Member, NASD Commission on Accreditation
Elected September 2022, term ends September 2025
F. Lee Merwin has served as the Executive Director of the Joffrey Ballet School since September of 2020, having previously served the institution as the Director of Operations and International Programming from 2012 to 2019 and Managing Director from 2005 through 2009. In his time at Joffrey, Mr. Merwin has overseen the diversification of the School’s programming and expanding its geographic reach. He established the School’s first international auditions and has built relationships and programming in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Central and South America. In conjunction with the expansion of programming, Mr. Merwin has been instrumental in building the capacity of the School’s administration to match its growth, as well as overseeing the addition of dormitory facilities and establishing the School’s residence life department.
From April 2010 through August 2011 Mr. Merwin served as the Executive Director of the Gelsey Kirkland Academy in New York, establishing the Academy’s initial programing and building its first campus in Tribeca with founding Artistic Directors Gelsey Kirkland and Misha Chernov. Prior to 2005, Mr. Merwin served as COO of Industrial Candles, Inc, a company that manufactures candles and related accessories. Mr. Merwin began his career at the ZLM Group, a financial services firm.
Outside of his professional career, Mr. Merwin serves on the Board of Directors of several organizations, including For Granted, Inc., a nonprofit organization that redistributes educational supplies to disadvantaged children around the world; and Axis Replay, an e-sports company where he also briefly served as interim CFO.
Mr. Merwin serves NASD as a visiting evaluator and was a past member of the Committee on Nominations.
Mr. Merwin received a Master of Business Administration degree with honors from Regis University in Denver, Colorado and completed the Non-Profit Executive Leadership program at Columbia University Business School in New York City. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in political science and management from Gettysburg College.
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Updated January 2023