Throughout her 30-year career Erika Floreska has contributed to moving the mission forward at some of New York’s most vibrant cultural institutions including Bloomingdale School of Music, Tectonic Theater Project and Jazz at Lincoln Center before joining Long Island Children’s Museum as Director of Development in 2020.

While the first day on a new job is always memorable, Floreska’s was truly unforgettable, coinciding with the Children’s Museum’s forced COVID-19 closure. She instantly won the respect of board and staff members as she assumed a strategic role in producing the museum’s first virtual benefit, surpassing the goal by more than 10% raising $660,000. During her three-year tenure at LICM, she has cocreated and led a strategic effort to deepen long-standing relationships with foundations and corporations and establish new sponsorship opportunities. She’s worked to develop new and expanded individual giving opportunities, all resulting in over a 20% increase in contributed income, helping return the Museum to financial health through the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Executive Director of the Bloomingdale School of Music, she led a strategic turnaround of a 55-year-old community institution to ensure the mission of access to high-quality music instruction for all. She established a relationship-based individual giving program securing its first major planned gift for more than $3M.

As Executive Director of Tectonic Theater Project, she produced critically recognized productions that amplify the voices of underrepresented communities, including The Laramie Project Cycle at Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Tallest Tree in the Forest at KC Rep, LaJolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, DC, and Taper Forum in LA, as well as Square Peg Round Hole about life on the autism spectrum. She also hired their first full-time Education Director expanding education workshops and secured a publishing deal for a book outlining the Tectonic method for developing plays, Moment Work.

During her 14 years as Director of Education at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Floreska worked closely with Artistic Director, Wynton Marsalis, and was responsible for the direction of education programs that had local, national, and international reach. These included Essentially Ellington, the country’s leading high-school jazz band program, the Middle School Jazz Academy, an innovative approach to teaching instrumental jazz, WeBop, a highly successful program for toddlers and caregivers designed with experts at Teachers College – Columbia, and Jazz for Young People – a concert series hosted by Wynton Marsalis.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, she traces her commitment to arts and education service to growing up in a family filled with musicians and educators. She is a passionate advocate for music education and a professional musician, holding two degrees in Flute Performance from the College of Wooster, and the University of Michigan. Additionally, she is a Certified Fund Raising Executive. Erika lives in Baldwin, NY with her husband, and her musical children, a college sophomore and freshman.

On September 30th, 2018, 12 year old Andrew McMorris was hiking with his Boy Scout Troop when a drunk driver plowed into the line of scouts, severely injuring 3 scouts and killing Andrew. Alisa’s world changed in an instant and her family was completely shattered. Through her despair she found hope in creating a foundation with her husband John and daughter Arianna to honor Andrew’s passions including singing, dancing, music, art, theater, aviation, and of course scouting, so that they’d have a vehicle to change from parenting Andrew to parenting his legacy. Their mission was to create positive change and recognize the achievements of unsung heroes, that embody Andrew’s spirit through scholarships, grants, and leadership awards. The Andrew McMorris Foundation was launched just 6 months after losing Andrew on his first birthday in heaven in 2019. In the organization’s first 3 years they have presented over 50 awards to deserving young leaders, was the speaker at multiple events including the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office program Choices and Consequences. Each year they hold walks, hikes and runs to finish what Andrew started as well as the Fly High Andrew Gala each year on September 30th to change their worst day into something that is meaningful. Alisa is no stranger to community service as she has worked in her local community for years as a Girl Scout leader, PTA volunteer and could often be found advocating for the fine and performing arts students and educators. Alisa has also done a tremendous amount of legislative work alongside MADD in support of technology that was signed into law last year in Washington DC. This was the single most important legislation in MADD history, marking the beginning of the end of drunk, drugged and impaired driving. From Driver’s Ed classes all the way to Washington DC, the organization’s ultimate goal is creating meaningful changes so that no one else has to endure the nightmare of losing a loved one to something that is 100% preventable.

Mr. Chenkin joined Family Service League (FSL) in 2016 as Vice President of Development. In 2021, he became Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Family Service League a premier Long Island non-profit human service organization. In his role he oversees Development, Volunteerism, Communications, and Brand presence internal and external.

In 2015, Maurice Brandon Curry was appointed Executive Artistic Director of Eglevsky Ballet. He is the seventh artistic director in the history of the organization and the first to hold both titles. Mr. Curry began his initial training with Ned Williams and continued at the School of American Ballet, where he studied with Andrei Kramarevsky, Stanley Williams, Richard Rapp, Antonina Tumkovsky, and others. Subsequently, he trained with Ann Brodie, founding artistic director of Columbia City Ballet. As a dancer, Mr. Curry appeared with New York City Ballet and danced with Carolina Ballet, Kaleidoscope Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, and DancEllington. In addition to his BFA in Choreography, Mr. Curry holds a degree in Digital Filmmaking and Multimedia. He is a sought-after consultant with dance studios, colleges, and conservatories across the country on matters of policy, programming, and curriculum.

His work as an educator has been recognized by many international organizations as he is a frequent guest instructor throughout the world. Mr. Curry was the Chairperson of the Dance Division at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. He has also served on the faculties ofThe Ailey School, New York University/Tisch School of the Arts, Collaborative Arts Project 21, the Boys Choir of Harlem, NJ Foundation for Dance and Theatre Arts, Upward Bound at the University of South Carolina, and Long Island University. Mr. Curry was the Director of Educational Programs at the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC, where he was also a member of the faculty.

Mr. Curry’s ballets are in the repertoires of international ballet companies, academies, colleges, and performing arts high schools. In 2016, new works by Mr. Curry were added to the repertoires of the Alabama School of Fine Arts (where he was the resident guest artist) and the Columbia Ballet Collective at Columbia University in NYC. He has achieved major success as a director and choreographer in both the concert, musical theater, and commercial dance worlds working with many notable dance luminaries, recording and media artists. Mr. Curry’s award-winning choreography has been seen worldwide on stages, on television, and in film. In his first season as Executive Artistic Director, Mr. Curry choreographed a new production of THE NUTCRACKER especially for Eglevsky Ballet. The production’s new and innovative scenario, costumes, and choreography was a box office success, surpassing records of previous productions by the company.

For Eglevsky Ballet, Mr. Curry has created partnerships and collaborative opportunities with the Long Island Children’s Museum, American Chamber Ensemble, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. In 2019, Mr. Curry extended the work of Eglevsky Ballet’s nationally recognized Children’s Division Curriculum into local day care centers with the creation of, “Jump Start!”, a program developed by him and Shana McLaughlin, Principal of the Lower School and Children’s Division at Eglevsky Ballet. Mr. Curry also developed the Friends of Eglevsky Ballet program for local businesses who support the organization.

Maurice Brandon Curry has served on the board of directors for dre.dance (a company directed by Andrew Palermo and Taye Diggs), the Bangor Ballet, DANCER magazine, and the Mark Stuart Dance Theater. Currently, Mr. Curry serves on the advisory board of the Young Choreographers Festival. Recently nominated to membership at the International Dance Council (which is sponsored by UNESCO) Mr. Curry is also a member of the National Dance Education Organization. Mr. Curry proudly serves on the Alumni Committee on Diversity and Inclusion at his alma mater, the School of American Ballet. Mr. Curry remains an in-demand educator and in addition to his teaching at Eglevsky Ballet, has returned to the faculty at The Ailey School.

Consistently, students under Mr. Curry’s tutelage and mentorship have been accepted into the most prestigious training programs, universities, and summer courses in the nation. His former students have danced or are currently dancing with the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet, the Royal Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ballet San Jose, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Cincinnati Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and on Broadway, in film, and on television.