“Performing Arts play a very important role in our school, particularly for second language learners. The work that City Lights does with our children through drama has not only helped our children improve in their language and communication skills but has built their self -confidence as well. This has resulted in high achievement for our school.”

- Lily Woo, Principal, P.S. 130 Chinatown

About Us - Board of Directors

Myrna K. Greenberg Founder and Chair Emeritus Attorney	Michele Willens Board Chair City Lights Youth Theatre Writer
Hector Batista Executive Director Vocational Foundation, Inc.	Brian Bedol President and CEO College Sports Television
Mark Gasarch Attorney Mark Gasarch Law Office	Victoria Harmon Director of Corporate Communications Credit Suisse
Carole Lalli Writer/Book Editor	Donna Olshan Owner Olshan Realty, Inc
Sarah Peterson Senior Vice-President Strategy One	Lara Stolman-Watzky Producer/Director
Joseph Williams General Manager Trace Magazine

Bios

Myrna K. Greenberg, Founder and Chair Emeritus. Before becoming involved with arts education, Myrna pursued a career in the legal field. After graduating cum laude from Loyola Law School Los Angeles in 1983, she went on to practice law with a focus on criminal litigation, clerked for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr. of the United States District Court, Central District of California, and eventually taught as an adjunct professor at Loyola, teaching criminal procedure, legal writing, and white collar criminal law.

From 1988 to 1990, Myrna volunteered her time and expertise to a children’s theatre in Los Angeles, where she served as a consultant. There, she witnessed firsthand the transformational experience theatre had on her own daughters, Jennifer and Melanie. She recognized that the theatre’s emphasis on collaboration and teamwork created the ideal environment for young people to develop skills that could help them become responsible young members of their communities.

In 1990, Myrna moved to New York City and set out to create a theatre arts education program that would be similar in spirit to her children’s Los Angeles experience, reaching out to a broad spectrum of New York City’s young people. In 1991, she founded City Lights Youth Theatre, starting out with a small after-school program for 75 children. Today, not only has the after-school program grown significantly, but City Lights has expanded to reach a larger cross-section of New York City children by bringing its theatre arts programming into the schools. In 1998, Myrna stepped down as Executive Director to focus her energies on leading an active Board of Directors.

Myrna has a history of community involvement beyond City Lights. She has served on the National Advisory Board for the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Arizona, the 21st Century Coalition for School District 5 in Central Harlem, the Arts and Education Roundtable, and the Psychiatry Advisory Board of the New York Presbyterian Hospital. She currently serves on the board of the Jewish Communal Fund.

Michele Willens is a founding member of City Lights Youth Theatre. She is a long time journalist, including numerous pieces for the New York Times on raising teenagers. In 1976, she served as press secretary in California for President Jimmy Carter. She is the author of a children’s play Dear Maudie, which premiered at the Tri-Arts Theatre in October, 2004. She is the mother of two children, including a daughter who has been a part of City Lights for the past 9 years.