Staff & Board
Support from a stellar staff and dedicated, community-focused board ensures that all our programs continue with unwavering high standards.
Gretchen Wollert McLennon
President & CEO

Steven McMahon
Artistic Director


President & CEO
Gretchen Wollert McLennon

Artistic Director
Steven McMahon
Steven joined Ballet Memphis in 2004 as a dancer and has created more than 30 works for Ballet Memphis, including his first full-length ballet, Wizard of Oz as well as Soul Selects Her Own Society, Confluence, I Am and Peter Pan. Other new ballets for Ballet Memphis include Carnival of the Animals, Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella. Steven also has choreographed many original works including The Lovely Story of Us, which was performed in Helsinki, Finland, at the International Ballet Competition, and two of his works, Being Here With Other People and Confluence, have been performed at the Spring to Dance Festival in St. Louis.
His works also have been performed at Organizacion Para La Artes in Guatemala and at other venues around the nation including the Joyce Theater in New York and the Alabama Dance Festival. His first ballet, What Your Soul Sings, premiered at Ballet Memphis’ Interiorworks. He was a 2016 National Arts Strategies Senior Management Institute fellow as well as a fellow in the 2016 Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators in Salzburg, Austria. Steven, who is originally from Glasgow, Scotland, joined the Company after completing his training at The Ailey School in New York City. He retired from the stage in 2016.
Anne-Carolyn Bird | Development Strategist, acbird@balletmemphis.org |
Ali Filipovich | Costume Manager, afilipovich@balletmemphis.org |
Kristen Fisher | Director of Production, kfisher@balletmemphis.org |
Eileen Frazer | Teaching Artist and Community Programs Manager, efrazer@balletmemphis.org |
Sheric Hull | Facilities Manager and Lighting Designer, shull@balletmemphis.org |
Jenna Lester | School and Box Office Manager, jlester@balletmemphis.org |
Megan McCusker | School Instructor and Rehearsal Assistant, mmccusker@balletmemphis.org |
Carol Miraglia | Chief Administrative Officer, cmiraglia@balletmemphis.org |
Samson Mobashar | Chief Program and Strategy Officer, smobashar@balletmemphis.org |
Gabriela Moros Diaz | Costume Director, gmoros@balletmemphis.org |
Julie Marie Niekrasz | Rehearsal Director, jniekrasz@balletmemphis.org |
Brandon Ramey | Co-Director of School and Youth Ballet Memphis, bramey@balletmemphis.org |
Virginia Pilgrim Ramey | Co-Director of School and Youth Ballet Memphis, vramey@balletmemphis.org |
Rebecca Thomason | Senior Communications Strategist, rthomason@balletmemphis.org |
Jesse Tretter | Pilates + Wellness Manager, jtretter@balletmemphis.org |
Pam VanGilder | Director of Pilates + Wellness, pvangilder@balletmemphis.org |
Board of Directors
Andrea Bienstock | Chair, General Counsel, Belz Enterprises |
Shelley Shanaman | Vice Chair, Community Volunteer |
Maggie Lovell | Treasurer, Managing Member, Wilson Babb & Company |
Joan Schadt Biddle | Medical Content Writer, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |
Eric Clauson | President, Lexington Asset Management |
LeeAnne Cox | Attorney, Burch Porter Johnson |
Neil Gibson | Sr. Vice President Customer Experience, FedEx |
Brett Grinder | Vice President, Grinder, Taber & Grinder, Inc. |
Judge Ruthie Hagan | U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee |
Monica C. Jones | Sr. Vice President, Credit Risk Director, First Horizon National Corp. |
Faith Kaye | Realtor, Hobson Realtors |
Sue Layman Lightman | Owner & Artist, Sue Layman Designs |
Eric Mathews | CEO & Founder, Start Co. |
Gretchen Wollert McLennon | President & CEO, Ballet Memphis |
Nehali Patel | Physician, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |
Jessica Webb | Writer & Researcher |