Episode 1: Board Development & Governance

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Shows from Marin Theatre Company, Youth Speaks and Counter Pulse an interdisciplinary arts space

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"We wanna incentivize and give board love too. I think the board is often like the scary people or viewed as the scary people behind the curtains that are doing the work or maybe overseeing or assessing” - Michelle “Mush” Lee, Youth Speaks

This episode is part of our Community Dialogue on the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on our Arts and Culture sector in the San Francisco Bay Area [pause] We are co-producing this special series with our friends at BAVC Media. Over this special six-episode series titled “The State of Our Arts & Culture Organizations” we will feature the voices of innovators, leaders, creators, workers, and funders from our Arts and Culture sector [pause] and the issues, solutions, and actions they are executing to stabilize, sustain, scale and diversify our Arts and Culture sector.

In this episode which is focused on nonprofit Board Development and Governance, we feature the voices of Michelle "Mush" Lee, the Executive Director, of Youth Speaks, Julie Phelps, artistic director and the Executive Director, of CounterPulse, Meredith Suttles, the Managing Director and CEO, of Marin Theatre Company, Jay Mitchell a professor of law and the founding director of the Organizations and Transactions Clinic at Stanford Law School along with my co-host Paula Arrigoni the Executive Director of BAVC Media

Julie Phelps - Artistic & Executive Director, CounterPulse

Julie Phelps is a celebrated curator and performance artist. As Artistic & Executive Director of the interdisciplinary arts space CounterPulse, Phelps combines grassroots community engagement and institutional frameworks to create a dynamic home for art and culture. Most recently, Phelps raised $7 million to renovate and acquire CounterPulse’s building–launching a new model for placing arts at the center of community development. CounterPulse’s facility is acclaimed by the press and featured in architectural reviews, receiving the 2017 Inspiration Award from CONTRACT magazine. Phelps has funded and launched a curated and acclaimed program of performing arts events, community-based programming, and international cross-cultural exchange projects, and tours nationally and internationally as a speaker, U.S. representative, and dance artist.

Michelle “Mush” Lee - Executive Director, Youth Speaks

Mush is a poet, narrative strategist, and pioneer of spoken word pedagogy. A Harvard University Project Zero Fellow, Mush is frequently a featured speaker on the intersection of emergent cultures, racial justice, and solidarity movements, and women of color in leadership. Her talks and writings have been featured on Vogue, HBO, PBS, AfroPop, Summit Series, Social Venture Network, National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE), and the Berkeley Communications Conference.

Mush has shared the stage with powerhouses like Natalie Baszile, Jeff Chang, David Banner, Hope Solo and Harrison Ford. Her writings have been commissioned by the University of California, Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute, Stop AAPI Hate, and See Us Unite campaigns. Mush has also been published in All the Women in My Family Sing, an anthology of essays by women of color at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

In 2019, Mush was invited to serve the City of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Division as a Cultural Strategist-in-Government (CSIG), where she worked in City departments to infuse policymaking and practices with radically creative and culturally-competent thinking and problem-solving to promote civic belonging. Mush is the Vice-Chair of the City of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Commission and a member of the City’s Funding Advisory Committee. In her spare time, Mush enjoys running, organizing her bookshelf, and laughing at mom jokes with her son.

Meredith Suttles, Managing Director & CEO, Marin Theatre Co.

Meredith Suttles, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Marin Theatre Company Meredith is an arts leader with an extensive background in creative and performing arts in the areas of development, management, strategic planning, fundraising, and performance. She has held senior leadership roles at TheaterWorksUSA, Soho Repertory Theatre, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and the New York City Opera. Meredith is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and former EmcArts: Arts Leaders as Cultural Innovators (ALACI) Fellow. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a Steering Committee Member of the Black Theatre Commons.

Jay Mitchell - Founding Director, Organizations and Transactions Clinic at Stanford Law School

Jay A. Mitchell is a professor of law and the founding director of the Organizations and Transactions Clinic at Stanford Law School. The clinic focuses on corporate and transactional practice. Its clients, all of whom are established nonprofit corporations, include national leaders in hunger relief, the performing and visual arts, science education, agriculture, and other fields.  Mitchell's scholarship focuses on bringing design sensibilities and methods to legal practice; his publications encourage lawyers to make sketches in the course of everyday legal work and to be mindful of  graphic design principles in creating legal documents. Before joining the law school in 2007, Mitchell served for nearly 15 years as chief corporate counsel and a member of the legal and finance senior management teams at Levi Strauss & Co., where he was responsible for stockholder, finance, governance, disclosure, and commercial transaction matters. Earlier in his career, Mitchell was a partner at Heller Ehrman in San Francisco, an associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., and law clerk to Judge John Lewis Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Virginia School of Law.

CounterPulse

CounterPulse is a dynamic movement of experimental art that sparks personal transformation and builds enduring community. We provide space and resources for emerging artists and cultural innovators, serving as an incubator for the creation of socially relevant, community-based art and culture. CounterPulse acts as a catalyst for art and action; creating a forum for the open exchange of art and ideas, sparking transformation in our communities and our society. We work towards a world that celebrates diversity of race, class, cultural heritage, artistic expression, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation. We strive to create an environment that is physically and economically accessible to everyone. CounterPulse’s annual Benefit Banquet and Art Party, on Saturday May 6th, from 5pm till midnight. Make a Donation to support affordable space and professional resources for thousands of artists and arts lovers, and help fund our Neighborhood Arts Program, TenderArts. Get engaged as a volunteer to support artist productions, meet folks in your creative community, and make a difference by giving back to a thriving and dynamic arts community at CounterPulse in San Francisco! Rent production space at CounterPulse for your next event and theatrical production to support CounterPulse’s programming.

Marin Theater Company

Marin Theatre Company had modest grassroots beginnings. In 1966, 35 Mill Valley residents came together under the leadership of Sali Lieberman to create the Mill Valley Center for the Performing Arts [MVCPA]. The nonprofit organization brought arts as diverse as film, theater, poetry, dance and concerts of classical, jazz and folk music to Marin County for a decade. After a number of successful community theater productions, MVCPA began to exclusively produce and present theater performances in 1977.

The small group overcame many challenges to put on critically-acclaimed, award-winning plays in a golf clubhouse, a veterans' auditorium and several schools and parks. To acknowledge the organization's specialization in theater arts and expanded regional focus, MVCPA changed its name to Marin Theatre Company in 1984. This marked the beginning of a period of extraordinary growth.

By 1987, MTC had become a professional theater company, opening its own theater complex with onsite administrative offices and joining with other local theaters to negotiate the first regional equity contract in the Bay Area. Since then, MTC began a new play program to support emerging American playwrights, launching a New Works developmental workshop and public reading series in 2004 and establishing two new play prizes in 2007. MTC joined both the League of Resident Theatres and National New Play Network in 2008. MTC is now the leading professional theater in the North Bay and premier mid-sized theater in the Bay Area. Find out more about Summer Camps, Student Matinees and MTC’s education programs

Buy Tickets for future shows to support MTC’s programming. Make a Donation to support our mission to inspire conversation, learning and action that build more inclusive communities. Get engaged as a volunteer to support productions, and patrons as a Volunteer Usher and provide an invaluable service assisting patrons to their seats, answering questions and most importantly, creating a pleasant and welcoming environment for all in attendance. We value you and your interest and generous donation of time.

Youth Speaks

The Voices of Youth Matter. Youth Speaks creates spaces that challenge youth to develop and amplify their voices as creators of societal change. We envision a world in which young people are heard, honored and connected through creative ecosystems of interdependence and care.

Founded in 1996 in San Francisco, Youth Speaks is a leading presenter of Spoken Word performance, education, and youth development programs. Trailblazers of local and national youth poetry slams, festivals, and more, Youth Speaks offers a comprehensive slate of literary arts education programs and provides numerous opportunities for youth to be published and heard. Youth Speaks has worked with hundreds of thousands of youth and has helped create partner programs in 47 cities across the United States. Please check out our Programs Under 21 Writing Workshops, Teen Poetry Slam, Bay Educators for Youth Voice and Unified Slam.

Make a Donation to help us ensure that 2 Bay Area teams can represent the Bay Area at the 26th Annual Brave New Voices Festival. Get engaged as a volunteer to support our ecosystem of care for our emerging artists. From annual community events to regular live performances, and more, we have tons of opportunities for you to volunteer. Search for volunteer opportunities on Volunteer Match

Organizations and Transactions Clinic at Stanford Law School

The Organizations and Transactions Clinic at Stanford Law School provides these services to nonprofit organizations. We do corporate work. We review governance practices. We prepare bylaws, committee charters, and other governance documents. We review and draft contracts and MOUs, prepare template documents, and help plan and execute transactions. We provide advice about corporate structure, growth strategies, merger planning, business model, program, and collaboration design, intellectual property protection, risk assessment, and other big picture matters. Our approach - No Fees, and a Practical orientation. Please check out the Documents Library of over 270 form and precedent legal documents for nonprofit organizations.

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Find out more about the programs of CounterPulse, Marin Theater Company and Youth Speaks

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Thanks to our CoProduction Partner

BAVC Media is a community hub and resource for media makers in the Bay Area and across the country, serving several thousand freelancers, filmmakers, job-seekers, activists, and artists every year. BAVC Media provides access to media making technology, storytelling workshops, a diverse and engaged community of makers and producers, services and resources. Get Training, participate in the MediaMaker Fellowship, become a member and produce shows through the SF Commons program.

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