Wednesday, March 6, 2024
5:30 pm ET
IN-PERSON
DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018
$30.00 - General Admission*
An incredible panel discussion with powerful women who are leading and influencing the arts sector followed by a special performance of works by women composers and light refreshments.
Moderated by Jeannie Sager, Director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute.
Opening remarks by Yolanda F. Johnson, Founder, Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy
Followed by a special performance of Music She Wrote, A Celebration of Women Composers by
Dr. Brooke Bryant, Soprano
Yolanda F. Johnson, Soprano
Michael Eisenberg, Harpsichord and Piano
Join Us
Thank you for your interest! Registration is now closed.
Registrants will receive event details prior to the event.
*Free to current members of the WOC Greater New York/Tri-State Chapter. Please contact: info@yfj-consulting.com to RSVP.
By registering for this Women of Color in Fundraising and Development (WOC)® event, I give consent for my photograph to be taken and possibly used on the organization’s intranet, internet, newsletters, board reports, and other organizational materials as needed. I understand that I am not eligible for compensation for use of my photo and I may not be informed in advance of the specific use of those images.
Speakers
Brooke Bryant
Executive Director, Cornell University's Northeast Corridor Alumni Affairs and Development Office
Originally from Enid, Oklahoma, soprano Brooke Bryant received her PhD in Historical Musicology from the CUNY Graduate Center. Brooke studies with Sally Sanford, with whom she also collaborates as a duet partner, and has appeared with esteemed ensembles such as Musica Nuova and Ensemble Chanterelle. She is the founder and Artistic Director of the early music trio Charites, called “a captivating triad” by Show Business Weekly. Charites has performed at institutions such as Columbia University, Galapagos Art Space, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Juilliard, Boston Early Music Festival (Fringe Concert Series), the University of Utah, the CUNY Graduate School and University Center, and Manhattan College. The ensemble has collaborated with the Baroque dance/theater troupe Company XIV, performing Brooke’s original compositions and arrangements of pop and classical music in productions including Le Cirque Féerique and Snow White. Brooke is also a professional choral singer with prior chorister positions at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Chamber Choir and Grace Church Choir. She is honored to have created Music She Wrote with Yolanda and to see it grow and thrive, 10 years later. This will be her first performance since giving birth to her daughter, Frida, in 2021. A nonprofit leader, Brooke currently serves as Executive Director of Cornell University's Northeast Corridor Alumni Affairs and Development Office.
Michael Eisenberg
Founding artistic director of chamber ensembles Le Nuove Musiche and Ensemble for the Seicento
Harpsichordist and pianist Michael Eisenberg has garnered international acclaim for his interpretation of women composers from the Baroque through today. His performances have championed the creativity of living women composers including in U.S. premieres of Thea Musgrave and Sofia Gubaidulina. His research on the Concerto delle donne as a Folger Institute fellow led to his organization of a symposium focusing on the voices and expression of early-modern women ("Virtuossissime Cantatrici: Early-Modern Italian Women in Music," CUNY). Michael is the recipient of a CUNY Women's Studies Grant for the reconstruction of Valerie Bettis's choreographic masterpiece “As I Lay Dying.” For six years, he was presented in ongoing recitals of Italian women composers including Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini by Carnegie Hall. As a member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild roster, he was selected to perform for the Placido Domingo Met Gala celebration. Michael has performed throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East, and has appeared on the National Public Radio, the BBC, CBC, RAI, and HBO. His recording credits include two-time finalist prizes with recording contracts in the EMA/Dorian international recording competition. Michael is the founding artistic director of chamber ensembles Le Nuove Musiche and Ensemble for the Seicento. With masters degrees in harpsichord and piano from the Mannes College of Music as a Sylvia Marlowe Fellow, a Ph.D. from the City University of New York Graduate Center, and a J.D. from Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, Michael Eisenberg has served on the Columbia University and Fordham University music faculties. He recently completed an AMS Janet Levy Fellowship for performance studies on al-Andalus musical diaspora in Morocco and continues this work in 2024 on an Istanbul Research Institute grant.
Yolanda F. Johnson
President and Founder, YFJ Consulting
Yolanda F. Johnson has had an outstanding career, crafting a life which brings together her role as a performing artist and philanthropy thought leader; as a composer, as an educator, and as a supporter of the arts and Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. She completed her Bachelors degree in voice performance and graduate studies in voice, and an M.A. in Arts Management, with a philanthropy focus. Yolanda has performed nationally and internationally in many musical venues including opera, concert, oratorio and sacred music. She is an active recitalist/lecturer on several musical subjects, specifically spirituals as related to the Underground Railroad and the works of women composers. Yolanda has recorded an album of Spirituals, Feel the Spirit! and co-created Music She Wrote, a celebration of women composers, with colleagues, Dr. Brooke Bryant and Dr. Michael Eisenberg. She also actively composes new musical works. Yolanda made her New York City debut as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and has performed in many venues and with various presenters across the country. Among the roles she has portrayed are: Magda Sorel in The Consul, Anita Hill in Ben Yarmolinsky’s Clarence and Anita with Underworld Productions Opera Outreach, Noemie in Massenet’s Cendrillon with New York Lyric Opera and Millie in Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedomby Nkeiru Okoye. Yolanda has more than a decade of experience as a worship leader and church music director and she has been a featured presenter at Performing the World International Performing Arts Conference. She was also on the voice and music composition faculty at the Mozartina Music Conservatory and is the Resident Soprano Soloist for Westchester Chamber Soloists. Yolanda has a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector. She has developed training methods for boards and leadership groups in effective fundraising strategy and in racial and gender equity. Additionally, she has successfully launched fundraising and marketing initiatives; created special streams of earned income and special events, including creative strategies for partnerships and sponsorships; secured foundation, corporation and government funding; as well as cultivated a diverse major gifts portfolio. Her philanthropic work includes counseling philanthropists on where to direct their resources, and through her own YFJ Philanthropies, she personally gives back to causes supporting racial and gender equity, those with disabilities, and the arts.
Yolanda is also a current International Advisory Board member of and the former Representative for the Foundation for Post-Conflict Development to the United Nations, a member of the board of trustees of the Hudson River Museum, Special Advisor to the American Composers Orchestra, board of directors of PowHer NY, board of directors of the Lehman College Art Gallery and was the first African American President in the more than 40-year history of Women In Development, New York. Yolanda is also the Founder and President of YFJ Consulting, LLC and Founder of Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC)® and Allies in Action Membership Network™. With her successful performance background as the basis, Yolanda created All the World’s A Stage, a workshop that uses performance practice for confidence building, public speaking, and making the ask for yourself both personally and professionally.
Diana Kemppainen
President and Acting CEO, The Princess Grace Foundation-USA
Diana Kemppainen is a seasoned non-profit arts professional based in New York, NY. She currently serves as President and Acting CEO of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, an organization dedicated to upholding the legacy of Princess Grace (neé Kelly) with its main philanthropic mission, the Princess Grace Awards. Prior to stepping into the leadership role of the organization, Diana spent 15 years at the Foundation guiding the Princess Grace Awards and grants program. During that time she led a comprehensive overview of the Awards program, developed new grant opportunities and cultivated an engaged community of over 900 Princess Grace Award winners.
Prior to her tenure at the Princess Grace Foundation, she worked at Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival. Diana holds a B.A. from Western Washington University and a Certificate in Arts Management from the University of Washington.
Melissa Ngan
President and CEO, American Composers Orchestra
Melissa Ngan cultivates personal and organizational growth through creative acts and collaborative practices. She has over fifteen years of experience in civic practice-based program design; arts administration; diversity, equity, and inclusion practices; professional development and entrepreneurship in the arts; and as a professional flutist. Melissa was previously Founder and CEO of the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble. Active as a speaker and educator, she serves on the faculties of the Eastman School of Music, DePauw University, and DePaul University, and has presented at Opera America, Chamber Music America, and College Music Society. She has consulted with major arts institutions, resulting in bold new directions in civic practice and emerging artist training; recent partners include The Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and San Francisco Opera.
Ebele Okobi
CEO, The New Humanitarian
Ebele Okobi is the CEO of The New Humanitarian, the independent news source reporting on global humanitarian crises to inform prevention and response.
Previously, she was a Venture Partner for Equity and Impact at Ada Ventures. Prior to Ada Ventures, Ebele led Facebook’s Africa, Middle East & Turkey public policy team, was Yahoo’s Global Head of Human Rights, and held roles at Nike, in civil society (at Catalyst and Consumers Union) and as a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk.
Ebele is a Trustee of the Young Vic theatre and of the Whitechapel Gallery, Chair of the Patron’s Board for John Akomfrah for the 2024 Venice Biennale, a Chisenhale Gallery Council member and a member of the Frieze 91 Committee. Ebele also directs the Chinedu Valentine Okobi Fund (in honor of her brother who was murdered by police in 2018). The Fund invests in transformative rest for social justice leaders, in partnership with the California Black Freedom Fund and Grantmakers for Girls of Color.
Jeannie Sager
Director, Women’s Philanthropy Institute;
IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
Jeannie Infante Sager is the director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute which is housed under the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis, Indiana. WPI envisions a world where women donors understand and use their growing power and influence to support causes they care about; where fundraisers and nonprofit leaders take women seriously and approach them in ways that appeal to them; and where both women and men are giving, giving more, and giving more intentionally and effectively. Jeannie leads WPI’s efforts to translate research to practice, works closely with WPI’s national advisory council and serves on the executive leadership team for the LFSoP. She has been quoted in The New York Times, the Washington Post, and Real Simple Magazine. An active speaker on a wide array of topics related to women’s philanthropy, she has presented to national and international audiences.
Jeannie is a seasoned nonprofit executive with over 25 years of experience in health care, higher education, and independent school leadership. She most recently served on the leadership team that created the IU Health Foundation. Nationally, she serves as chair-elect for the Indiana University Alumni Association’s board of managers and on the advisory council for WOC – Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy. In service to women and girls, Jeannie is on the board of directors for Girls Inc. of Greater Indiana and Women for Change Indiana.
Jeannie earned her master’s degree in philanthropic studies from Indiana University where she was a Jane Addams Fellow and earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from Rollins College.