Rachel S. Moore

Rachel S. Moore (1982, CA Scholar in the Arts) is president and CEO of The Music Center, Los Angeles’ premier performing arts center. In that capacity, she leads the $70 million company that manages The Music Center campus and operates and programs Grand Park on behalf of the County of Los Angeles. Moore also oversees The Music Center’s work as presenter and curator of programming, including its internationally acclaimed dance series, Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, as well as innovative programs, events and activities that are introducing new audiences to the performing arts. Additionally, she guides The Music Center’s multi-faceted arts education initiatives, which reach over 600,000 children and youth all over Southern California.

“The US Presidential Scholars Program and National YoungArts Foundation program was transformational for me as a young artist. The imprimatur conferred was extraordinarily important to my sense of confidence and cemented my view that striving to become a professional dancer was an achievable dream. I have stayed connected with fellow alumni over the years and I cherish their continuing friendships. I am deeply honored to serve on the Presidential Scholars Foundation Board and look forward to helping the next generation of scholars thrive,” Moore said.

Moore joined The Music Center from American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the world’s great dance companies, where she served as CEO since 2011 and as its executive director since 2004. She is credited with transforming ABT’s brand, securing recognition for the company by the United States Congress as “America’s National Ballet Company” in 2005. Moore comes from the performing arts, having danced with ABT as a member of its corps de ballet from 1984-1988.

Prior to her appointment to lead ABT, Moore served as director of Boston Ballet’s Center for Dance Education (2001-2004). From 1998-2001, she served as executive director of Project STEP, a classical music school for students of color in Boston and managing director of Ballet Theatre of Boston. She has also held senior positions with Americans for the Arts and the National Cultural Alliance, both in Washington, D.C.

Moore served on the advisory committee for the Los Angeles County Equity and Inclusion Initiative, which developed recommendations to enhance the participation and leadership of individuals from underrepresented communities in the arts and served on the board of the LA 2028 Olympic Games Bid Committee. Currently, Moore serves on the board of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, on the Executive Committee of the Central City Association of Los Angeles, as an officer and trustee of the Economic Club of New York, as chair of the Performing Arts Centers Consortium, as a member of the Los Angeles Coalition for Jobs & Economy, on the Board of Advisors of Project STEP and on the Brown University Arts Advisory Council. She served as a member of the Child Performer Advisory Board for the New York State Department of Labor, on the Board of Trustees for Dance/USA from 2007-2012 and the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda from 2007-2012, and as a member of the United States National Commission for UNESCO from 2005-2009. She is the author of a book, The Artist’s Compass: The Complete Guide to Building a Life and a Living in the Performing Arts (May 2016).

She holds an AB in Ethics & Political Philosophy from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, Honors (1992); and an MA in arts management from Columbia University (1994).

A native of Davis, California, Moore spent much of her early childhood abroad with her family, living in India and Saudi Arabia. As a teenager, she spent summers in New York City and trained on scholarship at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School, before becoming a professional ballet dancer. She lives in Los Feliz, CA with her husband Rob Ryan.

Jewel Malone

Jewel Malone serves National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) as its Executive Director overseeing programs, communications, fundraising and operations and has previously held the position as YoungArts COO since 2016. She is fiercely passionate about capacity building for the creative sector and delighted to continue to serve an organization that empowers artists to pursue a life in the arts. Malone is a strategic, results-driven professional with over 15 years of leadership experience across the corporate, government and nonprofit sectors in Chicago and Miami.

Prior to moving to Miami, Malone served as COO of the Chicago Children’s Choir (CCC), which is one of the nation’s largest choral music education organizations. Prior to joining CCC, she served as Deputy Commissioner for the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events where she was instrumental in the creation and development of the 2012 Chicago Cultural Plan, a major public engagement process — the first plan of its kind for the city in over 25 years — with goals for sustainability in the arts and future cultural-economic growth. Jewel Malone’s career started at JPMorgan Chase, where she eventually became Vice President for Corporate Responsibility and Global Philanthropy. Malone stewarded over $14 million of charitable grants toward community development, education and arts and culture programs.

Born in the Philippines and raised in Chicago, Malone received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Connie Clark (1968, GA)

Cornelia A. (Connie) Clark was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in September 2005 and was elected to full eight-year terms in 2006 and 2014. She served as chief justice 2010-2012, becoming the second woman in Tennessee history to serve in that role.

Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Clark served as director of the Administrative Office of the Courts for six years. Clark was appointed circuit court judge of the 21st Judicial District in October 1989 after practicing law for 10 years at Farris, Warfield & Kanaday, now Stites & Harbison. She was elected to a full eight-year term in 1990 and was re-elected in 1998.

Clark earned her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in 1971 and her master of arts in teaching from Harvard University in 1972. Before attending law school, Clark taught high school history and government for four years. In 1979, Clark received her juris doctorate from Vanderbilt University School of Law, where she served as a member of the editorial board for the Vanderbilt Law Review.

Angela Zimmann (1990, OH)

Rev. Angela Zimmann, PhD, CFRE, serves at United Lutheran Seminary (Gettysburg & Philadelphia) as the vice president of institutional advancement and adjunct professor of homiletics. 

Ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America after attaining a degree in industrial engineering, Angela served as a parish pastor from 1998-2014 in Southeast Michigan and overseas in Jerusalem, Palestine/Israel. She also taught full-time at Bowling Green State University in Ohio while pastoring in Southeast Michigan, simultaneously teaching honors classes and intensive introductory classes for students who needed more help.

Her elected experience includes serving as president of the Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West School Board, trustee for the Ohio School Boards Association, president of the Northwest Region of Ohio School Boards, and member of the School Board of the Anglican International School in Jerusalem.

In 2012, Angela was the Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives in Ohio’s 5th District. Endorsed by Democracy for America, the campaign garnered a larger percentage of votes and raised more campaign funds than any candidate in the recent history of OH-5.

Locally, Angela is involved in the Gettysburg Area Dollars for Scholars as a board member and has served on the board for the ARC of Adams County.

Angela is the author of the book Turning the Noose that Binds into a Rope to Climb as well as a chapter in the volume entitled Composing Feminist Interventions and articles in a number of journals and magazines.

Angela is married to Rev. Martin Otto Zimmann, PhD. Together they have an adult son, Seth, and a teenage daughter, Chelsea. Prior to moving overseas, the Zimmann family fostered a number of beautiful children through Lucas County Children’s Services.

Martha Bergmark (1966, MS)

Martha is the founding executive director of Voices for Civil Justice, a national communications hub for civil legal aid that launched in 2013.

She is a passionate spokesperson for delivering on the promise of equal justice under law, but she says we are defaulting on that commitment when most Americans (three out of four) go without legal help to navigate complicated court proceedings that put their families, homes, and livelihoods at risk. She and her staff at Voices tap the awareness-raising power of the media to bring attention to the need for civil justice reform.

At Voices, Martha draws on her career-long involvement as a civil rights and civil legal aid lawyer. She is nationally recognized for her work to build the Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ) as a 21st century model for using legal advocacy to advance racial and economic justice in her home state. Under her leadership as founding president from 2003 to 2013, MCJ scored wins in areas as diverse as juvenile justice reform, access to health care, educational opportunity, and disaster recovery; and it became an influential force for progressive change. She continues her engagement with MCJ as board member and senior counsel.

In recognition of her work in Mississippi and nationally, Martha has been named a White House Champion of Change, Stern Family Fund Public Interest Pioneer, Kutak Dodds Prize winner, and ABA Section of Litigation John Minor Wisdom Public Service Award recipient. She holds honorary doctorates from Oberlin College and Millsaps College.