Board

Pam Krill

President, CTM representative

Pam Krill is a shareholder in the Investment Management Practice Group at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C., a law firm headquartered in Milwaukee. She has practiced law for over 30 years, with a focus on corporate and securities law. She is a native Madisonian, with deep roots in the community. Pam served as a member of the inaugural Board of Directors of MYArts during its first four years of operation, and is thrilled to be back in the role of President. Pam is a past member of the Board of Directors of Children’s Theater of Madison, and a member of the Business & Finance Committee of Edgewood High School.

Laurie Nason Fellenz

Vice President, MYC representative

Laurie Nason Fellenz has spent the last 35 years of her career as a youth arts advocate and knows the work will never be finished until every child has access without barriers to a well-rounded education inclusive of the arts. Laurie is the current executive director for Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA), Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA), and Wisconsin Foundation for School Music (WFSM). Additionally, Laurie currently serves as the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Council of State Executives chair and is serving a two-year term on the NAfME Equity Committee (2022-2024). She is also proud to have spent nearly 30 years of her career with the Madison Metropolitan School District as an arts administrator and music educator.

Pam Woodman

Secretary, CTM representative

Pam is a community arts and theater advocate with a public relations and legal background. As a board member of MYArts, she uses her communications expertise to assist in advancing its growth and mission in the Madison area. She also serves as a board member for Children’s Theater of Madison (CTM) and is a past board member of the Friends of the Henry Vilas Zoo and the Madison Public Library Foundation, among others. Pam is also the Director of Donations for Woodman’s Food Markets. Prior to her focus on nonprofits, she served as the Global PR Director for Baker & McKenzie, a mega law firm headquartered in Chicago.

Jessica Schwefel

Treasurer, community representative

Dr. Jessica Schwefel is a singer, voice teacher, and business owner in the Madison area. She passionately believes that arts exposure has the power to enhance lives, and she strives to make the arts accessible for all. Jessica has previously been on faculty at UW-Whitewater, Madison College, and UW-Oshkosh. In addition to her duties as Treasurer for the MYArts Board of directors, Jessica currently serves as Corresponding Secretary for the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).

Emaan Abdel-Halim

Community representative

Emaan serves as a MYArts community board member with a lifelong admiration and enjoyment of the arts in all its forms, theatre and live music. She is a strong believer that art and music connect us across all cultures, removes barriers of languages, promotes our humanity and an inclusive community.

In her youth, she participated in school theatre – both on and back stage, various choirs, and dabbled in piano. Emaan’s latest artistic (and lifelong) pursuit is finally learning to play bass guitar.

As a Human Resources professional, she uses her expertise to consult and advise MYArts on an array of human resources policies and topics. Emaan currently works full time as the Human Resources Services Manager for the City of Madison. Her career has spanned across private sector, non-profit fundraising, and local/state government.

Brittany Coleman

Community representative

Yorel F. Lashley

Member, community representative

Yorel Lashley is the Director of Programs in the Office of Professional Learning and Community Education at UW–Madison’s School of Education and Director of Student Empowerment for the Center for Arts Education and Social and Emotional Learning. He is a developmental psychologist interested in self-efficacy and social-emotional learning in arts, academic, and integrated environments as well as the Founder/Director of Drum Power. Drum Power uses learning West African Traditional, Afro-Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban percussion to help young people develop and practice social-emotional skills-discipline, community, and leadership. The program has supported more than 4,000 young people from New York City, Denver, and Madison, Wisconsin to date.

Beth Ryan

CTM representative

Beth Ryan fell in love with the arts early on. She has a BFA in technical theater from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Beth is a retired Vice President of U. S. Bank, N.A. after 31 years. She worked in the trust area focused on businesses and nonprofits. Beth was a tutor at White Horse Middle School, taught banking classes, and was a Loaned Executive for United Way. She was on the board and became president of the Girl Scouts of Black Hawk Council now Girl Scouts of Wisconsin-Badgerland. Beth then joined the board of the Children’s Theater of Madison for 9 years, serving as board president at the end of her term. She has participated in various other volunteer opportunities in the community.

David Schmiedicke

MYC representative

David Schmiedicke is the Finance Director for the City of Madison. He is a
career budget and finance professional with 37 years of experience in Wisconsin state and local government, including serving as the State of Wisconsin Executive Budget and Finance Director, Administrator of the State of Wisconsin Building Program, and Secretary of the State of Wisconsin Building Commission. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. David is a lifelong Madison resident and is a past member and treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Madison Youth Choir.

Dan Sinclair

MYC representative

Dan is a software developer by trade but a product of Madison’s excellent youth arts programs. A Madison Boychoir alum, he married a fellow chorister from UW-Eau Claire after moving back to Madison. Having served on the Madison Youth Choir board for many years and being a proud parent of two MYC singers, he’s excited to start a new chapter of service to Madison youth arts through this exciting new organization.

Madison’s Youth Arts Center’s Board of Directors is made up of members who benefit from white privilege and members who experience systemic racism and oppression. Together, they make this promise: Madison’s Youth Arts Center (MYArts) stands in solidarity with communities of color and people who suffer racial injustices in our local community and across the country. We share in the anger and grief of historical racial injustices and marginalization. We pledge to do our part to fight for the changes that are so desperately needed. We commit to looking inward and examining our own beliefs and actions. The MYAC Board of Directors promises to invest in diversity as we build the center, and work to abolish the effects of structural racism. We promise to build a thriving hub of discovery and creativity in which youth from all backgrounds experience a true sense of safety, belonging and celebration of identity.

EMAIL OR CALL US

To learn more about becoming a donor, serving on our board or a committee, ask questions, or to inquire about space use, please email us or call us at (608) 416–1945.

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info@madisonyoutharts.org

(608) 416-1945

1055 E Mifflin Street
Madison, WI 53703