Advisory Board

Thomas Armstrong
Sands Advisory Board Chair

Tommy has been serving as the Inaugural Chair of the Sands College of Performing Arts since its establishment in the Spring of 2023. A lifelong enthusiast and patron of the performing arts, he has also been deeply committed to community advocacy, holding board positions across various local, national, and international organizations. He holds dual master’s degrees in education from the University of Virginia and Business Administration from the University of Alabama. After a distinguished 35-year career in financial services, he retired from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Tommy is a member of several cultural and civic institutions, including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, the Perelman Performing Arts Center, the New York Society Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Trinity Church Neighborhood Council, and the University of Aberdeen Foundation. He is also a member of New York Road Runners and is honored to be a part of the Sands College of Performing Arts family at Pace University.

Hillary Blanken Gallo
Owner of Juniper Street Productions

Founded in 1998, Juniper Street Productions has become an industry leader in providing production management for Broadway, across North America, and internationally. Juniper Street has strong ties within the theatre community in New York.

Nicholas Buzzell '05, Communication Studies
CEO and co-founder of NBTV Studios

Established in NYC in 2008, NBTV is a booming global media and interactive studio that creates innovative, multi-platform, media experiences on television, film, web and mobile for industry heavyweights such as NBC Universal, Coke, Walmart, Warner Music, and Johnson and Johnson. NBTV innovative shoppable channels include Spirits Networks and the Golf Nation.

Fred Gallo
President and Co-Founder of PRG Productions
PRG Scenic Technologies

Fred holds patents for theatrical equipment he designed and frequently serves as a consultant on the engineering of theatrical rigging systems for theatres worldwide. Over the last decade, he has designed the renovation of over 135 theatres to enable them to present large and technically sophisticated productions. In 2020 he was awarded at the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre.

Lucas Katler
Tony Award Winning Producer

Lucas Katler develops innovative projects across Theater and Film. Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along (Best Revival Tony Award®), Slave Play (the second most Tony Award®-nominated play in Broadway history), POTUS (BroadwayWorld Audience Pick for Best Play of 2022), and David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim’s groundbreaking Her Lies Love. Lucas also produced Off Broadway (NYT Critic's Pick), directed by Robert O'Hara, for Broadstream in association with Jeremy O. Harris, and Safety Not Guaranteed at BAM, written by Nick Blaemire and Guster's Ryan Miller and directed by Lee Sunday Evans. Lucas has worked for Theater Agent Susan Weaving at WME, as Associate Producer to the Tony Award-Winning Producer Barbara Whitman (Fun Home, A Strange Loop), and across all departments for Scott Rudin. Lucas completed the Commercial Theater Institute's 14-Week Producing Intensive and is a proud alumnus of Dartmouth College.

Jonathan Levy
Influencers, Founder, Chief Scientist, Author

Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist best known for his work in influence, human connection, and adventure. He is the author of the upcoming book, You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence and previously, The 2 AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure.

Katie Maguire
Artistic Director and CEO, Berkshire Theater Group

Berkshire Theater Group’s mission is to support wide-ranging artistic exploration and acclaimed performances in theatre, dance, music and entertainment. Berkshire Theatre Group’s celebrated four stages reflect the history of the American theatre; they represent a priceless cultural resource for the community. Our vision is to be a center for creative work that enriches, educates, invigorates, transforms, and strengthens our community for the better.

Artisha Mann Cooper
Film Maker, Producer, Advocate

Artisha Mann Cooper has forged an impressive career as a go-to Producer and multi-hyphenate artist. She started her career as an producing assistant to James Lipton on "Inside The Actors Studio" and has worked on films such as "Bikini Sunshine," with Academy-nominated director Milcho Manchevski, "Before During After," with Kristine Sutherland and John Pankow, "I Can I Will I Did, with Selena Leyvas and Ben Faist, the Cinequest Audience Award-winning thriller "Slapface," starring August Maturo, Mike Manning, and Dan Hedaya, "The Inspection" with Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeremy Pope. Additionally, Artisha has worked for Wayfarer Studios overseeing filmmakers with mentors Cathy Yan, Brad Silberling, Nzingha Stewart, Bilal Fallah, Adil El Arbi & Jim Byrkit. She is an Advisory Board Member of Pano (formerly New York Women Filmmakers).

Kiran Merchant
Architect, producer, filmmaker; Founder, Merchant Aviation

Originally from Mumbai, India, and now Kiran lives and works in NYC for past 30+ years. He is an architect and a filmmaker trained in NY. Kiran's credits as a Director/Producer/Actor spans over 35 years in Film, Television, Advertising and Theater in the US, UK and India. Kiran recently co-wrote, directed and produced a feature film 'QuarterLife Crisis' a quirky romantic comedy about singles dating scene in New York City, Quarterlife Crisis was released worldwide in 2007 and has been sold in more than 25 countries around the world and on Showtime, Netflix and Amazon in the U.S. Among his many acting credits include popular TV shows like Sinner, Law and Order and acclaimed films like 200 Cigarettes and Trust The Man. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab of New York.

John Mezzo
SVP, People Business Partner, Saks Global

Human Resources executive and certified executive coach through iCoachNY/Baruch College- adept at leading HR functions for multi-billion-dollar world class brands. Keen ability to drive engagement, develop talent management strategies, lead change management/global internal communications, enhance corporate culture, build and execute succession planning programs, and attract and retain key talent.

“My ultimate goal is to help businesses and people reach their true potential!"

Outside of work I pursue my passion for theater. I do this by bringing the performing arts to my community through acting in and directing plays and musicals. Human Resources executive and certified executive coach through iCoachNY/Baruch College- adept at leading HR functions for multi-billion-dollar world class brands. Keen ability to drive engagement, develop talent management strategies, lead change management/global internal communications, enhance corporate culture, build and execute succession planning programs, and attract and retain key talent. “My ultimate goal is to help businesses and people reach their true potential!" Outside of work I pursue my passion for theater. I do this by bringing the performing arts to my community through acting in and directing plays and musicals.

Christina Papagjika
Tony Award Winning Producer

Christina's theater credits include the 6-time Tony Award-winning and Olivier Award-winning Best Musical Kinky Boots with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper (Broadway, US Tour, London's West End, Australia, Toronto, South Korea and Japan), the Tony-winning play War Horse, the 2012 Broadway revival of the beloved musical Annie, and the off-Broadway hit Here Lies Love with music and lyrics by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim.

Select film credits include Lee Daniels' The Butler (starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, and Lenny Kravitz), Rebel in the Rye (starring Nicholas Hoult and Kevin Spacey), Worth (starring Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci and Amy Ryan), and the upcoming Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

Nicky Paraiso
Director of Programming at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club

Nicky Paraiso is an actor, musician, writer, performance artist and curator. He has been Director of Programming for The Club at La MaMa since 2001, and is responsible for its surge of theater, performance, dance and cabaret programming. He is also Curator for the annual La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival, celebrating its eleventh season in May 2016. Nicky is a graduate of Oberlin College/Conservatory and holds an M.F.A. from New York University's Graduate Acting Program.

Andrea Pinkney
Author and Vice President at Scholastic, Inc.

Andrea Davis Pinkney is the author of numerous books for children and young adults, including picture books, novels, works of historical fiction and nonfiction who writes about African-American culture.

Michael Pitt
Producer, Director-Film and Television

Michael Pitt is a 37-year veteran of Film and Television Production, and a 27-year veteran of the Directors Guild of America. He came up as an Assistant Director, working on films such as Hitch, The Devil Wears Prada, and Michael Clayton, and television shows such as 30 Rock, Sex and the City, and Person of Interest. His UPM credits include Ocean’s 8, The Wrong Missy, and The Gilded Age on HBO. Currently he is in production on a show for NBC Universal called Hysteria!

Trish Santini
Visionary Non-Profit Leader

Trish Santini served as the Inaugural Executive Director of Little Island NYC, a new $250M public park with three performance spaces (700 seat amphitheater, 300 seat open plaza, 200 seat intimate stage) designed by Heatherwick Studio and MNLA, and funded by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation. She was part of the design and construction team guiding all decisions relating to operations, ensuring a seamless transition from construction to management. She developed Little Island’s public mission, artistic vision and organizational structure as well as the operating plan and annual budgets, resulting in experiential, operational and fiscal success and sustainability. In the first two summer seasons, Little Island presented more than 400 performances (music, dance, theater, comedy, circus and family) with over 75,000 attendees. Prior to Little Island, Trish held several executive roles including serving as the External Relations Director and Producer at the Guthrie Theater, Vice President/Marketing at TMG-The Marketing Group, Marketing Director at the Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles.