The Sundance Institute has added three newly appointed members to the Board of Trustees. Lulu Wang (director of “The Farewell”), Patrick Gaspard (current CEO for the Center for American Progress) and Shripriya Mahesh (a founding partner at Spero Ventures) have joined the business, cultural and philanthropic leaders who steer the entire organization and also act in an advisory capacity.
They will expand the Institute’s Board of “values-based leaders,” building an “evolving community for storytellers.” The Trustees will work closely with Board Chair Ebs Burnough and CEO Joana Vicente.
“We are honored to have Lulu, Patrick and Shripriya join us as Trustees on the Board of Sundance Institute,” said Vicente in a statment. “Their vision and expertise offer us innovative leadership to continue to evolve as a cultural organization and deepen our commitment to the work.”
Asked about joining the board, Wang said, “Sundance played a pivotal role in launching my filmmaking career and I’m honored to join the Institute’s Board to help usher in a new wave of filmmakers with singular voices.”
“I’m thrilled to join the board of Sundance as an honor and a duty,” shared Patrick Gaspard, “at a moment when the work of storytelling is critically connected to the work of democratic inclusion and rights protection across the Globe. Sundance provides a vital scaffold for independent artists to take up the full power of expression as a value in itself and in service of community.”
“The Sundance Institute,” added Shripriya Mahesh, “is one of the finest examples of how to support creators and help them find their path in an extremely challenging industry. It has been supporting creators well before the ‘creator economy’ became a buzzword. I’m thrilled to be able to join the board to support the Institute’s mission to enable and support incredible independent filmmakers around the world.”
They join current members on the Institute’s Board: Robert Redford, President & Founder; Ebs Burnough Chair; Sean Bailey, Vice Chair; Gigi Pritzker, Vice Chair; Jason Blum, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Philipp Engelhorn, Caterina Fake, Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Robert J. Frankenberg, Donna Gruneich, Cindy Harrell Horn, Uzodinma Iweala, Amanda Kelso, Charles D. King, Lisa Kron, Lyn Davis Lear, Ann Lewnes, Wonya Lucas, Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, Pat Mitchell, Bill Plapinger, Amy Redford, Geoffrey K. Sands, Junaid Sarieddeen, Nadine Schiff-Rosen, Barry Tyerman, and Lynette Wallworth.
