Meet the Board

Catherine Ross (President) Catherine Ross received a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of the Arts, where she trained with such notable choreographers as Manfred Fischbeck, Curt Haworth, Kim Bears-Bailey and Brian Sanders. She currently serves as the Managing Director of Philly PARD (Performance Arts Research and Development), a start-up organization that offers dance classes and performance opportunities in the Art Museum neighborhood, and she regularly performs as a guest artist with DancEthos. Catherine is also a huge Motown fan and she stubbornly refused to believe she wasn’t related to Diana Ross for most of her childhood, despite her mother’s assertions – she still isn’t over it. Catherine is thrilled to be the 2011-12 AAGA President and she is deeply invested in making this year enriching and fulfilling for all Arts Administration students. If you’re interested in getting involved or learning more about the AAGA, feel free to email Catherine at Ross.CatherineL@gmail.com.

Jordan Shue (Vice President) Jordan Shue received her undergraduate degree in Design & Merchandising and Fine Arts from Drexel University. While in college she spent a year working as the assistant to a multi-media glass artist based in Philadelphia, learning about the art form and the cultural makeup of Philadelphia’s gallery scene. Jordan also worked as the Graduate Assistant at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery from 2010-11, and she recently curated a show of work by a local multimedia artist. She has a focused interest in contemporary art, but hopes to pursue a career in arts advocacy. As the AAGA’s Vice President, Jordan is responsible for planning a series of extracurricular speaker events and panel discussions. If there is a topic you’re interested in or a speaker you’d like to hear from, please email her at JordanShue@gmail.com.

Rachel McCausland (Special Events Director) Rachel McCausland graduated from Moravian College in 2008, where she majored in Percussion Performance and minored in Business Administration; the thought, at the time, was that music was passion, and business was practical. While she loved to perform (and still does!), Rachel became increasingly interested in the administrative side of the arts, particularly in the idea that she had the ability to facilitate artistic experiences for others that were similarly inspiring to those that were provided to her. When Rachel is not in class, she works as the Marketing & Event Coordinator for Makin’ Music, in addition to teaching private percussion and piano lessons. She loves her position as Special Events Director because she really enjoys special event planning, and she is really excited about all of the events for this year – especially the Annual Art Auction! (If you want to get more involved with any of the upcoming AAGA events, feel free to email Rachel at Rachel.A.McCausland@gmail.com). Additionally, the only detention Rachel received in her entire life was in the first grade, when she called her teacher a communist upon her insistence that Rachel share her hard-earned Smarties.

Amy Gibbs (Advocacy Director) Amy Gibbs graduated from Trinity University with a BA in Drama, with an emphasis on technical theatre and literature, and a minor in Sociology. As early as junior high school, Amy remembers being frustrated by the lack of funding for arts programs in public schools; as her education continued and she received more exposure to the industry, this frustration developed into a passion for arts advocacy. During her sophomore year of college Amy was introduced to the field of Arts Administration and knew immediately that this was the perfect balance of her interests and talents and has not doubted this decision for a moment since. (If you are interested in becoming more active with arts advocacy, please contact Amy at AmyEGibbs@gmail.com.) In addition to her studies at Drexel University and her work with the AAGA Board, Amy is a Help Desk and User Support Assistant at the Cultural Data Project and she loves working with diverse arts and cultural organizations to improve their financial management and to collect data that is used in various research and advocacy reports. But honestly, Amy’s true aspiration in life is to become Anthony Bourdain (or to at least be his sidekick).

Aileen Rimando (Volunteer Director) Aileen Rimando is a Long Island native, New York Yankees fan, sushi lover and wanna-be skydiver. She was a May 2010 graduate of Temple University, where she majored in violin performance and music education because of her passion and love for music and people. To continue to satiate her thirst for knowledge, especially on a different aspect of the arts, she decided to attend graduate school at Drexel University for Arts Administration upon her acceptance into the program. Aileen currently works at The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and interns with Symphony in C – a professional training orchestra based in Camden, New Jersey.  As the 2011-12 AAGA’s Volunteer Director, Aileen is excited to meet all the first-year students, ensure their comfort in a new environment, and provide opportunities for all students to lend their time to aid with the growth of the organization. If you are interested in volunteering with the AAGA or have any questions, feel free to contact Aileen at AmRimando@gmail.com. Aileen also enjoys cooking, eating, laughing and great company, and still has yet to see the Wizard of Oz.

Whitney Roux (Communications Director) Whitney Roux is originally from San Diego, CA and she graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Advertising and Graphic Design. Whitney currently works in program development at the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and in her free time, she produces visual art exhibitions with her collective Curbside Productions. She also loves David Bowie and doing karaoke. Whitney conceived the idea for the Communications Director position in 2011 to deepen AAGA’s relationship with its students; she is interested in technology driven programs and online relationship building. As the Communications Director, she is responsible for the AAGA’s blog (drexelaaga.com) and Facebook Group; if you are interested in writing content for the blog or getting involved in AAGA’s online components, email her at Whitney.Roux@gmail.com.

Graduate Assistants:

Tom Bonner is a first year student in Drexel’s Arts Administration graduate program. As a native of Virginia, he has been involved in theatre since he was 8. He received his bachelor’s degree in directing from Marymount Manhattan College in New York, where he lived and worked for six years. In the spring of 2010 he moved to Washington, DC where he worked as the Assistant to the Artistic Director at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and directed and produced for the Baltimore-based arts collective, EMP Collective. He moved to Philadelphia in July and is currently the Publicity Graduate Assistant for the Performing Arts department at Drexel University.