NIVA Announces New Board President And Members While Ramping Up Efforts To Pass Comprehensive Ticketing Reform
National Independent Venue Association Elects Performing Arts Leader Andre Perry of the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium; Adds Black Promoters Collective’s Shahida Mausi and Nederlander’s Jamie Loeb to the Board
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 19, 2023) – Last week, at its second annual national conference, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) announced its new slate of Board officers for 2023. Andre Perry was elected as NIVA’s Board President, ushering in a new era of vision and performing arts prowess. Perry currently serves as Executive Director of the Hancher Auditorium and the Office of Performing Arts and Engagement at the University of Iowa. He has served as a Vice President of the NIVA Board since 2021. Perry’s experience as a composed and passionate leader in and beyond the performing arts sector has prepared him to extend NIVA’s longevity and success throughout his term.
“Our NIVA family, our members, represent so many threads of the independent performance world, and it is an honor to be named NIVA’s next Board President,” said Andre Perry, Board President of NIVA. “We are small club owners, we produce festivals, we run performing arts centers, we are promoters, we are comedy people, we are music heads, we are multidisciplinary performing arts workers, we run for-profits – big, medium, and small – and we run nonprofits at a range of sizes, we are government affiliated or part of universities and colleges, or we are part of nothing – committed, brilliant loners who just do what we do for the good of the cause.”
After completing three historic years as Board President, the maximum term permitted under NIVA’s bylaws, Dayna Frank, co-founder of NIVA and founding President of the NIVA Board, will continue her advocacy leadership as Chair of NIVA’s Advocacy and Policy Committee, as well as continue to serve on the Board of Directors. In March 2020, Frank became a driving force behind the ultimate passage of the Save Our Stages Act, which resulted in $16.25 billion dollars in emergency relief for the live entertainment sector. Throughout the pandemic, Frank’s mantra was, “first we survive, then we thrive.” And thrive, NIVA and its members did. Frank’s efforts ensured that the live independent entertainment industry could remain open and vibrant. Now, as a driving force behind the Fix The Tix campaign, Frank will continue her critical efforts to protect consumers, artists, venues, and festivals against harmful and deceptive ticketing practices.
“NIVA has made history in our three years of existence, and there are many challenges ahead for our industry. However, I know that our Association, chapter leaders, and members are capable of tackling these challenges because we have done it before,” said Dayna Frank, Founding Board President of NIVA and Chair of the NIVA Advocacy and Policy Committee. “One of those challenges is predatory ticket resellers. Together, independent venues, festivals, and promoters will work with Congress to pass Fix the Tix and continue laying the groundwork to create the industry our fans deserve.”
NIVA’s membership also elected two new independent live entertainment industry leaders to the Board of Directors. Shahida Mausi is President and CEO of The Right Productions, Vice President and Chief Strategic Officer of the Black Promoters Collective (BPC), and operator of The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre in Detroit. Mausi’s career has spanned leadership roles in the for-profit, nonprofit, and public sectors. In each instance of thoughtfully managing multimillion-dollar budgets, Mausi has successfully built bridges between internal and external stakeholders.
Jamie Loeb, also newly elected to NIVA’s Board of Directors, is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Nederlander Concerts. With more than 30 years of local, regional, and national experience, Loeb is well known for her ability to create innovative strategies and tour marketing campaigns and was instrumental in creating the vision for NIVA’s first two conferences and in planning NIVA’s Save Our Stages Fest in 2020.
“As NIVA embarks on this new chapter, the Association remains resolute in its mission to support, promote, and advocate for independent venues across the country,” said Stephen Parker, Executive Director of NIVA. “The appointment of Andre Perry as Board President, Dayna Frank’s continued leadership on federal advocacy, NIVA’s new slate of Board officers, and the addition of Shahida Mausi and Jamie Loeb to the Board, signals a renewed commitment to advancing the interests of independent venues and festivals and ensuring their continued viability in an ever-evolving live entertainment ecosystem.”
The full slate of the 2023-2024 slate of NIVA Board Officers:
President: Andre Perry, Executive Director of the Hancher Auditorium and the Office of Performing Arts and Engagement, University of Iowa
Vice President: Audrey Fix Schaefer, Head of Communications, I.M.P.
Vice President: Jim Brunberg, Founder, Revolution Hall, Mississippi Studios; Composer/Performer
Treasurer: Brad Grossman, COO, Helium Comedy
Secretary: Jesica Gerbautz, CEO, Pnk Moon Productions
Continuing their service as board members:
Dayna Frank, co-founder of NIVA, founding President of the NIVA Board, and CEO at First Avenue & 7th St Entry
Grace Blake, Programming Director at City Winery NYC
Kira Karbocus, President and COO of Newport Festivals Foundation
Hal Real, Founder and CEO at World Cafe Live
ABOUT NIVA
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) represents independent music and comedy venues, festivals, performing arts centers and promoters throughout the U.S. NIVA formed in 2020 to save the live performance industry in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Our work during the pandemic resulted in the passage of the Save Our Stages Act, a $16.25 billion grant program that delivered critical relief to venues, festivals, promoters, and performing arts centers. NIVA's mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live venues, promoters, and festivals throughout the United States. NIVA is committed to equity in its support and advocacy for independent venues and seeks to create and encourage opportunities for venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities.
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