Metropolitan Ballet Company Welcomes New Board Members

Lisa Collins Vidnovic, Founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit Metropolitan Ballet Company, announces that Ms. Eileen R. Heisman and Ms. Hedra Packman have joined the Company's Board of Directors. Metropolitan Ballet Company is a highly acclaimed, pre-professional dance company based in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

Eileen R. Heisman, ACFRE, is the President and CEO of National Philanthropic Trust and a nationally recognized expert on charitable and planned giving. Ms. Heisman has been interviewed about philanthropy and donor-advised funds on CNBC, PBS, NPR, CNN International and Bloomberg TV, and by nearly every national newspaper and major trade publication, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, CBS MarketWatch, Financial Advisor, and Investment News. Ms. Heisman was among the first fundraising professionals to earn the distinguished ACFRE certification, and has been named five times by NonProfit Times as one of their "Power and Influence Top 50," an annual listing of the 50 most influential executives in the philanthropic sector, most recently in 2018. She has also been invited by the Chinese government to speak to their emerging nonprofit sector about philanthropy. In 2014, Ms. Heisman was recognized as "Outstanding Fundraising Professional" by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Hedra Packman began her career as a Children's Librarian, retired as Deputy Director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and is currently a Library and Literacy Consultant. Her strong background in dance started with training at the Philadelphia Dance Academy/College of Performing Arts (now the Dance Department of the University of the Arts), where she trained as a dancer under Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumch. Ms. Packman has worked in Labanotation, a standardized notation system for recording human movement, and is experienced in grant writing and reviewing, program development, overseeing and preserving collections, management of public services, and conference planning and presentations. In addition to her service on numerous boards and committees for organizations and government agencies in the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and nationally, Ms. Packman previously served on the Board of the Dance Heritage Coalition, which works to preserve and archive dance. She is currently a member of the Dance Heritage affinity group of Dance USA.

Lisa Collins Vidnovic said, "We are thrilled to welcome Eileen R. Heisman and Hedra Packman to Metropolitan Ballet Company's Board of Directors. Their expertise and community engagement will be particularly valuable as the Company continues to grow its scholarships, community programs, outreach performances, and innovative educational partnerships."

About Metropolitan Ballet Company

Metropolitan Ballet Company (MBC) is a pre-professional dance company affiliated with Metropolitan Ballet Academy, a classical dance studio founded by Lisa Collins Vidnovic that in two decades has earned recognition from POINTE magazine as one of "seven local studios in America cultivating top talent" (November 2011). MBC has trained numerous dance artists who now perform with professional companies across America. More than 100 Metropolitan students have earned highest honors at Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) and/or scholarships for intensive study with many prestigious ballet companies nationwide. Learn more at www.metropolitanballetcompany.org

Metropolitan Ballet Company 2018-19 Board of Directors

Officers: Julie Price, President; Barbara Mattleman, Vice President; Kora Peck, Secretary.

Directors-at-large: Lisa Collins Vidnovic, Artistic Director and Founder; Amber Permsap Ahearn, Executive Director; Janet Blenheim; Juliann Ellis; Eileen R. Heisman; June Hines; Betsy McKinstry; Hedra Packman; Bernard S. Panzak, Jr.