Meet the Board: Jess Kaufman

Flying Leap Productions is thrilled to announce the addition of Jess Kaufman to our Board. As a playwright, dramaturg, producer, and all-around theater artist specializing in thoughtful, playful, ambitious theater for families, Jess brings over a decade of creative expertise that will help guide our organization into its next chapter.

We asked Jess a few questions to get to know her better:

What made you interested in joining Flying Leap’s Board?

As the founder of Flying Leap, I'm excited to serve as a board member so I can learn how to best steer the company, and set us up for longevity beyond my time as Flying Leap’s leader. It’s thrilling to have such experienced board members in Carla, Eve, and Amanda, and I know I have a lot to learn from them! I think together we’ll be able to chart a course to make a lot of good art, bring it to a lot of kids, and create something that will last beyond us. 

What is a skill or experience you are excited to bring to Flying Leap

I've had a lot of education in producing and management, both in grad school and through fellowships. I think a lot of artists don’t get to learn this stuff in school, and it’s really powerful to walk into a room and say, oh I know how to build this budget, or I have the confidence to talk to that funder. I worked hard to learn those skills, but I’m also aware of just how lucky I am to have had the chance and the mentors. One of my goals for Flying Leap is to help our artists develop those skills so they can produce their own work, too, if that’s something they want.

What is a difficult subject you think it’s important that we talk about right now?

It’s so hard for people to talk to each other right now. I think the thing we aren’t talking enough about, or at least not in a productive way, is just how hard it is to talk to someone with different values or beliefs. We’re set up to be divided, and I see it in my artistic work, my political work, and my personal life, and it’s heartbreaking and terrifying. Division is a tool of oppression, and I hope that our work encourages families to raise kids who are curious and open minded and ready to talk about the tough stuff, even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable.

Jess’s bio: Jess Kaufman (she/her) is a playwright, dramaturg, producer and all-around theater artist making thoughtful, playful, ambitious theater for families. Her work invites young people and families to cross boundaries, in theaters and site-specific performance spaces. As a queer, Jewish artist, she is particularly interested in the intersection of social justice and identity. Jess was a 2019-2020 New Victory Theater LabWorks Artist, a 2020 NYFA "Emerging Arts Leader", and a 2021 New York City Artist Corps grant recipient. 

Recent work: The Garden, inviting babies and their caregivers into nature in NYC public parks; Beyond the Wall || Más Allá del Muro (US/Mexico), building 15 foot tall puppets with kids living at the US/Mexico border wall (artbeyondthewall.com); ASSEMBLE, a guerrilla audio performance piece secretly staged in a Brooklyn store (projectassemble.com); Mathilda and the Orange Balloon (UK/US), a Deaf and hearing accessible play about identity adapted from the popular picture book.

A frequent guest lecturer and conference presenter, her credits include: Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Creative Interruptions London, NYU Forum on Educational Theatre, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, Theater and Dance for the Very Young Conference, TYA/USA Festival, and guest lectures at universities across the US, UK, and Europe. Her writing about theater has been published in ArtsPraxis and Theatre and Performance Design, and she co-edited Embodied Cognition, Acting and Performance (Routledge, 2017). She is on the theater faculty at Lucy Moses School.

MA Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (London); BFA University of Miami; Certificate, Moscow Art Theatre (Russia). 

We can’t wait to see Jess’s continued impact on our board, organization, and beyond!

Meet the Board: Amanda Zamora

Flying Leap Productions is thrilled to announce the addition of Amanda Zamora to our Board. As the Founder & Principal of Agencia Media LLC and a pioneering force in community-first media, Amanda brings over 20 years of journalism and storytelling expertise that will help guide our organization into its next chapter.

We asked Amanda a few questions to get to know her better:

What made you interested in joining Flying Leap’s Board?

On a personal level, I am a theater kid at heart and know first-hand how experiencing art, music and performance sparked so much possibility in me and helped me navigate some very challenging issues as a child. I grew up to be a journalist who has spent the better part of my career working to make the media more responsive to the real needs of communities. I appreciate how Flying Leap does this, helping more people have access to the arts, and utilizing those experiences to foster stronger connections in families and communities.     

What is a skill or experience you are excited to bring to Flying Leap

I am excited to apply my experience as a founder and consultant to help Flying Leap chart a strategic course forward. They have big dreams, and I want to help them ensure they have a plan for making those dreams real!

What is a difficult subject you think it’s important that we talk about right now?

For anyone who loves our democracy and sees America's role in the world as a champion of human rights, these are very troubling times. I think we need to continue confronting the harm we cause by "othering" our neighbors — whatever their race, religion, nationality, immigration status or gender identity — in dehumanizing ways. The threats to those deemed "other" is absolutely overwhelming right now, but we can't let those threats paralyze us. It's important to lean into our communities, focus on areas where we can have a personal impact and take action. I'm focusing my own energy on supporting publishers serving Latino and immigrant communities, and plugging into these issues more where I live in Austin, Texas.

Amanda’s bio: Amanda Zamora is Founder & Principal of Agencia Media LLC, a consultancy that partners with organizations to drive narrative change and civic engagement, especially with and for communities of color. She has more than 20 years of experience as a journalist, storyteller, editor and disruptor in the news industry, most recently as founding publisher of The 19th and co-founder of the Latino Media Consortium. She is most interested in building capacity for community-first media, and co-creating narratives that heal, inform and empower.

We can’t wait to see Amanda’s impact on our board, organization, and beyond!

Meet the Board: Eve Epstein-Ortiz

Flying Leap Productions is thrilled to announce the addition of Eve Epstein-Ortiz to our Board. As an accomplished attorney with expertise in corporate governance and a passionate advocate for the arts, Eve brings a wealth of experience that will help guide our organization into its next chapter.

We asked Eve a few questions to get to know her better:

What made you interested in joining Flying Leap’s Board?

I'm excited to help Flying Leap in its next chapter! I'm aligned with Flying Leap's mission to make thoughtful theater performances more accessible.

What is a skill or experience you are excited to bring to Flying Leap

I have over a decade of experience serving as a board and committee member for numerous non-profit organizations. I am both a lawyer and parent who deeply supports the arts.

What is a difficult subject you think it’s important that we talk about right now?

We're in a period of chaos and distrust in our government and world institutions. We need to enable our kids to find optimism and opportunities for action. It's important to give parents and youth tools for communicating what is happening in our country and in the world in a productive way.

Eve’s bio: With over 15 years of legal expertise, Eve specializes in corporate governance, labor and employment law, and regulatory compliance, offering thoughtful counsel to organizations navigating complex challenges. Beyond her professional achievements, Eve is deeply committed to community service, having served on numerous non-profit boards. She has championed initiatives to provide housing and resources for homeless women, protect LGBTQ youth, and advocate for animal welfare. A proud mother and wife, Eve enjoys spending time with her family—including their three cats and dog—and finds joy in running and hosting spontaneous get-togethers with friends.

We can’t wait to see Eve’s impact on our board, organization, and beyond!

Meet the Board: Carla Zanoni

Carla Zanoni has built a life dedicated to storytelling in its many forms. From the streets of New York City to the hills of the Catskills, Carla moves through the world as a writer, poet, journalist, and media executive. Her recently published bilingual Spanish-English chapbook, Knowing/Saber (2024), represents just one facet of her diverse creative practice.

We're absolutely thrilled to have Carla as the Flying Leap’s inaugural board member, where her multifaceted expertise and creative vision have guided us in our growth over the past 18 months. Her unique perspective aligns perfectly with our mission. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Carla – here's what she shared:

1. What made you interested in joining Flying Leap's Board?

Flying Leap's mission to bring art to families who might otherwise miss out really spoke to me. Growing up in an immigrant family, I saw firsthand how free and accessible theater changed my life and opened doors. I wanted to help Flying Leap keep creating those same transformative moments for kids today, especially in innovative ways that meet families where they are.

2. What is a skill or experience you are excited to bring to Flying Leap?

What excites me most is combining my creative side with my strategic thinking to help Flying Leap thrive. I've been fortunate to build and lead teams across different organizations, and I've learned a lot about how to reach people who might not see themselves as "theater people" or "arts people." I'm eager to roll up my sleeves and help Flying Leap reach more families while staying true to what makes their work so special in the first place.

3. What is a difficult subject you think is important that we talk about right now?

We need to get real about how arts organizations can be both financially sustainable and truly accessible. It's a tricky balance, right? We want Flying Leap's wonderful work to reach families who wouldn't normally experience it, but we also need to keep the lights on.The pandemic really showed us how fragile arts funding can be, while also highlighting just how unequal access to creative experiences has become. I think Flying Leap has a chance to try something different - not just copying old models that haven't worked for everyone.

We should be asking ourselves: How do we know we're making a real difference? How can we build real relationships with communities instead of just transactions? And how do we make sure our own team reflects the diverse families we want to reach?

These questions aren't always comfortable, but I believe tackling them openly will make Flying Leap stronger and help us bring more magical artistic moments to children who deserve them.

Bio: 

Carla Zanoni is a writer, poet, and journalist whose Spanish-English chapbook, Knowing/Saber was published in 2024. She is writing her first literary memoir on self-worth. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Common, Modern Loss, TueNight, and more. She is a media executive, formerly of The Wall Street Journal and TED, and leads the Engagement Journalism program at the Newmark Graduate School at CUNY. She splits her time between New York City and the Catskills with her husband and their dog and cat, Gertrude and Earnestine. Carla’s monthly newsletter, The Em Dash is at carla.substack.com.