LEADERSHIP

The League is an all-volunteer organization.
This team has been organizing our activities.

CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS

Vander Beatty is a seasoned legal professional currently serving as the General Counsel for Dash Financial Technologies. 

Vander commenced his legal journey at the law firm of  Mound Cotton Wollan and Greengrass LLP in 2015.  A graduate of Brooklyn Law School, he held the position of Articles Editor for the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law. Additionally, he served as the Student Co-Chair, and later Co-Chair, of the NYCLA Futures and Derivatives Committee. Additionally, Mr. Beatty was honored with the Access to Justice Award. 

His academic pursuits began at Goucher College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999. Prior to embarking on his legal studies, Mr. Beatty garnered valuable experience in the insurance industry. His roles with industry giants Progressive Insurance and the Government Employee Insurance Company equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of the complexities within the insurance sector.

Carrie Heitman is a multi-disciplinary theater artist. She has appeared Off-Broadway, regionally, the UK, Poland, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia. NYC favorites: The Cherry Lane (Phallacy), The Pearl (The Winter’s Tale), The Women’s Project, DTW, The New Ohio, The Abingdon, Mark Morris Dance Center, Dixon Place and many others. TV/Film: Lipstick Jungle, A Piece of Cake, The Patriot, Everything’s Gonna Be Pink (Roni Ezra, Oscar Nominee), What About Us? (w/Jasmine Guy).

She is the co-founder and artistic director of Hook & Eye Theater, steering a devising ensemble that crafts absurdist new plays inspired by themes of history and science. Hook & Eye devises new, non-linear, mash-up plays through ensemble co-creation and co-authorship. We mine themes from history and science, and flirt with myths. Incongruent source materials are fastened together to disrupt the everyday. We invent uncommon relationships, blend genres, and craft multigenerational stories, offering audiences visceral experiences that move through their heart, head, and civic spaces. Her work has been supported by A.R.T./NY, NYSCA, DCA, Yip Harburg Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Brooklyn Arts Council. Nominated for Outstanding Ensemble performances by the Innovative theater awards. MFA: UNC/Chapel Hill; Louise Lamont award for Excellence. BA Philosophy: Kalamazoo College; Nelda K Balch Award. Member: AEA; DBAA; CIPA. She is a lead artist during the 2023-2024 Season at The Mercury Store. www.hookandeyetheater.com

Montserrat Mendez is an East Coast based writer/director. Originally from Rincon, Puerto Rico, Montserrat has made his mark in the independent theater scene of NYC, earning critical acclaim for his work.

With a degree in Literature (British, Spanish, and Medieval) and Theater from the University of Scranton, Montserrat's creative pursuits have taken him on a journey of exploration and growth. His work has been called a "Comic Masterwork" by critic Leonard Jacobs, and he has received the Best Playwriting Award at the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival for his sequel to The Importance of Being Earnest - Thoroughly Stupid Things. He has directed for several independent theater companies, including Manhattan Theater Source and Nylon Fusion Collective, and is a current creative core member of the Flux Theatre Company, a transformative theater company that seeks to awaken the capacity for change.

As a screenwriter, his work has been recognized by the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and the Athena List, and his screenplay, Chisholm - A Woman of Brooklyn, was recently second rounded for the 2022 Sundance Script Lab.  Montserrat's research on Shirley Chisholm has made him a sought-out expert on her history and her political contributions to the nation.

Montserrat's approach to writing is rooted in his fascination with archeology, exploring the evolution of character, language, and wit and how they form our human identity, and can be used to create a more equitable future.
 
He is a proud co-founder of The MozzleStead Company, as well as Board Members of The Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute.

Guy Yedwab - Board President

Since 2009, Guy Yedwab has been an active member of the League of Independent Theater, a 501(c)6 advocacy organization tasked with providing collective voice for the Independent Theater community. From 2014 to 2019, Guy became the Managing Director of Operations, and an active member of the Politics, Research and Outreach working group focused on Brooklyn. From 2008 to 2014, Guy ran a blog on the topic of how cultural conversation advances society. From 2009 to 2010, Guy contributed research articles to Createquity's Arts Policy Library. Guy ran a theater company named Organs of State from 2008-2013. The company's mission was to take the grand ideas that weave through our culture and make them tangible and human through interactive and immersive performance experiences.