John McEwen serves as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a service organization for the state’s 33 professional theatres. 

Prior to the Alliance, John served as Vice President for Development of the New Jersey Network Foundation where he was responsible for a $7 million annual fund.  Prior to joining NJN, John served as the Director of Development for Paper Mill Playhouse where he implemented the theatre’s award-winning access services and the Adopt-A-School Project, and was responsible for raising $3.5 million for the annul fund, strategic planning and board development.

John is the founder and Chairman of the Cultural Access Network Project, a program of New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts that assists the state’s cultural organizations as they make their programs and services accessible to individuals with disabilities. John serves as a trustee for ArtPRIDE New Jersey, Center for NonProfits, Montclair State University’s College of the Arts, and the Fund for the New Jersey Blind.   

John’s awards and achievements include the first Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Award from the Christopher Reeves Paralysis Foundation and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Robert Smyth Outstanding Professional Fundraiser Award from AFP/NJ Chapter,  Ann Klein Advocate Award from the Community Health Law Project, Award of Excellence from Passage Theatre, the Governor Kean and Byrne Advocacy Award from Paper Mill Playhouse,  a Citation of Excellence from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the Community Service Award from the New Jersey Department of Recreation. 

John is a graduate of Leadership/New Jersey and the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts at Stanford University, a partnership between the Stanford Graduate School of Business and National Arts Strategies.   John received his Bachelor’s of Arts from Montclair State University and his Master’s of Arts from New York University

Website: https://njtheatrealliance.org/ 

Twitter: @NJTheatre

Beth Prevor is a co-founder and Executive Director of Hands On, an arts service organization that advocates for access to the cultural arts for the Deaf community and audiences with disabilities. For the last 30+ years, Hands On has been providing access for the Deaf and hard of hearing communities of NYC through sign language interpreted theater at some of NYC’s most prestigious theaters including The Roundabout Theater Company, The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater and The New Victory Theater.

As Executive Director, Beth works with arts organizations to ensure inclusion for all by providing marketing, community engagement and audience development strategies. As a disabled advocate, Beth is active as an advisory member to many groups including, The Shubert Accessibility Committee, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and the Museum, Arts and Culture Access Consortium (MAC).  She has led workshops on accessibility and the arts for organizations around the country including the Kennedy Center’s LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) Conference, Americans for the Arts, The National Arts Marketing Project, the Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York (ART/NY) and Theater Communications Group (TCG). She currently works as a Disability Consultant with ART/NY.

She is the 2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center’s Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Lifetime Achievement award.

Website: Handson.org

Twitter: @HandsOnSign