Team
Amy Nederlander
Founder, President
Amy is an expert in strategic business development working with world leading executives, corporations, non-profits and social impact initiatives creating multi-platform profitability maximization through content and brand development, consumer engagement and strategic partnerships. Ms. Nederlander is also a producer in the entertainment industry.
As an entrepreneur, Amy launched L!FE’s experience-based programming teaching the skills and confidence to achieve goals, independence, education and career success in Detroit to serve her hometown’s revitalization, expanding programming to NYC; Amy has produced plays for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and national tours, as well as build eProvStudio into a multi-platform business promoting multigenerational entrepreneurship through education, research, advocacy & public policy, and access to capital, culminating in a Global Summit Series Tour on Senior & Multi-Generational Entrepreneurship in partnership with Participant Media; Amy created Save The Children’s High School Community Service Program, a partnership with Rustic Pathway.
Consulting has included development of Spill The Honey Project, a global initiative to promote tolerance and end genocide; strategic partnerships for a premier social impact gaming company; global strategy for the live entertainment division of a multi-platform entertainment company, global brand extension strategies for entertainment companies. Clients: Electronic Arts; Hit Entertainment; PBS/WNET; Barnard College at Columbia University – Athena Center for Leadership Studies; Fathom Events; 4D Factory.
Ms. Nederlander has a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, and Bachelor of Arts from University of Michigan. Awards and nominations include Tony Awards, Drama Critics Circle Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, amongst others. Ms. Nederlander was raised in the Detroit, Michigan area and is actively involved in bringing her experience, local and national relationships to empower Detroit’s redevelopment.
Michaela Murphy
Co-Founder, Curricular Consultant
Michaela is a writer, teacher, communications consultant, entrepreneur, and co-director of Barnard College’s Athena Center for Leadership Study Entrepreneurs-in-Training Program since its inception. Ms. Murphy is also an executive coach and speechwriter. As an expert in how to effectively engage and connect with an audience, she has more than 25 years of experience helping individuals and organizations launch new ideas, forge new markets, and communicate their messages through dynamic and interactive engagement. Her clients include Microsoft, Yale University, Dartmouth College, Estee Lauder, The 52nd Street Project, Manhattan Theater Club, Second Stage Theater, The Taunton Press, Quest International Fragrances, HTC, and a host of private individuals.
As a storyteller Ms. Murphy has been featured on NPR, The Moth Radio Hour, TEDx, RISK, and at the White House. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, produced Off-Broadway, and with The Moth she has performed both main stage show and national storytelling tours. She is a widely sought business consultant and speechwriter by C-level executives and technology startups. As an entrepreneur, she has co-founded several startups including, most recently, eProvStudio, a creative and collaborative business platform promoting multigenerational entrepreneurship
Ms. Murphy's career in education spans more than 25 years. She has designed curriculums for students and educators around a broad-range of subjects, taught students from pre-school (Head-Start) through graduate school, and has directed professional development courses for established educators.
Mario Lemons
Program Director - Detroit
Mario Lemons is a native of Detroit, and was educated in the Detroit Public Schools system. He graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, and a Master’s Degree in Teaching and Curriculum, with a Specialization in English and Language Instruction. Mario is passionate about empowering young people to be their best selves and is excited to bring his expertise to Detroit students. For the past five years, Mario has dedicated himself to empowering students academically, socially and emotionally, providing both academic and behavioral support for Detroit elementary and middle school students. Mario also continues his work educating young people in the arts as Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Sharing The Gift, a community engagement theater production company working with students ages 4 - college. Outside of school, Mario enjoys traveling frequently with his travel club, being involved in the arts community, and giving back to the less fortunate.
Mitchell Krieger
Program Development & Curricular Consultant
Mitchell is an educator, community builder, and designer that has dedicated his career to creating programs that have a positive impact on people's lives through transformative experiences and progressive innovative pedagogy. He has worked in schools, camps, theaters, dorms, after-school and summer programs with ages ranging from toddlers to college students. Most recently, Mitchell taught math, urban design, history and literature at CITYterm at the Masters School in their interdisciplinary experience-based curriculum as well as serving as a dorm parent in their residential program. A graduate of Oakland Early College and Hampshire College, Mitchell got his degree in educational technology and curriculum development with an emphasis on mathematics education and experimental pedagogy. Mitchell also has worked as a staff supervisor at Wooden Acres Camp after being a counselor for many years, at the 92nd St Y in the Passport NYC program and as a private tutor. As a designer, he has worked on many theatrical productions primarily in props and scenic design at institutions such as Ars Nova, Abrons Arts Center, Williamstown Theater Festival, the Drama League of New York, NYMF, TADA Youth Theater and on Broadway.
The Strategic Muses, Jill Blaustein and Seval LaRocca, Founders
Development Consultants
The Strategic Muses work with businesses and not-for-profit organizations to build strategies for growth utilizing skills gleaned from the legal, financial, and communications arenas to develop multi-tiered strategies designed to enhance profitability, public awareness, and funding from a diverse range of sources.
Jill Blaustein was a commercial litigation attorney at the Wall Street law firm, Thacher, Proffitt & Wood, for over 8 years, before she pursued a career in public relations at Edelman Public Relations and then her own company advising law firms, non-profits, start-up companies, and various educational institutions on fund-raising, growth, crisis situations, and communications plans. She has served as a member and officer on various non-profit boards, including Speak Up Africa, the Metropolitan Montessori School, and several others.
Seval LaRocca began her career on Wall Street where she worked for over 17 years in various positions in sales and trading at some of the largest firms on Wall Street including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers, and Greenwich Capital Markets. With a passion for change in the world through community action, Ms. LaRocca has served on several non-profit boards and founded several not-for-profit organizations. She served for 10 years as a Trustee of the Manhasset Public Library. Her primary accomplishment during her term involved lobbying and obtaining approval for, and supervising the planning and construction of, a new $18 million 32,000 square foot facility. Ms. LaRocca was also Co-Founder of the Manhasset Coalition Against Breast Cancer, an organization responsible for raising over $4,000,000 to date in the local community.
Together, as the Strategic Muses, Jill and Seval pool their collective creativity and business savvy to come up with meaningful, successful programs for their broad range of clients.