and cultural facilities and programming centered around connection and place keeping. Cristy is a UC Berkeley alum with an Executive MBA (2016) from Berkeley Haas and a BA with honors (2002) in Political Science.
David L. Jones
Biography
David L. Jones is a Portfolio Manager with U.S. Bank's Bay Area Commercial Banking Group, based in San Francisco, CA. He has been with U.S. Bank for more than 20 years, and has a total of 30 years of banking and financial services experience. In his role, he is part of a team that works with both commercial and non-profit business clients, including schools, health and arts organizations, helping them meet their financial goals. David is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts, particularly live performance art from small community performances to large Broadway productions. He is also passionate about the arts in education. David was a member of the board of directors of the Cascade AIDS Project in Portland, OR for more than five years, serving on the Finance Committee and as the board Vice President. He also served as the Co-Chair of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation 2015 fundraising gala. David received his Bachelor's Degree in Business and Accounting from California State University, Fresno. He and his family split their time between San Francisco and the North Bay.
Jascha Kaykas-Wolff
Audience Engagement Committee Chair
Biography
Jascha Kaykas-Wolff is the president of Lytics and former Chief Marketing Officer for Mozilla, where he was responsible for leading the global non-for-profit technology organizations marketing strategy. Prior to joining Mozilla, Jascha served as Chief Marketing Officer for BitTorrent, Chief Marketing Officer for Mindjet, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Success at Involver, and he previously headed Global Marketing for Webtrends along with executive experience at Microsoft and Yahoo!. Jascha’s marketing specialties include product positioning, marketing strategy, marketing technology, demand creation, brand building, brand re-positioning, organizational improvements, agile marketing, and sales enablement. Jascha received a B.A. in Psychology from Whittier College. Outside of work, Jascha is a passionate volunteer and mentor with TheLastMile.org, a Board Member at TEDx Marin, and a Trustee at Whittler College. He published Growing Up Fast: How New Agile Practices Can Move Marketing And Innovation Past The Old Business Stalemates with Kevin Fann in August 2014. Jascha calls Marin County home with his wife Rebecca (owner and founder of Petit Couture, a fashion-forward children’s brand, and VP of Product Marketing for IPG) and three children.
Heather Stallings Little
Audit Committee Chair
Biography
Heather Stallings Little is a CPA-turned-writer, who worked in investment banking and as the chief financial officer of a company that manages the affairs of professional athletes. She has incorporated her real life experiences at work and home into her works of fiction and has published two books and numerous articles in a range of print and electronic publications and literary journals. A frequent adventure traveler, she also writes travel stories. One of her children has participated in the Young Conservatory, and she and her husband, John, have supported several A.C.T. season galas as table sponsors and members of gala host committees.
Pam MacKinnon
Artistic Director
Biography
This is Pam’s third season as A.C.T.’s fourth artistic director. She is a Tony, Drama Desk, and Obie award– winning director, having directed upwards of 75 productions around the country, off Broadway, and on Broadway. Her Broadway credits include Beau Willimon’s The Parisian Woman (with Uma Thurman), Amélie: A New Musical, David Mamet’s China Doll (with Al Pacino), Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles (with Elisabeth Moss), Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (with Glenn Close and John Lithgow), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle nomination), and Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park (Obie Award, Tony and Lucille Lortel nominations). Her most recent credits include world premieres of Bruce Norris’s Downstate (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, London’s National Theatre), Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone (Roundabout Theatre Company, A.C.T., Arena Stage), Kate Attwell’s Testmatch (A.C.T.), Christopher Chen’s Communion (A.C.T.), as well as Edward Albee’s Seascape (A.C.T.). She is an artistic associate of the Roundabout Theatre Company, an advisory board member of Clubbed Thumb, and an alumna of the Drama League, Women’s Project, and Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors’ Labs. She is the most recent past executive board president of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and continues to serve on the board. She grew up in Toronto, Canada, and Buffalo, New York, acted through her teens, but majored in economics and political science at the University of Toronto and briefly pursued a PhD in political science at UC San Diego, before returning to her true passion: theater. She has been recognized as among the 25 Most Influential San Franciscans of 2020 by San Francisco Magazine, along with Jennifer Bielstein.
Rodman Marymor
Committee on Trustees and Governance Co-Chair
Biography
RODMAN MARYMOR - He started out as a professional shoe shiner and weed puller and went on to earn a Masters in Percussion Performance and worked in a diverse array of settings as a musician and composer (i.e., starving artist). Along the way, Rod shifted his focus to the business of music with a recording studio and entertainment production company. Somehow, after 15 years or so, this led to a software business where his company, Cardinal Communications, created and managed nearly one thousand hotel and conference center websites. Cardinal was instrumental in the pioneering development of web-based Online Registration and Attendee Management. In 2012 the focus was shifted to commercial real estate investment. Rod has served on numerous trade industry and nonprofit boards over the years. He lives in Sonoma with his wife, Ann. their Son (Miles) is a a hi-tech worker, and daughter (Michaela) is a graduate of A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory and now resided in NYC in pursuit of her passion for singing, acting and dancing. The Marymors are enthusiastic supporters of the performing arts...music and theatre. During the pandemic, Rod founded Music in Place, a non-profit that creates opportunities for musical performances to occur online and in nontraditional venues for diverse audiences.
Katherine McGee
Biography
Based in San Francisco, Katherine McGee works in the Strategy, Digital and Innovation Group at Wells Fargo and heads the Enterprise Agile and Customer Journeys transformation team. Katherine joined Wells Fargo in 2002 and has led multiple initiatives and teams in the digital and transformation space. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Katherine worked at a digital market research firm and in consulting. Katherine received a B.A. in Psychology from Cornell University and an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA. Katherine has been an A.C.T. subscriber since 2014.
Michele B. Miller
Biography
Michele B. Miller is a labor and employment attorney for Cozen O’Connor, a law firm with 26 offices around the world. She joined Cozen O’Connor in August 2019. She has over 30 years of experience in law. She received her Bachelors of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1978 and her Juris Doctorate from the Hastings College of Law at UC Berkeley in 1982. She was a Trustee of A.C.T. until from 2003 until 2010. Michele has been member of the National Association of Women Lawyers since 2013, a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel since 2012. She previously has been a member of the Defense Research Institute and a board member of the Marin Theatre Company, Ring Mountain Day School and Mark Day School.
Jeffrey S. Minick
Organizational Health/EDI Committee Co-Chair
Biography
Jeff Minick leads a team of seasoned relationship managers in the Bay Area dedicated to the Technology, Media and Entertainment space. His team is responsible for delivering the full capabilities of Bank of America Merrill Lynch to support high growth companies with a unique combination of ideas, guidance, and global capabilities. Prior to this role Mr. Minick led the Northern California Middle Market Treasury Management team focused on all industry segments from Agriculture in the Central Valley to Technology in the Bay Area. Before moving into that role he managed a national specialty sales team focused on leveraging emerging technology to deliver working capital benefits through operational efficiency. He has held positions in operations, systems development, and consulting on e-commerce and e-banking services. Mr. Minick has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences including the EVANTA CFO Summit, National AFP, Oracle Open World, TEXPO, NY Treasury Management Association, and the San Francisco Treasury Symposium. He holds a B.B.A. in Business Analysis - Management Information Systems from Texas A&M University. He maintains both Series 7 and 63 licenses. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, he grew up in North Texas and moved to San Francisco in 2004 where he lives with his wife Elizabeth and two boys. His hobbies include golf and coaching youth sports.
Gerine Ongkeko
Toni Rembe
Biography
Toni Rembe is a retired partner at the law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and president of the van Loben Sels-RembeRock Foundation, a private foundation promoting social justice by means of legal services and advocacy. She is also a current member of TCG's National Council for the American Theatre and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Toni is a past president of the Commonwealth Club of California; a former board chair of the Presidio Graduate School; and has served on the boards of other nonprofit organizations (including Mills College and Magic Theatre), and public companies (including AT&T & AEGON N.V., a Dutch insurance company). She is a co-founder and member of the board of the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University. Ms. Rembe and her husband, Arthur Rock, have been stalwart and generous supporters of A.C.T., as well as many other SF area non-profits. In addition to generous support during the campaign to re-build the Geary Theater, their leadership-level campaign gift to the Strand resulted in the naming of the theater there for Ms. Rembe. She is a past President of the A.C.T. Board of Trustees.
Michael Richter
Biography
Michael is an award-winning screenwriter and producer, and Facebook’s former Chief Privacy Officer. Michael wrote and produced Torn, starring Emmy-nominee John Heard, Faran Tahir, and Dendrie Taylor. Torn received a theatrical release after it won the award for Best Feature Film at the Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival. Torn was subsequently acquired by Amazon. Michael also served as the Executive Producer of Presque Isle, directed by Rob Nilsson, who had previously won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) at the Sundance Film Festival.
Michael is currently developing and producing prestige and elevated genre projects for film and television, including: 11/17/71, Blacksmith (starring Nick Jonas and Laurence Fishburne), Borough of Churches, Landfill Harmonic, The Last Adventure of Constance Verity (starring Awkwafina), Old Man’s War (with Netflix) and The Talented Ribkins.
In addition to writing and producing for film, Michael serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and as a strategic advisor for Fin Analytics. In 2015, Michael co-founded and served as the Chief Creative Officer of Aftershock Comics, which won the New Publisher of the Year Diamond Gem Award after its inaugural year. Prior to that, Michael was an early employee at both Facebook (where he was the Chief Privacy Officer and an inventor on nine patents) and eBay (where he was the head of the litigation department). Michael started his legal career as an entertainment and media attorney after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Jomar Tagatac
Biography
Jomar Tagatac was most recently seen as Gordon Hirabayashi in Hold These Truths and Mark in Art at San Francisco Playhouse, as well as DJ Loki in Today is My Birthday (Theater Mu). At American Conservatory Theater he played Mr. Botard in Rhinoceros, and Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol. Other credits at A.C.T include Playwright and others in Vietgone, Fortinbras in Hamlet, Fortunado in Monstress. Bay Area credits include George in The Language Archive (Theatreworks), Actor 1 in King of the Yees, Actor 3 in Tiny Beautiful Things, Daniel in You Mean to Do Me Harm (San Francisco Playhouse); Quang in Vietgone, Gordon Hirabayashi in Hold These Truths (Capital Stage Company); Banquo in Macbeth, Jacques in As You Like It, Life is a Dream, and other roles in Everybody, and The War of the Roses (CalShakes) The Happy Ones, and Dogeaters (Magic Theatre). Jomar is a recipient of a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Principle Actor in a Play, and TBA Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from A.C.T.
BD Wong
Biography
Films include Bird Box, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World, The Normal Heart, Focus, Mulan (1 & 2), The Salton Sea, Executive Decision, Seven Years In Tibet, Jurassic Park, Father of the Bride (1 & 2) and The Freshman. He received the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Theater World, Clarence Derwent, and Tony Awards for his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly—an achievement not yet duplicated by another actor. Recent television includes Wally in Comedy Central’s Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, “Whiterose” in Mr. Robot (Emmy and Critic’s Choice nominations), Prof. Hugo Strange in Gotham, and Baldwin Pennypacker in American Horror Story. Other television includes Law & Order: SVU, All-American Girl, Oz, And the Band Played On, and Awake. Other Broadway includes You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Pacific Overtures. Regional theater includes The Orphan of Zhao (A.C.T., La Jolla Playhouse), Herringbone (Williamstown Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse). He is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Following Foo: (the electronic adventures of the Chestnut Man) (Harper Entertainment). He has been honored by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian AIDS Project, GLAAD, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, The Anti-Violence Project, Lambda Legal, Museum of Chinese in America, and Marriage Equality New York. He is a board member of The Actors’ Fund, and Rosie’s Theater Kids. BD Wong is a proud San Francisco native, a graduate of Lincoln High School, and holds an honorary M.F.A. from American Conservatory Theatre.
Jay Yamada
Biography
John “Jay” Yamada is currently a Board Member of California Shakespeare Theater, where he chaired the Finance committee from 2010-2019. He previously has served on the Board of KQED from 1983-1989 and 2010-2018. He is currently an off-board member of KQED’s finance committee, and is the organization’s resident historian. Jay works as a Pro Bono Stage Photographer for many Bay Area Theaters, including A.C.T. He has photographed for Aurora Theater, Brava, California Shakespeare Theater, Campo Santo, Central Works, Custom Made Theatre, Diablo Actors Ensemble, Exit Theatre, Marin Shakespeare, The Magic Theater, Marin Theater, Oakland Technical High School Theater, San Francisco Shakespeare, Skyline High School Theater, Shotgun Players, Town Hall Theatre, The University of Santa Clara Theater Department, UC Berkeley Theater Department, and Woman’s Will. Previously, Jay was an Analyst in Economics, Planning, and Budgets for Standard Oil of Ohio and a Technical Representative and Western Technical Manager for CompuServe. He received his BS in Economics and MS in Structural Geology from Cornell University, and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from NYU.
Nola Yee
Biography
Nola Yee was born and raised in Honolulu and remembers her first A.C.T. experience from the mid-1970's, when the company would tour Hawaii in the summer. She holds a BA in psychology and an MS in information management and systems from the University of California, Berkeley. Nola is a former board member of many non-profit organizations, including Hospice by the Bay, Hospice of Marin, the Center for Women and Religion, the Pacific Islanders' Cultural Association, and NextCourse.