Ruth Alyce

Ruth Alyce is an Experience Strategist and Executive Producer, working at the intersection of digital and physical with clients who are building and innovating their spaces. Ruth works with her clients, across public, private, and non-profit sectors, to strategically prioritize digital, physical, and human initiatives in order to enhance their visitor experiences and meet their business goals. Ruth has led future focused innovation projects for mixed-use developments, retail, hospitality, art and entertainment venues, and attractions. Her experience includes consulting from initial strategy, through concepting, implementation planning, and implementation orchestration. Select clients include; Netflix Live Experiences, Universal Destinations & Experiences, Google, Pier 55, The Shed, The Empire State Realty Trust, New York City Transit, Hudson Yards Development, Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, City of Hope National Medical Center, and the Verizon Wireless destination stores.

Ruth began her career working as an actor at not-for-profit theaters all over the country. During that time she developed a deep curiosity for how art spaces are utilized and how art connects with communities. She began working at Theater Communications Group (TCG) in 2008, leading the Free Night of Theater program. Her work at TCG focused on how theaters can be more accessible (in all the ways!) and how organizations can innovate in ways that are deeply connected with their mission and values. Ruth brings this commitment to value driven work to all of her clients and projects.

Charlotte Brathwaite

Charlotte Brathwaite is a creator and director of original genre-defying works that illuminate the realities and dreams of those whose stories have been marginalized,  silenced and ignored. Her trans-disciplinary inquiry manifests as immersive rituals of the body, color and music in collaboration with artists such as Meshell Ndegeochello, Jacqueline Woodson, adrienne maree brown, Abigail DeVille, Justin Hicks, Ayesha Jordan, June Cross, Sunder Ganglani, Peter Sellars, Kyle Abraham and Malick Welli amongst others.  She has received major grants, awards and fellowships including Doris Duke, United States Artists, Art Matters, Creative Capital and the Princess Grace. Her work has been presented at festivals and venues across the globe in North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Charlotte is also an educator of the arts and has an MFA in Directing from Yale University.

LeAnna DeBaptiste Hallman (Vice- Chair)

LeAnna grew up in her family funeral business in West Chester, Pennsylvania. She has been a storyteller since a small child when she wrote obituaries for the local newspaper. Her love of storytelling took her to Los Angeles almost 15 years ago where she found success in building a family, a career in entertainment, and a fierce reputation advocating for marginalized communities. LeAnna has spent the last 6 years at Sony Pictures in a variety of positions, but mostly with the Finance Transformation team working with quirky accountants to make business processes more efficient. She has recently joined the Regulatory Compliance team at Netflix where she looks forward to leaning into risk. In her free time LeAnna is currently developing a funeral app, a Pinterest for funerals if you will. If she could know anything about you it would be, "What would your last meal be?"

Sunder Ganglani

Sunder Ganglani is an artist who works in collaboration between forms: music, theater, civil disobedience, pedagogy, performance. As a former Co-Artistic Director of The Foundry Theater in New York City his works with W. David Hancock, Ariana Reines, Claudia Rankine, David Greenspan, Melanie Joseph and many others have toured nationally and internationally, and won all kinds of awards. More recently his work has focused on music and justice – as a dramaturg he’s made operas and new experiments in music with Esperanza Spalding, Helga Davis, Charlotte Brathwaite, Justin Hicks, and Darius Jones. As a musician, composer, and organizer he’s grateful to have a creative home with The Stop Shopping Choir community in New York City where he works with Billy Talen, Savitri D, and the 45 member choir as chosen family. He’s received grants, fellowships and been awarded residencies, he studied Anthropology at UMass Amherst, Dramaturgy at Yale, and he was raised in Salem, Massachusetts by parents from opposite ends of the earth, and a sister and brother.

Margaret Irwin (Secretary)

Margaret has spent over three decades working in non-profit organizations with a focus on the arts.   She has been committed to social justice issues since moving to Los Angeles in 1984, beginning with an active role of service during the first decade of the HIV/AIDS crisis.  Elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2021, Margaret serves Los Angeles as the Elder Director on the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council. In this role, she chairs the Committee on Aging Neighbors and participates actively to provide resources, holiday and permanent meals, and connections among seniors 65+, Council Districts 14 and 1, and the community. She received a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Los Angeles. Her support of the elderly during the height of the pandemic in 2020 was mentioned in an article in the The New York Times. For the past five years, Margaret has been the Senior Executive Assistant to Bishop Grant J. Hagiya in the Episcopal Office of The United Methodist Church. In this role, she is the liaison to the Cabinet and champions the many social justice issues the progressive conference and bishop lead across Southern California, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, and the Pacific Islands.  She was the first and only Chief of Staff at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Under President Laura Trombley, she served as Assistant Secretary on the Board of Trustees. She has served as the Board Liaison at the Autry Museum, Los Angeles Opera, and Center Theatre Group.  In the 1990s and early 2000s, she worked backstage as Stage Manager, Company Manager, and Backstage Liaison at the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Doolittle Theatre, Henry Ford Theatre, and Wilshire Theatre. She was Company Manager for the Japan Tour of Sir Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man. She was Backstage Liaison for more than 2,200 performances of LA’s longest-running musical,   The Phantom of the Opera (1989-1994). She is the recipient of the Joseph “Skipper” Davidson Award from Center Theatre Group.  Margaret is a guest columnist for The Boulevard Sentinel paper.  She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University. She was born in Dallas, grew up in Nashville, and lives in Los Angeles.

Melody Kanschat

For more than 35 years Melody has worked with donors and arts organizations throughout Los Angeles on delivering high quality and sustainable art and education programming to Los Angeles audiences. She is known for her enthusiastic commitment to cultural institutions and a perspective that synthesizes a drive for excellence with a practical sensibility. Melody came to LA as Development Director and on-air producer at public radio station KCSN (Cal State, Northridge). Three years later she navigated a 22-year stint at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where she served in a variety of executive capacities including President and Chief Operating Officer. For the next 10 years she was Executive Director of the Getty Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University and a Professor of Practice in Arts Leadership. In her private practice and as an arts supporter and board member, Melody provides management and consulting services to a variety of non-profit institutions focusing on operational stability, fundraising, strategic planning, and capital project development and management. She has served on the boards of Art Division, Arts for LA, Cornerstone Theater, MOVE LA, and the Los Angeles Associates of Save the Children. Melody fills her time with friends and family and enjoys sailing, hiking, camping and other intrepid travels. She holds a BS degree in Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Elizabeth Kennedy (Chair)

Elizabeth Kennedy has been in the non-profit arts and education world for almost 40 years, beginning with the Kansas City Arts Council in 1979 to her present position as Special Advisor to the President for Philanthropy at Occidental College, a position she has held since April 2015. She was Senior Vice President for Advancement at the Music Center of Los Angeles County from 2012 - 2015, overseeing the fundraising program for the Music Center with a focus on the Music Center's 50th Anniversary campaign and celebration.  Prior to that she held a similar position for four years at the Autry National Center. Much of her professional life otherwise was at the Los Angeles Opera, with positions in development and administration from 1983 to 2006, including 6 years as Managing Director (2001-2007) with oversight for fundraising, finance, marketing and human resources. Specific areas of focus throughout has been on board development and governance, fundraising, public interaction and strategic planning. She stepped away from the nonprofit world for a number of years in the 1990s to work for City National Bank developing their philanthropic and community programs, and with the Broad Foundation, working with the Foundation and LAUSD to structure and open the LAUSD High School for the Arts (Cortines High School). Her current position entails working with the President of the College and the Board of Trustees to secure and steward major philanthropic commitments. She has lived in the South Bay for more than 35 years, and has three children and three grandchildren.  She received her BA from State University of New York - Purchase and her Masters in Public Administration from the University of Missouri.

Sarah Lang (Treasurer)

Sarah Lang is currently a Senior Business Project Analyst at the Capital Group Companies, based in downtown Los Angeles. She has over 30 years of investment industry experience, all with Capital Group. Earlier in her career at Capital, Sarah served as a Proxy and Governance specialist; her team developed environmental, social, and governance voting guidelines as well as executing shareholder votes for over 5,000 securities worldwide. Sarah was a founding company and board member of Circle X Theatre Company, and is the Chair of the Scholar Bridge Network at the Fulfillment Fund. She is an active supporter of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Colburn Society.  

Matthew H. Rowland

From 2014-Present, Rowland has written and self-published three novels—Cinematic Immunity, Forced Calls Final Touches, and Crossing the Line. Prior to that he was an independent feature film producer based in Santa Monica. From 2008-2014 Rowland was Co-President of Incentive Filmed Entertainment (IFE). In this role, he shared responsibility for oversight of all operating activity for the company. IFE produced six films including, The Other Woman, Blue Valentine, Area 51, Shark Night 3D, WER, and Parker. Rowland was also the Head of Production for Screen Capital, and has worked primarily on the structured financing of independent films. Prior to working at IFE, Rowland produced and executive produced a number of independent films, including Romance & Cigarettes, Meet Bill, Balls Out, Slow Burn, and Just a Kiss. Rowland began his film career as a general factotum for the Academy Award winning producer Ismail Merchant, working on all aspects of the production of Merchant Ivory films including, A Room with a View, Maurice, The Deceivers, Slaves of New York, and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. He left Merchant Ivory to join the Directors Guild of America (DGA)/ Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ Assistant Director Training Program in New York City. After completion of the program, he joined the DGA. Rowland had a long career as a freelance Assistant Director and Production Manager working on over thirty feature films, with directors including Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton, Jonathan Lynn, Woody Allen and Jim Abrahams. His films include, among others, A Few Good Men, Hot Shots, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Unstrung Heroes, Stick It, and Flubber. Rowland serves on the board of the Wilbur-Ellis Company. He is also the Chair of the Wilbur-Ellis Family Assembly.

Megan Wanlass

Megan Wanlass joined Cornerstone Theater Company as its new Managing Director in January 2014. Megan Wanlass has been a member of Anne Bogart's SITI Company since 1995 and its Executive Director since 2000. In her tenure with SITI, Megan has helped to create over 35 productions, which premiered in or toured to 88 cities, 32 states and 19 countries. She began working with Anne Bogart during The Adding Machine at Actors Theatre of Louisville (1995) during the Modern Masters Festival. She has an Arts Administration Certificate from New York University, attended the Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders at Stanford University Business School, was a member of the Arts Leadership Institute Charter Class at Teachers College, Columbia University, participated in the National Arts Strategies Executive Leadership Program and holds a B.A. in Theater from Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. Megan currently serves on the board of Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and as the president of the PTA for the Pearls Hawthorne School in Yonkers, NY.

Tena Yatroussis

Tena Yatroussis is a two-time Emmy award winning development and communications executive adept at leading processes and inspiring people to realize social impact goals. She enhances 10 years in the nonprofit sector with senior media production management skills and creative leadership as a writer, producer and director. Tena enlivens fundraising campaigns with the power of story to build strong partnerships between organizations and the philanthropists who support them. After earning her BA at California State University Northridge Tena was selected as 1 of an 18 member cohort from among 1,800 applicants for the Director Guild of America Assistant Directors Training Program. This program prepared Tena to direct the daily set operations of film production companies for prime time television shows and feature films. Her clients include Warner Brothers, Touchstone, ABC, Viacom/CBS TV, NBC, Universal, Paramount and 20^th Century Fox. She served on the DGA Assistant Director/UPM Council for 11 years participating in contract proposal development, the guild’s New Technology Survey and numerous other committees. Tena completed the UCLA Professional Certificate in Fundraising and Institutional Development (CFRE equivalent) transitioning from entertainment to the nonprofit sector. She has successfully met and exceeded fundraising goals as a Consultant for The Growing Place Reggio Emilia School in Santa Monica, Director of Annual and Planned Giving at The Center for Early Education, as a Development Officer for New Roads School and Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Saint John’s Health Center Foundation and the John Wayne Cancer Institute. A dedicated lifelong learner Tena has completed a certificate in Grantsmanship Training and a professional certificate in Advanced Social Media Marketing and Digital Analytics. Today Tena is proud to be of service as a board member of the Los Angeles Council of Gift Planners and a consultant for the Executive Service Corps of Southern California. Tena is eager to bring skills from all of her experiences to support the Cornerstone Theater Company as an active board member.

Annie Yee

ANNIE YEE (choreographer/performer) is extremely honored to serve on the Cornerstone Theater Company Board.  Cornerstone is so near to her heart.  Her mother Nancy Yee who is Annie’s heroine was a Cornerstone member and performed in many shows for many years.  Annie was fortunate to be able to dance with her Mom in Lighten Up, directed by Mark Valdez as part of the Faith Cycle.    Her choreographer credits are: Everybody directed by Jennifer Chang with Antaeus, Interstate directed by Jesca Prudencio with East West Players (Scenie Award for Outstanding Choreography), SUMO workshop directed by Ralph Pena with La Jolla Playhouse and Mayi Theatre, On Gold Mountain directed by Jennifer Chang with LA Opera, Detained directed by Mark Valdez, The Children directed by Simon Levy and An Octoroon directed by Judith Moreland (Best Choreography Broadway World Los Angeles) all with The Fountain Theatre, M. Butterfly at South Coast Repertory directed by Desdemona Chiang, (Scenie Award for Best Choreography of a Play), King of the Yees at Baltimore Center Stage and at ACT Theatre in Seattle directed by Desdemona Chiang (fun fact: with Stan Egi playing the lead Larry Yee, Annie’s husband), The Golden Dragon at Boston Court Pasadena directed by Michael Michetti (Scenie Award for Outstanding Choreography of a Play and nominated for an Ovation Award and Broadway World Los Angeles for Best Choreography), The World of Extreme Happiness at Seattle Public Theater directed by Desdemona Chiang, Made in Bangkok at the Mark Taper Forum directed by Robert Egan and I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges at Los Angeles Theater Center directed by Luis Valdez.  She was the first Chinese American Los Angeles Laker Girl and Los Angeles Rams Cheerleader.  Annie serves on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers union.   Annie was born in Los Angeles and raised in Monterey Park.  Annie is respectfully trying to follow in her Mother Nancy Yee’s footsteps as a strong community leader and became the 3rd female President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Los Angeles in their 110 year history, serving from 2016-2017.  In 2017 as President she stood in coalition with other Asian American groups to create a Day of Inclusion on May 6th, the 135th Anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act at Los Angeles City Hall.  She was awarded Women of the Year representing the Arts from CA State Senator Ed Hernandez in 2017.  She was chosen as Citizen of the Year from the Chinese Elected Officials in 2018.  Annie was a member of the KCET Community Advisory Board 2012-2018, representing Asian American issues, Theater Arts and Education.  She has been awarded numerous Certificates of Recognition from the California State Senate, California State Assembly, City of Monterey Park, the County of Los Angeles and Congress for her dedicated service and achievements in the affairs of the community for Asian Americans.  Thank you to parents Tommy and Nancy Yee who encouraged her dreams and inspires her life.