Valley Youth Theatre Welcomes New Board Members

Valley Youth Theatre (VYT) added five new voting members to its board of directors in the last quarter of 2014.

"It's wonderful to have board members who 'get' what we do," said Producing Artistic Director Bobb Cooper. "Lisa Khan, Sara Dial, Daniel DenBoer, David Carruth and Zsolt Milutinovics are as diverse as...any group of young people we've had audition for one of our shows!"

"I have always been interested in and supportive of the performing arts," said David Carruth (Phoenix resident), CFP, AAMS and financial advisor at Edward Jones, who makes it a point to attend theater - even when traveling to New York City and London.

Daniel DenBoer (Scottsdale), principal at the Phoenix office of the audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP, is a partner in the Strategic Services practice focusing on delivering growth strategy, rapid EBITDA improvement and cost optimization for a variety of private and public sector clients.

"With 20 years of business consulting experience, I want to give something back to the youth and community," said DenBoer who has run three small business in Arizona and is an expert in strategy, operations and overall corporate performance improvement.

"VYT is ready to go to the next level and I would like to help take it there," said Sara Dial (Scottsdale), CEO at the economic development consulting firm Sara Dial & Associates. She serves on several boards including Arizona School for the Arts, BBVA Compass Bank and Grand Canyon University.

Lisa Khan (Phoenix), an attorney who founded Kid Power USA to teach young people how to back to their communities, has been a patron and cast parent of the theatre company for more than 10 years. "VYT is invaluable for the young people because it gives them the ability to be articulate and self-confident, which carries through to their school and in life," said Khan.

"I enjoy the art of acting," said Zsolt Milutinovics (Tempe), vice president & branch manager for Meridian Bank, N.A. in Scottsdale, "and have been looking for a way to be part of an organization that positively influences young people in the community."

VYT's Board is chaired by Frank McCune (APS) and vice chaired by Jim Rough (Navigant Consulting). Colleen Gautam (Snell & Wilmer LLP) is secretary and Dustin Marshall (Community Medical Clinic) serves as treasurer. Bobb Cooper represents the theatre as its producing artistic director.

Other current board members include Michele Bax (Ballard Spahr LLP), Dr. Martin Blume (Blume Skin Centre), Joe Chandler (Fennemore Craig, P.C.), Greg Gnepper (Gammage & Burnham P.L.C.), Beverly Huff (Western Refining), Rebekah Mendez (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona), Jennifer Pescatore (Bank of Arizona), Laura Stover (Nearhood Law Offices, PLC) and Howard Weiss (Nussbaum Gillis & Dinner, P.C.); Hope Ozer (Phoenix Manhattan Group, LLC) serves as Chair Emeritus.

To post a comment, you must register and login.