Harold Steward Named Chair Of Theatre Communications Group Board

Theatre Communications Group has announced Harold Steward (they/he), the executive director of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), as chair of the TCG board. Steward succeeds Nikkole Salter (she/her), who served as the TCG board chair from July 2020 through July 2023. Steward is joined by vice chairs John Fontillas (he/him), planner, architect, partner, H3, New York, NY; Hana S. Sharif (she/her), artistic director, Arena Stage, Washington, DC; and Merrique Jenson (she/her), director of SocialScope Productions, Director of Transformations Youth Organization, Kansas City, MO. Jensen succeeds Eileen J. Morris as vice chair. TCG's slate of board officers also includes treasurer Angela Lee Gieras (she/her), executive director, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Kansas City, MO; and secretary Cynthia Fuhrman (she/her), vice president, executive search, Tom O'Connor, Consulting Group, Portland, OR. Furhman succeeds Lisa Portes as secretary. TCG will announce a new class of trustees in 2024.

“We are deeply grateful to outgoing chair Nikkole Salter's leadership during the very worst years of the pandemic,” said Teresa Eyring, executive director and CEO, TCG. “Now it is our joy to welcome Harold Steward to the role of board chair at a time of both challenge and opportunity. Their perspective as a cultural strategist, theatre leader, and now funder will be invaluable as we meet this moment of crisis and chrysalis for our theatre ecology. Harold has brought vision, joy, and care to their work as a TCG trustee, and I look forward to working with them and the whole of the board in my final year at TCG.”

“It is a great honor to serve in this leadership role at TCG at this time,” said Steward. “TCG has been instrumental in my understanding of myself as a theatre practitioner since high school and advancing the work of our field since its founding. This is a critical moment in our field and our society and with your support the board of TCG feels poised to help advance our field's desires and opportunities.”

Over the past year, TCG evolved its governance ecology as part of its new strategic plan to model new ways of sharing power at the board level. In the place of a single board structure, TCG will be governed by a Viability Board, working alongside Task Forces in four priority areas: Next Generation, Breaking Barriers, Global Connectivity, and Capitalization. The current Viability Board includes: May Adrales (she/her), theatre director, New York, NY; Jennifer Bielstein (she/her) (LORT Liaison), executive director, American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, CA; Jeremy B. Cohen (he/him), producing artistic director, Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis, MN; Kelvin Dinkins Jr. (he/him), executive director, American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, MA; Teresa Eyring (she/her), executive director, Theatre Communications Group, New York, NY; John Fontillas (he/him), planner, architect, partner, H3, New York, NY;  Cynthia Fuhrman (she/her), vice president, executive search, Tom O'Connor, Consulting Group, Portland, OR; Nataki Garrett (she/her), independent artist; Fairfield, CA; Hanay Geiogamah (he/him), professor of theater/professor of American Indian Studies, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, UCLA American Indian Studies University of California at Los Angeles and artistic director, The American Indian Dance Theater, Los Angeles, CA; Angela Lee Gieras (she/her), executive director, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Kansas City, MO; Qween Jean (she/her), Founder, Black Trans Liberation, New York, NY; Merrique Jenson (she/her), director of SocialScope Productions, Director of Transformations Youth Organization, Kansas City, MO; Laurie McCants (she/her), co-founder, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, Bloomsburg, PA; and Hana S. Sharif, artistic director; Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Since its founding in 1961, TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 Member Theatres and affiliate organizations and over 7,000 Individual Members. Through its programs and services, TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year. TCG offers networking and knowledge-building opportunities through research, communications, and events, including the annual TCG National Conference, one of the largest nationwide gatherings of theatre people; awards grants and scholarships to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America's largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 20 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH, the essential source for a career in the arts. TCG believes its vision of “a better world for theatre, and a better world because of theatre” can be achieved through individual and collective action, adaptive and responsive leadership, and equitable representation in all areas of practice. TCG is led by executive director and CEO, Teresa Eyring. www.tcg.org.

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