Often spotted as Ticket Takers, Ushers, and Parkers during the Big Top Tour, the board works tirelessly to keep our tent tops high, our popcorn popping, and our aerialists soaring above the crowd.

★ BOARD MEMBERS ★                                           

Kate Hayes, President
Scottsdale, AZ
In 1991 Kate ran off to join the circus, attending Smirkus Camp and then joining the Big Top Tour (1992-1997).  After a decade in management in the service industry, she received her master’s degree in International Human Rights from the University of Denver and moved into nonprofit sector work. Kate provides expertise and oversight for medical billing and contract negotiation for healthcare organizations. She enjoys traveling the world with her husband, a retired NHL player, and her two daughters while also spending as much time as possible outside, volunteering in her kids’ classrooms and at the Desert Botanic Gardens.

Justin LeBlanc, Vice President
South Portland, ME
Justin is a former gymnast and a former minor league baseball and basketball mascot, turned attorney. At his law firm, LeBlanc Diggins, he focuses on estate planning, and trust and estate administration. He has served on several nonprofit boards in Maine and Georgia. Justin has two sons – Andrew, an organic chemistry student, and Theo, a former Smirkus camper and trouper, who studies circus arts at École de Cirque de Québec. Justin, a longtime Smirkus volunteer, is proud to be a three-ball juggler who can still safely complete some rudimentary tumbling without injuring himself.

Brian Miron, Treasurer
York, ON
Brian retired from Pyramis Global Advisors/Fidelity Asset Management in 2015 after 15 years working as a research analyst and portfolio manager. He is currently involved with numerous non-profit organizations, serving as President of Friends of Canada’s National Ballet School as well as being on the Board of The University of St. Michael’s College, The University of Toronto, and Flying Gravity Circus. Brian’s two children, Jack and Ben, were Smirkus campers and troupers.

Toby Ayer, Secretary
Salisbury, CT
An educator and coach at Salisbury School in Connecticut since 2008, Toby’s previous pedagogic and coaching stints include MIT, Harvard, and Northeastern University. Today he is a physics teacher and the head rowing coach. He spends part of each summer in VT’s Northeast Kingdom coaching at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. One of the original Smirkus troupers, Toby performed and then worked with Smirkus between 1987 and 1999. He lives on the Salisbury School campus with his wife and two children, and juggles whenever appropriate in his physics classes.

Lydia Brosnahan
Cambridge, MA
Lydia works in the MIT Office of the Arts, coordinating visiting artist residencies and grants programs to support artistic work by faculty and students. Prior to MIT, she worked at Macalester College and at the Institute for Global Studies at the Univ. of MN and interned at MASS MoCA and the Walker Art Center. She has been fortunate to travel extensively, including studying in Portugal and Turkey and volunteering with Crescer e Viver social circus in Brazil. Lydia saw her first Circus Smirkus show in 1999 and was immediately inspired to run away and join the circus, becoming a Smirkus camper 2000-2002 and trouper 2003-2006 & 2008.

Debra Ellis
Chappaqua, NY
Debra has over 25 years of experience in technology consulting. She is a Partner at Ellis Partners where she provides strategic advice to mid-market technology companies. She enjoys all things circus and shares her love of arts and sports with her husband, daughter and son.  Her son was previously a camper and counselor at Smirkus Camp.

Jill D’Andrea Fischmann
Wellesley, MA
Jill lived in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles for many years, working for a member of Congress (Tony Coelho, D-CA), NBC, CBS, the National Association of Broadcasters and WETA, the PBS/NPR dual licensee. Her performance credits include ten years with the Hexagon Political Comedy Troupe. Since moving back to her hometown in 2012, Jill has worked with a socially conscious documentary film company and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2020 she became a Program Manager at Xilio Therapeutics, a cancer immunotherapy biotech. Her daughters have been attending Smirkus Camp since 2015.

Miriam Rosenblum
Newton, MA
Miriam is Managing Director of Brain Educators, LLC, a medical publishing company. Previously she spent more than three decades in the field of nonprofit management and program development and served as a Chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Other pursuits have included dance performance, choreography, and instruction and the production of arts events.  Since 2000, when her son Rafi Benjamin became a Smirkus camper and later a trouper and a camp coach, her family has been part of the Smirkus family through multiple roles in and out of the circus ring.

Dan Seideman
Charlottesville, VA
Dan is currently a private equity investor at Endicott Growth Equity Partners, leveraging his 20 years of experience in technology-enabled information services and financial industries. Dan previously worked at S&P Global in a strategy and corporate  development role, after being part of the senior leadership of SNL Financial, a fast-growing private company acquired by S&P Global. Dan also has worked as an investment banker and is an active private angel investor and advisor. Dan grew up in Plainfield, VT and has lived in Charlottesville, VA for over 15 years with his wife Jen, a neurologist, and their two daughters who are both Smirkus campers, regular Smirkus Big Top Tour attendees, and big Smirkus@Home fans.

Raber Umphenour
Boston, MA
Raber is a developer of cultural institutions and organizations including the Midway Artist Collective and the Museum of Scenographic Design. As a filmmaker, his work focuses on feature films, documentaries, and architectural motion pictures. He has designed for opera, ballet, and stage dramas, worked in real estate development and strategy, and is a regular lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Raber was a Smirkus trouper in 1997-1999.

Marvin Wang
Boston, MA
Marvin is a hospital-based clinical pediatrician specializing in newborn well baby care. He also does medical research and product design. Outside the hospital he is found on New England roads and trails cycling, Nordic skiing, and running. A longtime Smirkus ambassador, Marvin’s photographs are enjoyed throughout the Smirkus world. His daughter Alexa was a longtime Smirkus camper and trouper.

★ HONORARY BOARD MEMBERS ★

Julia Child (1912-2004)
John & Lisa Hewett
Tim Holst (1947-2009)
Curtis Ingham
Ed Koren (1935-2023)
Norman Lear
Marcel Marceau (1923-2007)
Paul Zaloom

★ FORMER BOARD MEMBERS ★

Stew Arnold
Scott Atherton
Josh Aviner
David Barash
Beth Binns Schoellkopf
Laura Brewer
Jane Culbert
Tristan Avelina Cunningham
Debra Ellis
Jane Fisher (Past President)
Shelley Glassner
Claire Grimble
Bob Grove
Kimberly Grove
Francey Grund
Mark Heyman
Peter Kunin
Michele Levy (Past President)
Pam Lodish
Tom McGrail
Fred Nanni
Gail Neale (Past President)
Bruce Novich
Susan Novich
Carole Parker
Dick Plotz
Dan Reicher
Pam Reynolds
Richard Reynolds
Elinor Ross
Robert Sanson
Kathryn Sarken
Richard Saudek
Neil Saunders (Past President)
Linda S. Schiffer (Past President)
Bill Schubart (Past President)
Tom Shampnois
Steve Shepherd
Brian Slater
Nick Speltz
Rob Smart
Debby Stein Sharpe (Past President)
Joshua Wachs
Ben Winship
Nancy Wright
Jim Zien