C. Graham Berwind, III is the chairman and co-founder of Creative Partners Productions – a Tony Award winning, values-driven production company that furthers the art of storytelling and nurtures the artists behind it. Graham is also an owner, trustee, and director of the Berwind Corporation, a fifth-generation family-owned investment management company. In 2017, he and his siblings established Spring Point Partners LLC, a social impact organization that invests in transformational leaders, networks, and solutions powering community-driven change. For Graham, this takes place notably through support for equity in the performing arts, primarily in theater and opera. In addition to Dramatists Guild Foundation his arts support extends to his service as an active board member of the Metropolitan Opera and OPERA America.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an award-winning composer, lyricist, and actor. He is the creator and original star of Broadway’s Tony-winning musicals, Hamilton and In the Heights. Hamilton – with book, music and lyrics by Mr. Miranda, in addition to him originating the title role – was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and earned a record-breaking 16 Tony Nominations, winning 11 Tony Awards including two personally for Mr. Miranda for Book and Score of a Musical. The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hamilton won the 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Both Mr. Miranda and Hamilton won the 2016 Drama League Awards for Distinguished Performance and Outstanding Production of a Musical, respectively. Miranda, Thomas Kail, Andy Blankenbuehler and Alex Lacamoire were awarded a 2018 Kennedy Center Honors for their collaborative achievement in Hamilton and its continued artist impact.

For its sold-out Off-Broadway run at The Public Theater, Hamilton received a record-breaking 10 Lortel Awards, 3 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 8 Drama Desk Awards, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical, and an OBIE for Best New American Play. Material from the show was previewed at the White House during its first-ever Evening of Poetry & Spoken Word in 2009, Lincoln Center Theater’s 2012 American Songbook Series and New York Stage and Film’s 2013 Powerhouse Theatre Season at Vassar College. The Chicago production of Hamilton opened in October 2016, with a 1st National Tour and London production both opening in 2017. A second national tour launched in 2018, with a third national tour premiering in 2019. The London production of Hamilton went on to win 7 Oliver Awards in 2018, including Best New Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music for Mr. Miranda and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire. The Hamilton Mixtape, a concept album inspired by the show’s score featuring top rappers and musicians in the music industry was released on Dec. 2, 2016. Miranda received a 2017 MTV VMA Award in the “Best Fight Against The System” category for the video “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” off of The Hamilton Mixtape.

Mr. Miranda’s In the Heights (originally conceived by Miranda, book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, and direction by Thomas Kail), received four 2008 Tony Awards with Miranda receiving a Tony Award for Best Score, as well as a nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. In the Heights also took home a 2009 Grammy Award for its Original Broadway Cast Album and was recognized as a Finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. In 2016, Miranda won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music for the Original London production of In the Heights. Off-Broadway, In the Heights received a Drama Desk award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance, the Lucille Lortel Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and Mr. Miranda received an Obie Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics. The film adaptation of In The Heights, with songs by Miranda and screenplay by Quiara Alegría Hudes, will be released by Warner Brothers in 2020.

Mr. Miranda is the co-composer (with Tom Kitt), and co-lyricist (with Amanda Green) of Broadway’s Bring it On: The Musical (2013 Tony Nom., Best Musical, 2013 Drama Desk Nom., Best Lyrics). He contributed new songs to the revival of Stephen Schwartz’ Working and Spanish translations for the 2009 Broadway Revival of West Side Story. In 2014, Mr. Miranda received an Emmy Award with Tom Kitt for their song, “Bigger” from the 67th Annual Tony Awards. He collaborated with J.J. Abrams on the song, “Dobra Doompa” for Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. Mr. Miranda contributed music, lyrics and vocals to several songs in Disney’s animated feature film Moana which earned him 2017 Oscar and Golden Globe nominations and a 2018 Grammy Award for the original song, “How Far I’ll Go.”

Mr. Miranda played Charlie Kringas in the 2012 City Center Encores! production of Merrily We Roll Along and can be heard on the 2012 Cast Recording released by PS Classics. He also appeared in the 2014 City Center Encores! Off-Center production of tick, tick… BOOM! as Jonathan. In 2019, Miranda starred as King Arthur in a benefit concert performance of Camelot for Lincoln Center Theatre. He appeared as the Narrator in his one-act musical, “21 Chump Street” as part of This American Life: One Night Only at BAM on June 7th, 2014.

Mr. Miranda is a recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award, the National Arts Club Medal of Honor, the ASCAP Foundation’s Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and the Portrait of a Nation Prize. He has received stars on both the Puerto Rico Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He serves as a Council Member of The Dramatists Guild and was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to New York City’s Theater Subdistrict Council in 2015.

On July 8. 2016, Mr. Miranda and Jennifer Lopez released the charity single, “Love Make The World Go Round” as a tribute to the victims of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. He has continued to respond to tragedy with music, teaming with composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul and Tony Winner Ben Platt for “Found/Tonight” supporting the March For Our Lives Initiative.

Mr. Miranda has actively supported the relief efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in September 2017, creating the benefit single, “Almost Like Praying” as well as releasing its Salsa Remix, benefitting the Hispanic Federation’s UNIDOS Disaster Relief and Recovery Program, helping relief and recovery efforts on the island. In honor of the historic 2019 run of Hamilton in Puerto Rico, the Miranda family, the producers of Hamilton, and the Flamboyan Foundation partnered to create the Flamboyan Arts Fund, raising $15 million for arts and culture on the island. 

In 2003, Mr. Miranda co-founded Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop improv group that has toured the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as the Aspen, Melbourne and Montreal Comedy Festivals. The group created a limited television series for Pivot in 2014 and made its Broadway debut in a self-titled show in the fall of 2019.

Mr. Miranda released a book of his collected tweets, Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You through Random House, featuring illustrations by Jonny Sun. He has lent his voice to the audiobook recordings of Gmorning, Gnight!, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saen.

Mr. Miranda’s TV/Film credits include: His Dark Materials, Fosse/Verdon, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Curb Your Enthusiasm (2018 Emmy Nomination, Guest Actor), Saturday Night Live (2017 Emmy Nomination, Guest Actor), The Electric Company, Sesame Street, The Sopranos, House, Modern Family, Polar Bears, Do No Harm, Smash, How I Met Your Mother, Freestyle Love Supreme, Inside Amy Schumer, Bartlett, Difficult People, Billy on the Street, Hamilton’s America, Drunk History, DuckTales, Nina’s World, BoJack Horseman, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, 200 Cartas, Speech and Debate, Moana (2017 Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, Grammy Award for Best Original Song) and Mary Poppins Returns (2019 Golden Globe Nomination, Best Actor). He received his B.A. from Wesleyan University in 2002. He lives in NYC with his wife, sons and dog.

Mr. DiCenzo is responsible for the overall operation and strategic direction of Cognios Capital. Cognios is a provider of both traditional and hedge fund asset management services to institutional clients. Prior to joining Cognios, Mr. DiCenzo led Scout Investment Advisors as President of the Scout Mutual Fund complex, the President & CEO of Scout Distributors and as a board director to the advisor. Over the past 25 years, he has focused on the strategic planning and growth for both institutional and mutual fund investment managers. Mr. DiCenzo is also the Chairman of Forenzo Vineyards and Wine Company, a long-time supporter of the Dramatist Guild Foundation. In addition, he serves as the independent chairman for the 360 Fund and FNEX Ventures mutual fund trusts and is a member of the Rhode Island College Endowment’s Investment Committee.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright. His plays include Everybody (Signature Theatre; Pulitzer Prize finalist), War (world premiere, Yale Rep; LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre; Pulitzer Prize finalist), Appropriate (Signature Theatre; OBIE Award), An Octoroon (Soho Rep.; OBIE Award), and Neighbors (The Public Theater). A Residency Five playwright at Signature Theatre, his most recent honors include the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright from London’s Evening Standard, a London Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwriting, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Steinberg Playwriting Award, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award. Having taught at NYU, Juilliard, and Hunter College, where he was director of the MFA Playwriting program, he now serves on the faculty at University of Texas-Austin.

Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek & Justin Paul are best known for their work on Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman. Their accompanying albums for each project have appeared in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the latter of which is certified Gold in the US, and Platinum in the UK and Australia. Other credits: Broadway – A Christmas Story, The Musical; Off-Broadway/Regional – Dogfight, James and the Giant Peach, Edges; Film – Trolls; Television – Smash, The Flash, and A Christmas Story, Live! Upcoming projects include the live-action movie musicals Aladdin and Snow White at Disney, and original animated musical Foster at Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.

Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek & Justin Paul are best known for their work on Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman. Their accompanying albums for each project have appeared in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the latter of which is certified Gold in the US, and Platinum in the UK and Australia. Other credits: Broadway – A Christmas Story, The Musical; Off-Broadway/Regional – Dogfight, James and the Giant Peach, Edges; Film – Trolls; Television – Smash, The Flash, and A Christmas Story, Live! Upcoming projects include the live-action movie musicals Aladdin and Snow White at Disney, and original animated musical Foster at Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.

President

Andrew Lippa wrote and composed the theatrical oratorio I Am Harvey Milk that received its New York premiere at Lincoln Center starring Kristin Chenoweth and Mr. Lippa as Harvey Milk. Life of the Party, an evening celebrating 20 years of his work, premiered at London’s award-winning Menier Chocolate Factory in 2014. He also wrote the Drama Desk-nominated music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Big Fish, the Tony-nominated music and lyrics for the Broadway musical The Addams Family (performed in over 40 countries; seen by over 50 million people worldwide) as well as the music for Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway play The Farnsworth Invention. His song “Evil Like Me,” from Disney’s Descendants, has been viewed over 100 million times on YouTube and earned Mr. Lippa a gold record. Other musicals include the Drama Desk award-winning musical The Wild Party (book/music/lyrics); A Little Princess (music); john & jen (music/book); Asphalt Beach (music and lyrics); and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (additional music/lyrics and arrangements); The Man In The Ceiling (music and lyrics). Other concert works include I Am Anne Hutchinson; Unbreakable.  He is currently at work on multiple stage and film projects. Accolades include Tony, Grammy, and Emmy nominations, the Gilman/Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award, ASCAP’s Richard Rodgers/New Horizons Award, The Drama Desk and The Outer Critics Circle Award. Andrew Lippa serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America, is a graduate of The University of Michigan, and was born in Leeds, England. andrewlippa.com/

In addition to her role as CEO of Creative Partners Productions, Eleni Gianulis-Vermeer manages talent across mediums of theater, film and television. She is also an executive producer of various concerts and events including the concert, DGF Toasts Stephen Schwartz’s 70thBirthday and the annual NYC music festival, Elsie Fest. Eleni has previously held positions with BMG, Sony, Universal Music Group, Jeff Wald Entertainment and the not-for-profit, Invisible
Children. She holds a Master of Music Degree in Musical Theater from New York University and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern California. Eleni also sits on the Board of Directors for the Dramatists Guild Foundation where she serves as the Communications Chair.

Elizabeth Dewberry co-produced ANASTASIA on Broadway and will be co-producing the USA tour.  She is a lyricist at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Writing Workshop.  She is the author of four novels: HIS LOVELY WIFE (Harcourt), SACRAMENT OF LIES (Putnam), BREAK THE HEART OF ME (Doubleday), and MANY THINGS HAVE HAPPENED SINCE HE DIED (Doubleday).  Her full-length play FLESH AND BLOOD premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays, was published by Dramatists Play Service, and has been performed in various regional theaters.  Her full-length play FOUR JOANS AND A FIRE-EATER premiered at Swine Palace and has been performed regionally.  Several of her one-acts and short plays have also been produced around the US and published in various anthologies.  Her works have been translated into French, Dutch, and Czech.  She holds a PhD in American Literature from Emory University and has taught creative writing and American literature at Ohio State and Florida State Universities.

Louise Evins is President and CEO of Evins Communications, Ltd. She directs the firm’s strategy, marketing and development, as well as manages their operations and finance. EVINS has become the leading branding, marketing, communications, and public relations firm in the luxury and prestige sectors, with expertise in developing integrated multi-platform programs for niche, icon and legacy brands. Prior to EVINS, she was Sr. VP and GMM of Henri Bendel. Additionally, she led a leveraged buyout as President/COO of Joshua Slocum, and was a Sr. VP at Lord & Taylor. Ms. Evins is on the board of The Fashion Group International, The Dramatist Guild Fund, LIM College Advisory Board, and  the Forbes Executive Women’s Committee.. She received her B.A. degree from Boston University.