Comprised of leading trustees from member theatres from across the country, the National Council for the American Theatre guides TCG’s programs on governance and board development and serves as a “brain trust” for the organization. Members are nominated by the artistic or managing leadership of their theatres, and must make a financial commitment to TCG (a minimum of $6,500 annually) without compromising their giving to their home theatre. The Council meets three times yearly, including an annual meeting with TCG’s board of directors in New York. Members are invited to participate in TCG committees, grant selection panels and or/advisory groups, and host a trustee breakfast at the annual National Conference. Members are invited to all TCG events, workshops and conferences. The chair of the National Council is Judy Rubin, trustee at Playwrights Horizons and former TCG board member. For information on joining the National Council, please contact Adrian Budhu, Chief Operating Officer.

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James L. Chosy (Guthrie Theater) is Vice Chair of the Guthrie Theater’s Board of Directors. Jim is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of U.S. Bank, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States, where he manages the company’s legal affairs. He joined U.S. Bancorp in 2013 from Piper Jaffray Companies, a middle-market investment bank and asset management firm, where he had served as General Counsel since March 2001. Jim began his legal career with the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis. In addition to the Guthrie, he is a member of the board of directors of the Fund for Legal Aid, the board of counselors of Equal Justice Works, and the general counsel advisory committee of the Bank Policy Institute. He is also a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. Jim has previously served as a member and also chairman of the board of directors of the Clearing House Association, the University of Minnesota Law School and the Children’s Theater Company, and is a past recipient of the University of Minnesota’s alumni service award. He received his law degree from the University of Minnesota and his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Bunni Copaken (Kansas City Repertory Theatre) is a board member and trustee of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, who supports new work through the Rep's downtown theater, The Copaken Stage.  She is past president of the Women's Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Junior Women's Symphony Association.  She is a founding and current board member of Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, an organization celebrating 30 years as the official second home of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. KCFAA has impacted 1 million metropolitan Kansas City youth through the creation of innovative outreach programs, including the nationally replicated AileyCamp.  Other National Council Memberships include the Aspen Institute, Aspen Music Festival, Anderson Ranch and Theatre Aspen.

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Sophie Cripe (South Coast Repertory) an avid theatre fan, is Immediate Past President of the Board of Trustees of South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa, CA. She has served in a variety of other leadership positions with SCR including chairing board development, fund development and the 2010 gala. Sophie and her husband, Larry, have been patrons of the annual Pacific Playwrights' Festival for six years.  Prior to being involved with SCR she was President of the Laguna Playhouse, as well as President of STOP GAP an organization that uses drama as a therapeutic tool in local schools, shelters and hospitals.  A life long community volunteer, Sophie is a 48 year member of the Junior League. She is also currently on the board of the National Choreographers Initiative, and the Friends of the Newport Beach Library. Sophie assists in Dramaturgical work for the Chance Theater in Anaheim as well as other Orange County theaters.Sophie has a BA and MA in Speech and Theater from the University of Illinois and she taught theatre at the high school level for many years. Her second career was as a professional fundraiser for the United Way of Orange County and Goodwill Industries.

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Brad Edgerton, MD (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) serves on the boards of directors of Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland), Geffen Playhouse(Los Angeles), and Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles). He is a practicing reconstructive plastic surgeon in Los Angeles at Kaiser Permanente. He is the President of the Edgerton Foundation which has awarded Edgerton Foundation New Play Award grants since 2006 to art theatres nationwide to support the extension of rehearsal time of world premieres. He is also on the boards of Harvard-Westlake School, Pacific Council on International Policy and Southern Skis.

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Mindy Ellmer (ZACH Theatre) provides strategic counsel on legislative and regulatory policy, political engagement and grassroots deployment. She is a recognized expert in business issues including tax, water, energy, as well as environmental policy, infrastructure, and tort issues. With over twenty years of practical experience before the Texas Legislature and state agencies, boards and commissions, Mindy provides effective counsel to Fortune 500 Companies and local government organizations and non-profit organizations. Mindy’s expertise in implementing legislative priorities, collaborative advocacy, grassroots campaign strategy, and management is extensive. Her many accomplishments include leading teams that secured passage of significant tort reform legislation reducing industry exposure by hundreds of millions of dollars, passage legislation creating a watermaster program on the largest river basin in the state, passage of major eminent domain legislation; and passage of the Healthy Community Collaborative, which pairs state and local efforts to combat mental illness. She also has worked with leadership to create and secure funding for programs at both the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs that move Texans off of public benefits back into the workforce, and continues to be heavily engaged in successful efforts to promote water planning and infrastructure development in our growing state. For the last nine years, Capitol Inside has recognized Mindy as a “Top Hired Gun Lobbyist.” Mindy began her career inside the Texas Capitol, working for the Governor’s Office and in both the Texas House and Senate. She launched her lobby career at the Texas Dental Association and then moved to Bracewell, LLP before opening her own firm. Mindy is a member of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association; Chancellor’s Council, University of Texas System and the Downtown Austin Alliance. She also serves as the Immediate Past President of the Board of Trustees of ZACH Theatre, is on the board of the National Council for the American Theatre and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Headliners Club.

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Reade Fahs (Alliance Theatre) is the immediate past Chairman of Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre where he served as Board Chair from 2014 to 2017. By day, Mr. Fahs is the CEO of Atlanta based National Vision Inc. - - the third largest and fastest growing U.S. Optical Retail Chain operating 1,000 optical stores and 18 ecommerce websites. Mr. Fahs serves on the Board of a variety of optical charities including VisionSpring (which he Chairs) and RestoringVision.org, which together have brought sight to over 10 million low-income people around the world. Mr. Fahs has also served on the Governing Board of the Woodruff Arts Center, on the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University and Salus University, and is the incoming Chairman of the Carter Center Board of Councilors. Mr. Fahs is a graduate of Harvard College and a past President of the Harvard Club of Georgia.

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Wendy Gillespie (La Jolla Playhouse) has been a trustee of the La Jolla Playhouse since 2012, and participates on the marketing and development committees. She also serves on the board of the Pacific Arts Movement and is a charter member of the San Diego Women's Foundation. Wendy is currently a Broadway producer whose shows include Come From Away, which won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Director, and Allegiance, A New American Musical.  In 2016 she received the UPAC (Union of Pan Asian Communities) Visionary Award, and the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) Civil Rights Leadership Award for her work with Allegiance. She is President & CEO of Frontier Trading Inc./Starhawk Productions as well as the Capdevilla Gillespie Foundation and is very involved in the San Diego business and philanthropic communities.

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Kiki Ramos Gindler (Center Theatre Group) is the President of the Board of Directors of Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, California. Kiki currently serves on several other non-profit boards, including the Board of Trustees of Pomona College, the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Opera, and the Board of Directors of The Music Center; she also is a past member of the boards of the Women’s Refugee Commission and the Bilingual Foundation for the Arts. Kiki currently serves as a member of the Los Angeles Country Arts Commission Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative Advisory Committee, and has served the City of Los Angeles as a member of multiple historic preservation and community outreach boards. After receiving a JD from Harvard Law School, Kiki practiced corporate law with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, where she specialized in acquisitions, joint ventures, finance and intellectual property, and subsequently moved to the theatrical motion picture business as a legal and business affairs executive for Columbia Pictures and Rysher Entertainment. In recognition of her work to help establish low income housing for women and children, Ms. Gindler has received the State Bar of California Wiley W. Manuel Pro Bono Services Award.

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Laura Hall (Coterie Theatre ) of Kansas City, MO, is President of the Board of the Coterie Theatre and a member of the board of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.  She also serves on the board of the Center for Practical Bioethics and on the advisory board of Horizon Academy, a private school serving children with learning disabilities.

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Ruth Hendel (Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center) is a commercial theatre producer.  Residing near the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, her love for theatre blossomed because of her exposure to new American plays at the O’Neill conferences. After raising her three children, Ruth began producing with Metamorphoses on Broadway and consequently has co-produced over forty shows. Select credits include: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Raisin in the Sun, Of Mice and Men, Death of a Salesman, and Motherf**cker With the Hat. In 2009, she and her Stephen conceived and produced the musical, Fela! Off-Broadway, on Broadway, and at London’s National Theatre. She is currently represented on Broadway with Hello, Dolly!.  Ruth serves on the boards of The Play Company and the Yale School of Drama. She is Vice-Chair of the Eugene O’Neill Center. Ruth is currently developing four musicals: Monsoon Wedding, which recently finished a run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; StilYagi, presented at NYSAF; A Walk On The Moon, premiering at ACT in spring 2018, and Open Road. She has six delightful grandchildren.

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Cynthia Huffman is on the Board of Trustees of ACT Theatre in Seattle. She served as Board President of Intiman Theatre from 2013 to 2016 and a trustee from 2007-2016. She is on the Board of Trustees of Seattle Children’s Hospital, and currently serves as Chair of its Government Affairs/Advocacy Committee and sits on the Governance Committee; in addition, she volunteers at the hospital weekly supporting patients one on one. She also serves as Co-President of the Friends of Odessa Brown Children's Clinic Guild. Formerly, Cynthia was a member of the Board of Trustees of Childhaven, a center for treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect; served as Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Center on Infant Mental Health and Development at the University of Washington; was a member of the Development Committee at Thrive Washington; and served as Gala Co-Chair for Benaroya Research Institute. Before retiring, Cynthia was Director of Bank Street Head Start in New York City, a child life specialist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and had a business career in broadcast sales management. In recognition of their volunteer efforts, Cynthia and her husband were honored in 2016 with the Lenny Wilkens Foundation Community Service Award.

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Bruce E. H. Johnson (Seattle Repertory Theatre) of Seattle, has been a member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre board of trustees since 1992. A lawyer whose cases have involved defense of freedom of speech, freedom of press and other constitutional rights, he is a partner at the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and is the co-author of a major treatise on First Amendment protections for "commercial speech." Johnson has served as president of the Seattle Rep's board in 1999-2001, and as its chairman in 2004-2006. Since 2011, he has served as chairman of the SRT Foundation, which holds and manages the theatre’s endowment funds.

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Carole Krumland (Roundabout Theatre Company) served on the Boards of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Advisory Board, Project Second Chance (Adult Literacy), San Francisco Shakespeare Festival & Contemporary Art Committee of Oakland Museum. Now serves on Board of University Library UC Berkeley and Advisory Board of Hearst Museum UC Berkeley.

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Myla Lerner (Lean Ensemble Theater) currently divides her time between New York and Hilton Head, SC. In 2015, she helped found Lean Ensemble Theater and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Now in its fourth season, LET will present five productions this year, including a world premiere by Chicago Playwright Nora Anne Leahy. Myla is a Tony Award Winner Broadway Producer (Pippin- Best Musical Revival 2013). Other notable commercial productions in the past decade include: An American in Paris, The Heidi Chronicles, If/Then, Lady Day. Glengarry Glen Ross, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, End of the Rainbow, Lombardi and HAIR.

For the past 40 years Myla has sat on boards of arts and philanthropic causes in New York City and San Francisco (including Women in Need, San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary, Music in the Schools) and continues to do so today in Hilton Head.

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Gail Lopes (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) is the Vice-Chair of the OSF Board of Directors. She is a lawyer with specialties in corporate, employment, technology, and nonprofit law. Gail has served on several nonprofit boards where she has held leadership positions, including Board Co-Chair of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in New York City and Board Chair of Students Rising Above in the SF Bay Area. After earning a JD at Harvard Law School, she spent ten years at the law firm of Morrison & Forester. Gail was also VP of Product Development at an early-stage software company, where she oversaw the development of expert systems and document assembly software for legal and HR professionals. Through a consulting firm she co-founded, Gail has led numerous strategic planning initiatives at both profit and nonprofit organizations. She has been a theatre patron for 35 years.

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Lynelle Lynch (La Jolla Playhouse) is an advocate for the arts and education, dedicated philanthropist and active business leader. Serving on the board of directors of the La Jolla Playhouse for more than two decades, Lynelle has chaired some of the renowned theatre company’s most successful fundraising campaigns and galas. She currently serves as Chairman of the Board, a role that she previously held from 2014 – 2016. In addition to her service and leadership in the arts community, Lynelle also has a heart for helping families and children. She founded the Beauty Changes Lives Foundation and serves on the boards of the Lynch Family Foundation, the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global, and the Career Education Colleges and Universities, where she is a frequent author and contributor.

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Jennifer Melin Miller (Guthrie Theater) is Principal of JMM Consulting Inc, specializing in business development and nonprofit management work. Most recently, she was the Senior Vice President of International Development for Minnetonka Moccasin, a global footwear company, and prior to that, Ms. Miller worked in media companies including Time Inc., Advance Publications, and The New York Times Company. Ms. Miller is the Founder and President of North Star Theatrical to produce and invest in commercial Broadway theater productions and nonprofit theater in Minneapolis and beyond.  She is also the managing member of Stone Arch Theatricals, a Broadway investment partnership. She is a dedicated community leader currently serving on the nonprofit boards of The Guthrie Theater, Achieve Minneapolis, Mission Animal Hospital and Mainspring Arts Cooperative, an innovative producer of touring productions to leading nonprofit theaters nationwide. Ms. Miller received her Bachelor's of Business Administration from The University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Business, Master's of Business Administration from The University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business, and Master's of Public Affairs degree from The University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and was named a 2012 40 Under Forty honoree from the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.

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Ruby H. Melton (Long Wharf Theatre) is a Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Long Wharf Theatre, Chair of its Committee on the Board (responsible for nominating and governance), and a member of its Executive and Strategy Committees.  Ruby also serves on the Advisory Council of Women’s Health Research at Yale and on the Boards of the Shubert Theater-New Haven, Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, and Shepherds (a non-profit which provides disadvantaged students with a college preparatory education). She recently completed a nine-year tenure on the Board of the International Festival of Arts and Ideas where she served as Secretary of the Board and Chair of Nominating and Governance. Ruby practiced maritime and international law in New York after graduating from law school, but spent most of her 35-year career with the Louis Dreyfus Group, one of the world’s oldest commodities merchants. In the years prior to her retirement in 2008 she was Deputy General Counsel of the Group’s partnership with Highbridge Capital Management, where she oversaw all legal and compliance functions for the partnership’s worldwide energy activities. Ruby has a B.A. in English and French literature from what is now Hollins University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. She lives in West Haven, Connecticut, with her wife, Gail McAvay, an epidemiologist by training and a Senior Research Scientist on the faculty of Yale Medical School's Program on Aging.

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David Moore, Jr. Guthrie Theater, trustee 2013-19; currently serving on a fundraising committee Walker Art Center, trustee since 2007; co-chair, Producer's Council.

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Julie Morris (PlayMakers Repertory Theatre) is a member of the PlayMakers Advisory Council in Chapel Hill, NC, and a founding member and co-chair of The Women’s Point of View Leadership Council. In this role, she is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for arts and education, and providing a center of connection for women in the community to explore theatre and the arts. She is an active member of the Humber Society at the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, where she also works to bring women together to support the arts. Julie serves on the Executive Committee and First Team for the Full Frame Film Festival and Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and each year participates in the Aspen Ideas Festival, where she is a Society of Fellows member at the Aspen Institute.

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Eleanor Cook Nolan, (Seattle Children's Theatre) of Seattle, is Past President of the board of Seattle Children's Theatre and a Trustee of SCT for 23 years. A Regent of George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, she is a trustee of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture/the State Museum of Washington.

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Toni Rembe, (American Conservatory Theater) is a past president and a member of the Emeritus Advisory Board of the American Conservatory Theater and a former board member of the Magic Theatre.  She 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 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 and public companies.

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Deedie Rose (Dallas Theater Center) is a current trustee and Past Chair and Past President of the Board of Trustees of the Dallas Museum of Art and is a founding board member of the AT&T Performing Arts Center.  She has served as a member of the National Council of the National Endowment for the Arts and the board of the National Park Foundation.  She is the immediate past chair of the board of Public Radio International, and also serves on the boards of numerous other not-for-profit organizations, including Texas Christian University, The Trinity Trust, and the Dallas Theater Center Hoblitzelle Foundation and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.  Ms. Rose has received the Anti-Defamation League Humanitarian Award, the TACA Neiman Marcus Silver Cup award, given annually for distinguished service to the arts, and in 2013 received the Linz Award, given annually to an individual whose civic efforts created the greatest benefit to the city of Dallas.  She is currently serving as the chair of the Trinity Park Conservancy (formerly the Trinity Trust)

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Theodore Rosky (Actors Theatre of Louisville) has served on the Actor's Theatre of Louisville board since 1995.  Active in many of the arts, he also has served on the board leaderships of the Louisville Orchestra, Kentucky Opera, Louisville Fund for the Arts, and New Performing Arts, as well as on numerous other boards.  Now retired, he spent his career in two large financial services concerns in a variety of line and staff positions.  His wife and daughter both are professional musicians (viola and violin, respectively) who play in various ensembles and teach.  He and his wife are avid collectors of outdoor sculpture.

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Jeremy Shamos (Curious Theatre Company) is the Board Chair of Curious Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Active in many performing arts organizations, he has served in leadership positions at Opera Colorado (where he and his wife, Susan, were Co-Chairs 2003-2007), Colorado Children's Chorale and the Acting Company of New York, on whose executive committee he currently sits. Now retired, he is a lawyer by training and spent much of his professional career with Mark Goodson Productions in New York and Los Angeles. He also had several years in Paris, France as a young lawyer at Coudert Freres, several more as the founder of a public interest law firm in Denver, Colorado, and several more as counsel to Governor Richard L. Lamm of Colorado. He is married with four children and six grandchildren. If you Google "Jeremy Shamos", you are more likely to find his son, a working actor in New York.

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David Shiffrin (Arena Stage) is a former real estate attorney with over 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate field. He was a partner with the law firm of Linowes and Blocher until 1991 when he joined the Resolution Trust Corporation where he was Senior Counsel for Real Estate.  He also served in that capacity at the FDIC when the RTC completed its work.  After leaving the FDIC, Mr. Shiffrin was a Special Advisor to the FCC Auctions Division, assisting the Commission with its auction program of wireless telecommunications spectrum. Mr. Shiffrin served from 1999-2000 as the Interim Executive Director of CulturalDC (fka Cultural Development Corporation), a private nonprofit organization in Washington, DC, that engages in real estate development for the arts. Mr. Shiffrin serves on the Board of Trustees of Arena Stage in Washington, DC.  He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Greater Washington Community Foundation the Board of CulturalDC.   He co-chaired the capital campaign for the Source Theater, a project of CulturalDC.   He has been a member of the Boards of Trustees of WETA and Facilitating Leadership in Youth (FLY), served on the Clark University Board of Visitors, and served for many years at The Maret School as a senior advisor to the Scholarship Auction.  Mr. Shiffrin was the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Arena Stage from 2010 until 2013 and currently serves as a Vice Chair of the Arena Board. Mr. Shiffrin has a B.A. from Clark University and a J.D. from the New England School of Law.   Mr. Shiffrin is married to the former Peggy Kobacker. 

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Diane Whatton (Lookingglass Theatre Company) heads Community Giving for BMO Harris Bank. In this role, she has responsibility for the bank’s philanthropic strategy and governance across the U.S. footprint. Diane manages a team whose community partnerships span a diverse spectrum of nonprofits and whose work includes corporate donations, charitable sponsorships, and executive board placements. She serves as primary advisor on nonprofit engagement to the bank’s executive and senior leadership team, exploring philanthropic opportunities and partnerships that help address the needs of the community and that fit the breadth of BMO company values. Prior to joining Community Giving, Diane worked in Treasury Management Sales for 13 years at BMO, partnering with the Food and Agribusiness and Asset-Based Lending national relationship teams. A native Californian, Diane has lived and worked in Chicago for over 25 years and considers it home. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory. A fan of the arts, Diane has served on the board of Lookingglass Theatre since 2006 and is currently Vice President and co-chair of the Governance Committee. She is also a former board member of Arts Alliance Illinois. Diane has participated on panels on corporate philanthropy, most recently for the Chicago Literacy Alliance, Arts Alliance Illinois, and the Chicago Cultural Alliance. She is a 2017 recipient of Chicago United’s Benefactor Award.

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Diane C. Yu (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Soho Repertory Company) is the Advisor to Leadership at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and Executive Director of the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Community Programs at NYUAD. She teaches leadership classes at NYU New York, the NYU Abu Dhabi Summer Academy, the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Scholars Program, and NYU Shanghai. Previously she was the Deputy President of New York University, Chief of Staff and Deputy to the President of NYU, Managing Counsel at a Fortune 500 company, State Bar of California General Counsel (for whom she won a case in the U.S. Supreme Court), a White House Fellow, and a California Superior Court Commissioner. She attended Oberlin College (B.A.) and U.C. Berkeley School of Law (J.D.).
She sits on a number of nonprofit boards, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Board, of Directors, of which she is Chair and President, and serves as a Board member for Soho Repertory Company. She previously was a member of the Boards of the American Management Association and Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. She served as President of the White House Fellows Foundation and Association, Vice Chair of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees, and Chair of both the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Women in the Profession and ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. Among her numerous awards are Ten Outstanding Young Women of America, Women’s Leadership Award from the Asian American Bar Association of New York, Trailblazers Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, David Rockefeller Fellow, and an honorary doctorate from City University of New York.

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