NYU Tisch School of the Arts & Serino Coyne Team Up to Create Women's Mentorship Program

The NYU Tisch School of the Arts' Department of Drama and live entertainment advertising agency Serino Coyne have teamed up to create the Women’s Mentorship Program, an initiative that pairs female-identifying students interested in arts management with some of New York's top female cultural leaders.

The program began in early February 2019 with a kickoff breakfast at NYU Tisch with the first class of 13 students. Mentors include Anne Quart, senior vice president of production and co-producer, Disney Theatrical Group; Lauren Reid, chief operating officer, John Gore Organization; Marla Ostroff, executive vice president of arts and theatre, Ticketmaster; Maggie Brohn, chief operating officer, Adventureland LLC; Katie Dalton, senior vice president, Audience Rewards; Hailey Ferber, senior vice president of business and legal affairs, The Araca Group; India Haggins, director of marketing, Jazz at Lincoln Center; Stacey Mindich, producer (Dear Evan Hansen); Alecia Parker, executive producer, National Artists Management Company; Catherine Reid, chief financial officer, Serino Coyne; Leslie Barrett, Managing Director, Serino Coyne; Sara Villagio, chief marketing officer, Carnegie Hall; and Dessie Moynihan, vice president for creative projects, the Shubert Organization.

The Women's Mentorship Program will involve monthly one-on-one mentorship meetings with Tisch Drama students and women who have found great success in their careers. Paired students and mentors will discuss communication, organization, leadership, team building and other management essentials. In addition, each student will have opportunities to meet all of the participating mentors over the course of the program.

"There is real power in one-to-one relationships that are open, honest and relatable," said Leslie Barrett, managing director at Serino Coyne. "As a mentor, I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and being part of an inspirational initiative to share, support, lift up and learn from the amazing students in this program."

"NYU Tisch Drama is thrilled to work with Serino Coyne to bring the Women's Mentorship Program to students," said Rubén Polendo, chair of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Department of Drama. "The initiative is an excellent example of our commitment to engage young artists in the wide array of career opportunities in the field of theatre at large. It's an amazing and unique opportunity for mentors and mentees to forge relationships with future colleagues."

"I jumped at the chance to be involved," said Anne Quart of the Disney Theatrical Group. "Mentoring allows women to support other women and to share their stories and life experience. A simple human-to-human connection can be transformative. I am thrilled this opportunity has been created."

Lauren Reid of the John Gore Organization, the largest Broadway producing and presenting company worldwide, said: "This program allows me to give back and hopefully to illuminate and create more opportunities for women in the entertainment industry both on and off stage."

This formal mentorship effort was created in a collaboration between Tisch Drama's Office of Career Development and Alumni Engagement and Serino Coyne, a leading live entertainment advertising and marketing agency founded by Nancy Coyne in 1977. A female trailblazer in a male-dominated industry, Coyne's entrepreneurial spirit continues to inspire women working in the worlds of advertising, marketing and live entertainment.

About NYU Tisch Department of Drama
The NYU Tisch Department of Drama (Tisch Drama) is one of the largest undergraduate drama departments in the world. At the core of the program is the combination of conservatory training across 10 professional training studios and a robust academic curriculum in Theatre Studies. The two enable students to develop and hone creative and intellectual skills that prepare them to enter, engage, and reinvent the performing arts. At the heart of the department sits a rich production schedule—some 150 shows and projects a year—that enables faculty and students to reconcile theory, training and creation.

About Serino Coyne
Serino Coyne is the nation's preeminent full-service entertainment advertising, marketing, and branding agency. Founded in 1977, Serino Coyne represents some of the world's largest entertainment brands, including Disney Theatrical Group (Frozen, Aladdin, The Lion King), Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, The Phantom of the Opera, Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations, Beautiful—The Carole King Musical, What the Constitution Means to Me, Legends/One World Observatory and The Tony Awards. The agency's work has garnered multiple Webby, Telly and Clio Awards.