Staff
Joan Jeffri is the Founder and Director Emerita of the Research Center for Arts and Culture housed first at Columbia University and now at the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), and of the Performing Arts Legacy project. Author of over 30 studies and three books on artists and arts management, she is former Director of the Program in Arts Administration at Columbia and past President of the Association of Arts Administration Educators and the International Arts Medicine Association. She is an honorary professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Learn more at joanjeffri.com.
Traci DiGesu, L.M.S.W., is the Director of Housing Services and Activity Programs, for the Entertainment Community Fund. She recently developed and opened a new older adult learning center for performing arts professionals 65+ called The Waldman Living Room in NYC. Traci spent 25 years as a Costume Designer for theater, dance and film. She holds an MSW from Rutgers School of Social Work with a concentration in Management and Policy and a certificate in Aging and Gerontology.
Jac Ford (she/her) is currently the Activities Coordinator at the Waldman Living Room, a division at the Entertainment Community Fund that fosters and builds community, education, and socialization for industry professionals 65+. She is a NY-based actor, playwright, and poet. Education: University of Virginia. Jac-Ford.com.
Justin Goldberg is the founder of Momentum Digital Marketing, a web development and online marketing consultancy for the arts and higher education. He is a graduate of the Arts Administration Program at Columbia University Teachers College and Princeton University.
Performers’ Advisory Committee
Carmen de Lavallade
Dancer, actor, choreographer
Martha Wilson
Founder and Director, Franklin Furnace
Legal Advisory Committee
Richard Heller
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz
June Besek, E.D.
Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts
Director, International Intellectual Property Program, Columbia Law School
Former RCAC Advisory Board Member
Steven Chaikelson
Professor and Head of Theatre Management & Producing Concentration
Columbia University School of the Arts
David Cohen
Former RCAC Advisory Board Member
Former Executive Director, AFL-CIO, Department of Professional Employees
Technical Advisory Committee
Michael Ashenfelder
Consultant
Former Director, Digital Personal Archiving, Library of Congress
Robb Detlefs
Director, West Coast Operations & Strategic Initiatives
Gallery Systems
Doug Reside, PhD
Lewis and Dorothy Cullman Curator for the Billy Rose Theatre Division
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Farris Wahbeh
Director of Research Resources, Whitney Museum of American Art
Carmen Wiedenhoeft
Technology Coordinator, ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY
Research Center for Arts and Culture
