Lucinda K. Treat (Chair)

Gilbert Zepeda (Vice-Chair)

Theater Arts Teacher, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School

Susan Cummiskey (Secretary)

Daniel J. Politzer (Treasurer)

Founder and Portfolio Manager, Alerce Advisors

Rosario Dawson

Actress, Men in Black II and Rent

Keven Duffy

Michael A. Jackman

Vice President and General Manager, Deluxe New York

Kristen Joiner

Co-Founder, Scenarios USA; Executive Director, Sustain Dane

Jason Klein

Doug Liman

Director, Mr. & Mrs Smith and Swingers

Avram Ludwig

Producer / Actor, Swingers and Fast Food, Fast Women

Debbie Rogow

Co-Director of the Rethinking Sexuality Education Project, Population Council (Santa Barbara, CA)

Alexandra Shapiro

Senior Vice President, Brand Marketing & Digital, USA Network

Maura Minsky,

Executive Director, Co-Founder

Maura Minsky is the Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Scenarios USA, an educational non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, NY that uses writing and the arts to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-expression in students across the county with a focus on marginalized communities. As a former film and television producer, Maura knows that that everyone has a story that deserves to be heard and that young people need to be part of the conversation around issues that shape their lives. Scenarios USA is built on the belief that by valuing youth, listening to their opinions, and strengthening their critical thinking skills, we can promote healthy relationships and help lower the rate of HIV, STDs and pregnancy among teens.

Maura led Scenarios USA for a decade with Co-Founder Kristen Joiner. Together they launched the REAL DEAL curriculum and contest in 4 regions of the country resulting in 19 films written and directed in partnership between student writers and filmmakers such as Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), David Koepp (writer: Spiderman) and Tamara Jenkins (The Savages). The films are used with lesson plans in classrooms in all 50 states and have aired on Showtime, BET, MTV, Oxygen, IFC, ABC World News Tonight and The Today Show, among other outlets. Scenarios USA has won numerous awards, including the Porter Novelli Award for Excellence and Innovation in Social Marketing, The Council on Foundation Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film & Digital Media, and The Paul Robeson Award for Excellence in Independent Filmmaking.

Maura was a Producer with ABC News for four years, the East Coast Director of Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation from 1995 – 1997, producer of a 10 part series on issues facing young people for HBO, in addition to teaching middle school in Los Angeles. Maura received her B.A. in English and Theatre from Kenyon College.

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Magen Rodriguez,

Youth Leadership and Engagement Associate

Having become part of the Scenarios USA team at the age of fourteen as a semi-finalist in the 2004 What’s the REAL DEAL Writing Contest, working on three of our films: All Falls Down (2004) and The Choices We Make (2006), Man in the Mirror (2010) and attending our annual gala events, Magen Rodriguez continues to work with the organization as the current Youth Leadership and Engagement Alumni Associate Coordinator.
Currently exploring her varied interests in urban studies, culture studies, writing, public policy, media, art, film, and education, Magen is a senior at New York University. She is majoring in Metropolitan Studies with a minor in Spanish. She has partaken in various internships in the realms of education, business, international relations, publishing, and film. She aspires to be an urban planner and an educator in various communities in the U.S. and hopefully, in the international realm. She loves to write and would like to be a publishing ethnographer, political critic, novelist, essayist, filmmaker and artist.
“In my own writing, I want to capture the poetry of Cristina Garcia, the abstract depth of Lucrecia Martel, the complexity of Paul Haggis, and the controversy of Anna Deavere Smith. I enjoy learning, debating, and articulating my ideas on controversial/taboo issues. I would like to develop my creative writing ability and learn how to utilize my academic strength for artistic expression. I would also like to work on bilingual writing to broaden my means on communication and artistic possibility.”

Ernestine Heldring,

Director of Education and Outreach

Ernestine Heldring graduated with Honors from Bristol University (UK) in 1994 with a B.A. in Economic and Social History and completed her Post Graduate Certificate in Education at the Institute of Education in London in 1997. Ernestine taught History for three years at international schools in the Netherlands before moving to New York City in 1999, where she worked for the International Baccalaureate Organization’s North American office. After several years of work as a freelance curriculum writer, she joined the staff of Scenarios USA full-time in January 2008. Ernestine lives with two munchkins in a very wide house in Brooklyn and will be running the New York Marathon in November 2011.

Yi-Ching Lin,

Director of Development

Yi-Ching Lin has been thoroughly engaged in New York City's nonprofit sector, working at both the programmatic and administrative levels. She holds a B.A. from Emory University in Atlanta, GA and a M.A. from New York University. Alongside her development work, Ms. Lin enjoys sharing her artistic passions: photography, writing, and music.

Steph Wahome,

Greater Cleveland Coordinator

Steph Mukenyi Wahome was raised in Cleveland and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After graduation, she pursued non-profit experience and education by working for City Year Inc. in Detroit, Michigan as a Service Leader and in Seattle, WA as a Program Manager. In both cities, she served under-served middle school and high school aged youth. In addition, she earned a Master's in Not-For Profit Leadership from Seattle University. Steph later combined her nonprofit and education experience when she accepted the opportunity to help start up a Charter school in D.C. While working at this charter school, Steph earned a Masters In Elementary Education from American University and fused an Arts integrated curriculum into classrooms as she served as an elementary school teacher, and later as a Year Round Programs Site Manager. After many years of serving other communities, Steph returned to her home in Cleveland to provide education and an arts integrated curriculum for under-served youth.

Rob York,

Director of Media Production and Distribution

Rob York, Director of Media Production and Distribution, is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, has worked as a Producer, Line Producer, Production Manager, and Assistant Director on more than 20 features, as well as industrials, commercials, and television shows.

David Beasley,

Communications Coordinator

David Beasley graduated with a BA in English, Music and Media Studies from Kalamazoo College in 2006. After the requisite two years of work as a server/bartender in his home state of Minnesota he moved to New York City to find work in the always-lucrative non profit universe. He now lives the dream by living and working in Brooklyn where he enjoys playing music with friends and thinking critically about gender, social medias, and signified/signifier relationships.

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Allison Anders
Cruz Angeles
Michael Apted*
Jamie Babbit*
Patricia Cardoso
Shari Carpenter
Cameron Crowe
Julie Dash
Adam Davidson*
Griffin Dunne*
Nora Ephron
Todd Field
David Frankel*
Hector Galán*
David Gordon Green
Peter Hedges
Nicole Holofcener
Tamara Jenkins*
Clark Johnson *
David Koepp*
Malcolm D. Lee
Doug Liman*
Alison Maclean*
Michael Mann
Penny Marshall
Rob Marshall
Joshua Marston *
Jim McKay*
Nigel Nobel
Chazz Palminteri
Kimberly Peirce
Jesse Peretz*
Gina Prince-Bythewood*
Liev Schreiber
Joel Schumacher
Ridley Scott
John Singleton
Charles Stone III
Rawson Marshall Thurber *
John Turturro
Kinan Valdez*
Eva Vives*
Hannah Weyer *
Alice Wu
Ben Younger*
Jessica Yu


* Scenarios USA Alumni Director