The Broward Performing Arts Foundation has announced the following board and committee chair elections for 2020-2021:

Stephanie Aoun, a Private Wealth Advisor within the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs, has been elected to the Broward Performing Arts Foundation Board of Directors. Aoun is passionate about supporting the arts and elevating under-resourced adults and children in her local community. A longtime resident of South Florida, Aoun attended Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale and Saint Andrew's School in Boca Raton, where she currently sits on the Alumni Advisory Board. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Finance and Marketing from University of Miami, where she also received a Master of Business Administration with dual concentration in Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions.

Ann Burris, who was appointed to the Broward Performing Arts Foundation Board of Directors in 2017, was elected treasurer of the board. Burris is a member of the McIntire Advisory Board at University of Virginia and of the local UVA Alumni Club. She served multiple years as co-chair for both the Golden Compass Award Dinner and Broward Public Library Foundation's Literary Feast. Burris also held volunteer leadership positions as a board member of the Seafarers’ House at Port Everglades and St. Mark’s Episcopal School and served as chair of underwriting for two years for St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

Chairs of two committees were also announced:

Ray Leightman, a Broward Performing Arts Foundation Board past chair and an active board member since 2004, was elected chair of the Foundation’s Planned Giving Committee. The retired president of Northern Trust Bank in Broward County helped launch the Encore! capital campaign in 2010 to renovate, renew and revitalize the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Leightman has led several organizations in leadership roles. In addition to chairing the Broward Performing Arts Foundation board, he served as chair of the Jewish Community Foundation of Broward County and was an executive board member of the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale and the Community Foundation of Broward County.

George Taylor, Esq.,a partner in Brinkley Morgan’s Estate and Trust Litigation and Business Litigation practice groups, was elected chair of the Broward Performing Arts Foundation’s Governance Committee. A member of the Broward Performing Arts Foundation board since 2016, Taylor also serves on the board of the Salah Foundation and Arc Broward and was chair of the KIDS Campaign for Broward Health.

For more than 30 years, the Broward Performing Arts Foundation has been instrumental in providing support for the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The Foundation was established in 1985 to deliver the required private funding to build the Center and create an endowment to sustain its operations. Over the years, the Foundation has successfully raised funds to support the Broward Center’s innovative and diverse programming, arts-in-education initiatives, community engagement activities and capital projects. The Foundation recently completed a $30 million capital campaign to renovate and restore the iconic Parker Playhouse. Prior to this, it raised $60 million to complete the Encore! capital campaign to renovate, renew and revitalize the Broward Center.

About The Broward Center for the Performing Arts

One of America’s premier performing arts venues, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts presents more than 700 performances each year to more than 700,000 patrons, showcasing a wide range of exciting cultural programming and events. Guest experiences at the Broward Center include the all-inclusive JetBlue Flight Deck on the Club Level, special events in the Huizenga Pavilion, waterfront dining at Marti’s New River Bistro and innovative classes and workshops for all ages at the Rose Miniaci Arts Education Center. With one of the largest arts-in-education programs in the United States, the Broward Center serves more than 130,000 students annually. The Broward Performing Arts Foundation, Inc. receives and maintains funds to sustain, develop and secure the future of the Broward Center. The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is located in the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District at 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. For more information, visit BrowardCenter.org.

Broward Center’s Road to Recovery Fund

Faced with the loss of 90% of its revenues when performances were cancelled due to the pandemic, the Broward Performing Arts Foundation launched the Road to Recovery Fund. Donations to this fund will help the Broward Center continue to provide programming online while it prepares for the day when it can reopen the theaters and emerge again as a gathering place for all. Contributions are welcome at BrowardCenter.org/R2R.