Staff
Leadership
Meredith Hodges, known as Max, has dedicated her career to building audiences, broadening access, and supporting the creation of ambitious art. With more than 20 years of experience at nonprofit cultural organizations and in the private sector, she is the CEO of The Shed.
Hodges joined The Shed from one of the nation’s largest dance companies, Boston Ballet, where she served as executive director from 2014 to 2023, helping to grow attendance, endowed funds, and the company’s international reputation. Before leading Boston Ballet, she served in senior roles at several New York–based organizations, including Gallim Dance, The Museum of Modern Art, and Bain & Co. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. Hodges served on Harvard University’s Board of Overseers from 2018 – 24, including as chair of the Standing Committee on Humanities and Arts and as president of the Board.
Alex Poots is a widely acclaimed arts and cultural leader who has built major new organizations from the ground up, and who has inspired established organizations to reshape their familiar approaches into more innovative, popular and culturally democratic programs.
Poots was appointed in 2015 as the founding artistic director and CEO of The Shed in NYC, following a decade creating, launching and leading Manchester International Festival (MIF) in the UK. At these organizations, as well at Park Avenue Armory in NYC, the Barbican Centre and Tate Galleries in London, Poots has conceived and developed new ways for arts organizations to realize their missions and visions—commissioning and presenting established and early-career artists and creatives across disciplines and regions, often in new collaborations, and welcoming a range of audiences of all backgrounds to discover their work. In 2023 Poots continued his role as The Shed’s founding artistic director and set up a new kind of production house called North Star Studio.
Poots has forged enduring and fruitful relationships with the artists and creatives with whom he works—from composers to pop artists, theater directors to filmmakers, writers to visual artists, technologists to academics. In the process, he has supported them to evolve artistic formats and realize ambitious projects, drawing large audiences in the process. By questioning established artistic structures and societal constructs, Poots works to bring together creative practices and audiences in new combinations—facilitating, originating, and promoting artistic invention, interdisciplinary practice, and transformative programs through the organizations he leads.
Executive Team
Manny Bejarano, Chief People Officer
Gina Dyches, Chief of Strategic Partnerships
Larae Ferry, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer
Peter Gee, Chief Financial and Administration Officer
Kazumi Kanagawa, Chief of Staff
Brent Radeke, Chief Development Officer
Staff
Civic Programs
Dejá Belardo, Associate Curator, Civic Programs and Visual Arts
Darren Biggart, Director of Civic Programs
Christal Ferreira, Program Manager, Civic Programs and Visual Arts
Daisy Peele, Producer of Civic and Institutional Programs
Development
Melissa Dognazzi, Major Gifts Officer
Angel Genares, Director of Corporate Partnerships
Clara Kennedy, Development Associate
Erika Spinale, Special Events Manager
Mary Steffens, Prospect Researcher
Jennifer Sunshine, Senior Director of Development
Kevin Terwin, Associate Director of Patron Services
Facilities
Rhea Betran, Utility Worker
Dani Farula, Operating Engineer
Vijay James, Operating Engineer
Shawn Kirby, Facilities Supervisor
Angel Martinez, Handyperson
Aleksander Milicevic, Operating Engineer
Matthew Pezzolo, Operating Engineer
Josh Phagoo, Director of Facilities
Peter Pimentel, Dockmaster
Steven Quinones, Utility Worker
Jose Rivera, Handyperson
Cassy Spaduzzi, Facilities Supervisor
Joseph Walton, Associate Director of Facilities
Jeter Jahari West, Utility Worker
Amber Doniere, Extra Utility Worker
Harry Jackson, Extra Utility Worker
Amaaya Lay, Extra Utility Worker
Caleb Miller, Part-Time Utility Worker
Shaniece Mosley, Extra Utility Worker
Aliyah Nesbitt, Part-Time Utility Worker
Joshua Prameraj, Part-Time Utility Worker
Chelsea Ramirez, Extra Utility Worker
Johnny Reyes, Part-Time Dockmaster
Kim Sanchez, Part-Time Utility Worker
Tahatiena Sangster, Extra Utility Worker
Arnold Wright, Part-Time Utility Worker
Finance
David Friedman, Finance Manager
Jean Kwartler, Controller
Taaj Williams, Finance Associate
Debbie Zebeda, Associate Director of Payroll
Marketing and Communications
Phillip Griffith, Editorial Director
Kiana Jackson, Marketing Manager
Dorothy Lin, Associate Director of Design
Christina Riley, Communications Director
Office of the CEO
Sean McCabe, Executive Assistant to the CEO and Board Liaison
People Operations
Mitch Fox, People Operations Manager
Kashiera Franklyn, People Operations Generalist
Program and Production
Yasmeen Abumaizer, Production Department Coordinator
Laura Aswad, Senior Producer
Stuart Burgess, Head Electrician, The McCourt
Naomi Calhoun, Executive Assistant to the Artistic Director
Stefan Carrillo, Head Carpenter, The McCourt
Emily Cauthorne, Production Manager
Trevor Dewey, Head Electrician, The Griffin Theater
Josh Galitzer, Head Carpenter, The Griffin Theater
Bryan Hindle, Production Manager
Jay Janicki, Production Manager
Josh Liebert, Head Audio, The McCourt
Ryan Moore, Head Audio, The Griffin Theater
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Senior Program Advisor
Thomas Recktenwald, General Manager
Ray Romeo, Director of Production
Ted Wondsel, Head Rigger, The McCourt
Madani Younis, Artistic Advisor
Security
Olivier Brunache, Director of Security
LaWanda Dezil, Security Supervisor
Jason Granado, Security Manager
Erickson Joachim, Security Supervisor
Henry Pinckney, Senior Security Supervisor
Celine Acevedo, Part-Time Security Supervisor
Melvin Jones, Part-Time Security Supervisor
Aldo Lanzo, Part-Time Security Supervisor
Julio Lugo, Part-Time Security Supervisor
Strategic Partnerships
Udeme Asuquo, Assistant Manager of Venue Sales
Maggie Cantrick, Project Manager
Sonia Cisneros, Venue Sales Associate
Desirée González Acevedo, Associate Director of Venue Sales
Technology
Elise Bargman, Tessitura Application Specialist
Destiny Howlett, Helpdesk Technician and Administrator
Emma McIntosh, Digital Product Manager
Noel Rodriguez, IT Manager
Jason Wurtzel, Director of IT
Visitor Experience
Matthew Barrows, Visitor Experience Supervisor
Libet Bell, Director of Visitor Experience
Joshua Byrnes, Visitor Experience Manager
Emily Cazares, Visitor Experience Supervisor
Shakira Hill, Visitor Experience Supervisor
Terrelle Jones, Visitor Experience Supervisor
Yao Adja, Visitor Experience Associate
Jeremy Adom, Visitor Experience Associate
Miranda Alicea, Visitor Experience Associate
Nicholas Angeles, Visitor Experience Associate
Ryan Bailey, Visitor Experience Team Lead
Adrian Bermeo, Visitor Experience Associate
Xan Black, Visitor Experience Associate
Ashley Blumlein, Visitor Experience Associate
Abra Burkett, Visitor Experience Associate
Cody Castro, Visitor Experience Associate
Sojo Chance, Visitor Experience Associate
Annalisa D'Aguilar, Visitor Experience Associate
Wayne Dean, Visitor Experience Team Lead
Jean Delkhaste, Visitor Experience Associate
Arianna DeVito, Visitor Experience Associate
Aria Diaz, Visitor Experience Associate
Alaysia Duncan, Visitor Experience Associate
Anneka Farid, Visitor Experience Associate
Jade Fortune, Visitor Experience Team Lead
Aerika Gabbin, Visitor Experience Associate
Rayelle Gardner, Visitor Experience Associate
Gabe Girson, Visitor Experience Associate
Jermaine Greaves, Visitor Experience Associate
Leah Greenhaus, Visitor Experience Associate
Hannah Healy, Visitor Experience Associate
Kehari Hutchinson, Visitor Experience Associate
Andrell Jackson, Visitor Experience Associate
Clara Kennedy, Visitor Experience Team Lead
Safwan Khan, Visitor Experience Associate
Aubrie Knapp, Visitor Experience Associate
Tasia Knight, Visitor Experience Associate
Marcos Lamberty, Visitor Experience Team Lead
Ju Young Lee, Visitor Experience Associate
Ayisha Letosky, Visitor Experience Associate
Dominique McDonald, Visitor Experience Associate
Kash McSherry, Visitor Experience Associate
Nelson Mejia, Visitor Experience Associate
Erika Mesa, Visitor Experience Associate
Thanh Nguyen, Visitor Experience Associate
Brandy Ochoa, Temporary Visitor Experience Team Lead
Lafayette Orsack, Visitor Experience Associate
Nick Panopoulos, Visitor Experience Associate
Teddy Panopoulos, Visitor Experience Associate
Sadie Pillion-Gardner, Visitor Experience Associate
Nico Raimont, Visitor Experience Associate
JD Robison, Visitor Experience Associate
Bruno Roncada, Visitor Experience Associate
Ely Rose, Visitor Experience Associate
Jonathan Santos, Visitor Experience Associate
Isabelle Schneider, Visitor Experience Associate
Joshua Simon, Visitor Experience Associate
Kristy Solomon, Visitor Experience Associate
Sal Stovall, Visitor Experience Associate
Kejaun Tate, Visitor Experience Associate
Mathew Tom, Visitor Experience Associate
Joey Williams, Visitor Experience Associate
Philip Williams, Visitor Experience Associate
Emma Young, Visitor Experience Team Lead
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