Abigail (Abby) Scheuer

Abigail (Abby) Scheuer joined the Jazz Foundation of America board in 2012 and joined JFA’s Advisory board in 2009. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Center for Arts Education and KiDS of NYU Langone Health, a Trustee of The Bronx Museum of the Arts and The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and a member of the Board of Advocates for Human Rights First and the Natural Resources Defense Council. She has a BA from Middlebury College and a Master of Architecture from The Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Bonin Bough

Bonin Bough is one of the foremost-awarded marketing executives in his field, the producer and host of The Cleveland Hustles, and the author of TXT Me (646) 759-1837. Throughout his illustrious career as one of the youngest C-suite executives in a Fortune 50 company, Bonin has spearheaded some of the industry’s largest global marketing campaigns across digital, mobile, television, print, and experiential, including the premier of the first ever 3D printed food product, the customizable, real-time 3D printed Oreo at SXSW. Bonin’s prominence as a transformative activator has helped reinvigorate traditional marketing by combining innovative tech via breakthrough brand campaigns including Oreo, Honey Maid, Pepsi, Gatorade, and countless other billion dollar brands. He is seen as one of the top mobile marketers in the world, having been named Mobile Marketer of the Year by the MMA. In 2013, he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Achievement and has been listed in Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40, Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, The Adweek 50 and PRWeek Power List.

Ben Giordano

Ben Giordano is president and owner of Media Syndication Global, a direct mail and advertising firm based in New York. Before founding Media Syndication in 1982, he held the titles of Director and of Vice President at Doubleday and at CBS.

Bill Wurtzel

Bill Wurtzel is an accomplished jazz guitarist and has been a member of the Jazz Foundation Board of Directors since 1989. The musicians he has played with include Wild Bill Davis, Bill Doggett, Count Basie alumni “The Countsmen”, Jimmy McGriff, and Harlem Blues & Jazz Band. Prior to taking on music full-time he began his career as a creative director in advertising. In addition to designing the JFA logo, Bill and his daughter Nina have created many JFA promotional materials.

Casey Lipscomb

Casey Lipscomb is the General Counsel and Secretary of MIO Partners, Inc. and an Associate General Counsel for McKinsey and Company, Inc. Prior to joining MIO and McKinsey, Mr. Lipscomb was an Associate at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP from 1998 to 2004. Mr. Lipscomb holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law.

Casey Patterson

Casey Patterson is a four-time Emmy® and two-time PGA Awards-nominated, critically acclaimed executive producer who has created an array of groundbreaking programming during her 20-year tenure at Viacom. Casey Patterson Entertainment is a full-service production company producing premium content, live events, and talent-driven series and specials with offices in New York City and Los Angeles. Patterson’s current projects include the breakout hit-series Lip Sync Battle, the highest-rated series in Spike history (now Paramount Network), and Nickelodeon’s Lip Sync Battle Shorties. Additional credits include such high profile events as Lip Sync Battle LIVE: A Michael Jackson Celebration, Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas, Spike’s One Night Only: Alec Baldwin, Rock the Troops with Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, The Comedy Awards on Comedy Central, Taraji’s White Hot Holidays, MTV Movie & TV Awards, Guys Choice, The Concert for New York City, The Concert of the Century at the White House, Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary Special, Between Two Ferns – A Fairy Tale of New York, SCREAM Awards, VH1’s Vogue Fashion Awards, VH1’s Divas Live, and NBC’s Concert for America.

Dakota Pippins

Dakota Pippins is CEO & President of Pippins Strategies Group LLC. Pippins Strategies Group focuses primarily on creation of sustainability management strategies for companies and development of urban green infrastructure. Dakota Pippins teaches Sustainable Development

Management and Marketing at New York University and consults/lectures extensively. He maintains that successful marketers in the 21st century must connect their brands to strongly held human family values that promote the triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. Dakota also serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Hormel Foods Corporation, former chair of the Corporate Governance Committee, Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University where he formerly served as Director of NYU’s Management Institute. He recently completed his 20th year of service.

Danny Glover

Danny Glover has been a commanding presence on screen, stage and television for more than 25 years. His film credits range from the blockbuster “Lethal Weapon” franchise to the cult classic “Saw” to smaller independent features. The first “Lethal Weapon” film earned him an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. Mr. Glover has also invested his talents in more personal projects, including the award-winning “To Sleep With Anger,” which he executive produced and for which he won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor. In 2005, Glover and his producing partner Joslyn Barnes co-founded Louverture Films, which is dedicated to the development and production of films of historical relevance, social purpose, commercial value and artistic integrity. The company’s credits include the Oscar® nominated documentary TROUBLE THE WATER, the music documentaries AFRICA UNITE, and the Oscar® shortlisted SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION. Mr. Glover currently serves as a UNICEF Ambassador and has received numerous prestigious honors including the 2002 Marian Anderson Award, the 2003 NAACP Chairman’s Award, the 2004 BET Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2009 CBCF Phoenix Award. He is also Chairman of the Board of TransAfrica Forum, a non-profit global justice organization.

Dr. Franke Forte

Dr. Frank Forte is Director of Medicine for the Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Program at Englewood Hospital as well as serving as Director of the Jazz Musicians Medical Volunteers. Dr. Forte received his medical degree with honors from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In addition to being an avid jazz guitarist, Dr. Forte writes for Just Jazz Guitar magazine and is the recipient of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ)’s Champion of Good Works Award in recognition for his work with The Jazz Foundation.

Geoffrey D. Menin

Geoffrey D. Menin graduated from Yale College (B.A. summa cum laude, 1974) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1977). A founding partner of Levine Plotkin & Menin, LLP, Mr. Menin has, for over thirty years, represented individual artists and entrepreneurs in film, television, music, fashion and new media, as well as high profile executives in their employment matters across a broad range of industries. An accomplished composer and performer in the rock, jazz and classical genres, Mr. Menin brings to his law practice the ability to understand the creative artist and to guide the development of the artist’s professional activities. Mr. Menin has performed with the likes of Buddy Miles, Stanley Jordan, Odetta, Charlie Daniels and Keith Richards. His original compositions range from a classical song cycle based upon the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke for tenor (voice) and piano to the celebrated “Hymn for Her,” composed for Jennifer Muller’s Mullerworks Dance Company and recorded by Mr. Menin with Paul Winter and Eugene Friesen.

Lee S. Richards III

Lee S. Richards III is experienced in trial work and securities; regulatory, banking, white-collar criminal and commercial litigation; and internal investigations. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Amherst College in 1972, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1975, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a Parkhurst Fellow. Mr. Richards was a law clerk to the Honorable Milton Pollack, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, from 1975 to 1976. From 1977 to 1983, he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Richards is a former Adjunct Assistant Professor at Fordham Law School, Chairman of the American Bar Association’s Subcommittee on Criminal Aspects of the Securities Laws, President Emeritus of the Federal Bar Council Inn of Court, a member of the Federal Bar Council Board of Directors, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Inns of Court.

Marc Roth

Marc Roth is a New York City restaurateur and has been involved with the Jazz Foundation for over 7 years. Marc began donating and catering Jazz Foundation events which included musician memorials, performer greenrooms and our famed Loft and Apollo parties. He has provided employment for these musicians with a place to play and has learned how under-appreciated and underexposed some of them are. In past years, Marc sponsored the first live webcast from the Apollo to help increase donations during the event. He has traveled to NOLA and Chicago to help struggling musicians get back on their feet by bringing them food, finding them a place to stay, or supplying them with some money to take care of basic needs.

Marlisa Vinciguerra

Marlisa Vinciguerra is a retired financial markets executive. She is a graduate of Cornell University (BS 1986) and the Yale Law School (JD 1989), where she was a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. Her note, “The Aftermath of Meritor: A Search for Standards in the Law of Sexual Harassment” has been cited in federal court cases. Following law school, she was an Associate at Cadwalader. She joined Lehman Brothers in 1993, where she held a variety of positions, the last of which was Managing Director and Counsel for Equities Global. At Lehman, she was member of the Management and Executive Committees for Legal, Compliance and Audit and the Management Committee of Equities. She later worked at Barclays Capital as a Managing Director and Scout Trading in several executive capacities.

Michael Novogratz

Michael E. Novogratz is the CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners and a former Principal of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Novogratz joined Fortress in 2002 after spending 11 years at Goldman Sachs, where he was elected partner in 1998. Mr. Novogratz serves as a member of the New York Federal Reserve’s Investment Advisory Committee on Financial Markets. Mr. Novogratz founded and serves as the Chairman of Board for Beat the Streets, a non-profit organization which builds wrestling programs in New York City public schools and is also the Honorary Chairman of USA Wrestling Foundation. Mr. Novogratz is Chairman of The Friends of the Hudson River Park. He also serves on the Board of the Acumen Fund, NYU Langone Medical Center and the Princeton Varsity Club. Mr. Novogratz received an AB from Princeton University in Economics, and served as a helicopter pilot in the US Army. In 2011, the Jazz Foundation gave Michael Novogratz our highest honor, the Dr. Billy Taylor Humanitarian Award. He has become a hero to the JFA and to the thousands of musicians and family members.

Michael D. Pietrowicz

Michael D. Pietrowicz, 53, of Parsippany, NJ, was appointed Chief Strategy Office and Senior Vice President for Planning and Program Development of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in 2014. Prior to this appointment, he served as Vice President for Planning and Program Development (2004 – 2014), Vice President for Physician Network Operations (1998–2002) and Vice President for Operations (1992-1998). He has held executive positions in healthcare for more than 30 years. Prior to joining Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in 1992, he served as Vice President for Hospital and Generals Support Services at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center in Philadelphia. During his three-year absence from the Medical Center 2002 –2004, Mr. Pietrowicz was Vice President and Site Administrator for Beth Israel North Medical Center in New York City. Mr. Pietrowicz is an active volunteer and board member in a variety of organizations including Chair – Visiting Nurse Association of Englewood; Vice Chair – Englewood Economic Development Committee; Parsippany Board of Education; President – Parsippany Little Viking Football Organization and Council Member for the Parsippany Parks and Recreation Commission. He is currently an active member of the New Jersey Hospital Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Medical Group Management Association. Mr. Pietrowicz earned a dual BS degree in Biology and Business Administration from Albright College in 1985 and received an MBA in Healthcare Administration from Temple University in 1987.

Dr. Nimesh Nagarsheth

Dr. Nagarsheth serves as the Chief Medical Advisor at the Jazz Foundation of America and is Director of Gynecologic Oncology, Director of Robotic Surgery and Director of the Dizzy Gillespie Institute at Englewood Health. Dr. Nagarsheth also holds an appointment as clinical professor of gynecologic oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He received his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed his obstetrics and gynecology residency at Duke University Medical Center. He completed his gynecologic oncology fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center and his gynecologic oncology research thesis at NYU Langone Medical Center. He has consistently been named a top doctor in New York and New Jersey and is co-author on numerous research papers as well as author of the book Music and Cancer: A Prescription for Healing. An accomplished musician, Dr. Nagarsheth is the drummer and percussionist for No Evidence of Disease (N.E.D.) and is a subject in the critically-acclaimed documentary film No Evidence of Disease.