Interlochen elects eight new and returning trustees

Electees include an international shipping executive, the founder of Aware Records, and CIO of ActivumSG Capital Management.

October 9, 2019

In July, Interlochen Center for the Arts elected eight new and returning members to its Board of Trustees during the annual board meeting.

The new trustees include Evan Breibart, a shipping executive, investor, and lawyer; Bruce Corner, co-founder of Symmetrics Marketing Corporation; Saul Goldstein, founder and CIO of ActivumSG Capital Management; Jeffrey Jacobs, attorney and partner, former president, and co-founder of Harpo Entertainment Group; and Gregg Latterman, music and entertainment industry entrepreneur and founder of Aware Records.

“It is an honor to work alongside these international business leaders and entrepreneurs who share our passion for arts education and for this great institution. They will add further depth and breadth to our Board, as well as new perspectives and experiences, making valuable contributions as we move into Interlochen’s second century,” Board Chair Glynn Williams said.

In addition to the five new trustees, three past board members are returning to service: David Min, Vice President of Strategic Business Innovation at the Walt Disney Company; Thomas Morris, artistic director of the Ojai Music Festival; and Sumit Sengupta, Senior Credit Officer at BMO Financial Corporation.

“David, Sumit, and Tom made significant contributions to the Board of Trustees in the past, and we are fortunate to benefit from their ongoing wisdom and experience,” said Trey Devey, President of Interlochen Center for the Arts. “They have been true thought leaders as we’ve shifted our philanthropic focus to making an Interlochen education accessible to more mission-appropriate students, and are stalwart proponents of the value of arts education.”

All eight of the new Board members are dedicated to supporting arts education, and Interlochen in particular. As a group they represent alumni, Camp and Academy parents, and long-time volunteers and supporters of Interlochen.

As these eight trustees begin their tenure, two depart. Lowell “Jep” Gruman and Timothy Jackson retired in July after nine years on Interlochen’s board. Both Gruman and Jackson have been presented with emeritus trustee status in recognition of their dedicated service.

Also during the meeting, Glynn Williams was re-elected as Chairman, Kurtis Wilder was elected as a Vice-Chair, and Sarah Harding continues as a Vice-Chair.

“Our Board of Trustees are champions for Interlochen’s mission. I look forward to partnering with them as we prepare Interlochen for its second century,” said Devey.

Learn more about our new and returning trustees below.

Evan Breibart

Evan Breibart is a shipping executive, investor, and lawyer, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and now living in London with his wife, Claudia. Breibart and Claudia have three children, and their eldest, Laura, was a member of the inaugural class of Interlochen Arts Academy’s Singer-Songwriter program and graduated in 2014.

Breibart heads a family office, through which he and his family invest in private equity, real estate, art, and other asset classes and support various charities. Prior to establishing the family office, Breibart served as general counsel of a family-owned, diversified shipping business based in Athens, Greece. He was instrumental in helping grow the family fleet from 18 vessels to over 120 dry bulk and tanker vessels. He served as lead negotiator on a number of high-value strategic transactions, including the acquisition of the dry bulk division of a large South African conglomerate, the en bloc acquisition of over 30 dry bulk vessels from a Malaysian petrochemical company, a $1 billion-plus vessel construction program in Korea and the People’s Republic of China, a large number of ship sale and purchase transactions, mortgage-backed ship finance, and capital markets fund-raising (both debt and equity). He also established and served on the boards of a number of shipping-related joint venture companies with, amongst others, a U.S. utility company, a large Swiss-based commodities group, and a large international petrochemical company.

Before joining the family company, Breibart practiced finance, corporate, and regulatory law with leading law firms based in London and Brussels.

Breibart is a qualified English solicitor and a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the D.C. Bar. Before attending law school, Breibart served on the staff of U.S. Senator Sam Nunn.

Breibart graduated from the University of Georgia (B.A., English, 1986 and J.D., 1990) and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Licence Spéciale en Droit Européen, 1991).

Bruce Corner

Bruce first became associated with Interlochen when his son attended Interlochen Arts Camp in 1997 and 1998, and graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in 1999 as an orchestral music major (double bass.) Colin was given the Interlochen Arts Camp ‘97 Bass Studio Award by his teachers, Jack Budrow and Lawrence Hurst. Now named the Colin Corner Double Bass Award, it is given only when a camper works hard enough to deserve it. Colin is currently the Principal Bass of the Oregon Symphony and, during the summers, the Principal Bass of the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago. His life-changing experiences at Interlochen influenced the whole family deeply, so much so that for six months of the year, Bruce and his wife, Gaye Gronlund, now live opposite the boys’ camp on Duck Lake, and provide a scholarship to an Interlochen Arts Camp bass player each year.

After completing a BA in Philosophy and Mathematics at the University of South Florida and an MBA in Operations Research at University of Pittsburgh, Bruce started his career on the Finance Staff at Ford Motor Company before switching to marketing and marketing research. After brief assignments in the computer services and telecommunications business, he spent his career helping companies measure and manage their customer experiences. He was hired as a consultant for the first company in the world to focus exclusively on the customer experience, Walker: CSM. In 1996, soon after he was asked to run the company, he left to co-found Symmetrics Marketing Corporation. Symmetrics grew to offices nationwide as well as in Europe and South America before it was acquired by Synovate, a UK-based company, in 2005. At Synovate Bruce was placed in charge of worldwide customer experience product development. During his career, Bruce has developed new quantitative methods for analyzing customer experience data, various measurement assessment tools including Employee Symmetry, a method to align employee attitudes and behaviors with the company strategy. He also developed a qualitative technique, The Ideal Customer Experience, still used around the world today. Up until his retirement, he consulted with various research companies under the egis of Engagement Research.

A high school drummer himself, an occasional guitarist, and an avid listener to most forms of music, Bruce greatly appreciates all that Interlochen has to offer to both its students and to the greater community. He has seen first-hand how such a rich and supportive environment can nurture a young artist and help them realize their dreams.

Saul Goldstein

Saul Goldstein is the founder and CIO of ActivumSG Capital Management which is a European-focused real estate private equity fund manager with more than €2 billion of equity under management. ActivumSG focuses on asset and corporate turn-around strategies in targeted real estate sectors combining a private equity mentality with deep expertise in local asset management and a strong on-the-ground presence.

Before establishing ActivumSG, Goldstein headed the European real estate investment team advising Cerberus Capital Management companies on German and European investment opportunities. During nine-and-a-half years at Cerberus, he helped open and run offices in Japan, Korea, Germany, and the UK. He advised on investments in real estate, real estate debt, NPLs and operating businesses in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Mexico, France, Belgium, and Germany. Prior to this, he worked at Cargill Financial Services in Minneapolis and Tokyo.

Goldstein graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Cornell University focusing on Asian Studies and Japanese and received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School and an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. He was named an Academic All-American, All-Ivy Athlete for rowing.

In addition to playing the trumpet through high school in various symphonic, jazz, pit, and marching bands, he has watched how the arts nurtured the souls of his children. He has a deep respect for the creativity and teamwork that participating in the performing arts fosters. His daughters play the flute and clarinet, and his eldest daughter spent several high school summers at Interlochen in the musical theatre program.

The Goldsteins and their two dogs live in London, which is a short drive to some great chalk-stream fly-fishing.

Jeffrey Jacobs

Jeffrey D. Jacobs is best known as the architect behind the growth and development of one of the most powerful and valuable brand names in the world. From 1984 until 2002, first as Oprah Winfrey’s attorney and manager and then as co-founder, partner, and president of Harpo Entertainment Group, Jacobs worked with Oprah to build a global multi-media empire.

Before partnering with Winfrey, Jacobs worked as an attorney, first practicing law as a litigator and then evolving as an attorney/agent for professional athletes and media personalities. As an adjunct Professor of Entertainment Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Jacobs taught and lectured on media and intellectual property.

Jacobs currently sits on the boards of Kate Farms, The Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation, and has been a member of YPO/WPO. He previously served on the boards of Prosper.com, television station group Granite Broadcasting, and is a former trustee of the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Jacobs earned his Juris Doctorate from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1974, where he also founded the Civitas Child Law Center.

Gregg Latterman

Gregg Latterman is a music and entertainment industry entrepreneur. Upon graduating from Kellogg, Latterman negotiated a joint venture with Columbia Records and signed Train, Five for Fighting, John Mayer, and Mat Kearney to his independent record label, Aware, founded in 1993. In 1999, Latterman built A-Squared Management that directed the careers of artists such as The Fray, Michelle Branch, Liz Phair, Brandi Carlile, Jack’s Mannequin, Mat Kearney, and Five for Fighting.

Latterman graduated in 2013 with a master’s in Positive Psychology at The University of Pennsylvania under Martin Seligman and now teaches Positive Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University as well as NUvention: Entrepreneurship for the Arts. In addition, Latterman is an Adjunct Lecturer of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management and Program Lead for the Zell Fellows (second-year MBAs who are building companies) New Venture Track and is on the Kellogg Faculty.

He is now building Positive Pretzels, an organic, simple, and clean-ingredient pretzel which launched in December of 2018 and is in all the Midwest Whole Foods stores.

Angel Investments currently include the following companies: Music Audience Exchange, Reverb, Popular Pays, Limitless Coffee, NATIV/Pairade, Teamsnap, Lost Arts, Rise Science, StageIt, MightyNest, King-Devick Test, Luna Lights, Cleveland Kraut, Good Day Chocolate, Hubb Filters, Park House, FRST, 2nd Kitchen, Outstanding Foods, FRST, Coco5, and TextUs.

Latterman was a High School Boys counselor in the summer of 1988 at Interlochen.

David Min

David Min is Vice President Strategic Business Innovation at The Walt Disney Company. His primary role is to engage startups and venture capitalists to build strategic partnerships with the business units of Disney including ABC, ESPN, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Theme Parks and Resorts, and Disney Consumer Products & Interactive.

To expand the growth of Disney’s relationships with startups, Min launched the Disney Accelerator in 2014, which is now in its fifth year, has served over 40 companies, and is considered the leading corporate accelerator in media and entertainment. Min also oversees investments for Disney Corporate with a total of 41 investments since 2011.

Prior to joining Disney Corporate, Min spent 10 years at Steamboat Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Disney, where he invested and served on the board of directors of several private companies in digital media. Min has over 20 years of experience in media, entertainment, and technology, and he was named to TheFunded.com’s list of top-ranked individual venture capitalists in 2008 and 2009.

Min attended National Music Camp for two summers. His sons, Eddie and Andy, have attended Interlochen Arts Camp for a combined 12 summers. Eddie graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in 2017, and Andy in 2019.

Thomas Morris

From 2004 to 2019, Tom Morris served as artistic director of the Ojai Music Festival in California, one of the preeminent festivals of musical experience and adventure in the world. He was one of the founders and artistic director of the innovative orchestra festival in Carnegie Hall, Spring For Music, and has served as chair of the Board of Overseers of the Curtis Institute of Music, and on the Curtis Board.

Morris is an active teacher, writer, and speaker, and has served as a consultant to over 50 musical organizations. He was executive director of The Cleveland Orchestra for 17 years—from 1987 to 2014—and prior to that worked for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a variety of positions from 1969 to 1985, including eight years as its chief executive.

He is interested in engaging people in new musical experiences, and studying not-for-profit organizational issues of governance, vision and leadership. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of orchestra, chamber, and contemporary music. Some of his favorite artists are George Szell, Charles Munch, Pierre Boulez, Fritz Reiner, John Philip Sousa, and all the great bandmasters.

Morris is a freelance percussionist and has performed often with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and the Blossom Festival Band. He states, “The arts are more important than ever before in a rapidly changing and changeable world. As such we must find ways of training our young people today so that tomorrow they continue to nurture a love of and curiosity for arts and music—for themselves and others.”

Morris and his wife Jane have three adult children: Elisa, Charles, and Will. He loves great food, adventurous music, stimulating companionship, fabulous books, and a great sense of humor.

Sumit Sengupta

Sumit was an Interlochen Arts Camp All-State camper from 1977-1980, was on the Intermediate Boys staff from 1982-1984, and was an Interlochen Center for the Arts trustee from 2008-2017. He and his wife, Cassie Brooks (IAC St 82-84), met as Interlochen Arts Camp counselors. Sumit and Cassie have three children, Claire (IAC 01-­09, IAC St 10-­17), Quinn (IAC 04-­12, Interlochen Ensemble 13, IAC St 15, 17) and Raef (IAC 06-­13, IAA 13-15, IAC St 16, 18).

Sumit has a B.S./M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Michigan, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and over 32 years of experience in corporate and investment banking, primarily in syndicated & leveraged finance and risk & credit. He is currently a senior credit officer and team leader at BMO Financial Group, having worked at BMO for 15 years and, prior to that, 17 years at JP Morgan (and predecessor firms Bank One/First Chicago). In addition to his service on Interlochen’s Board of Trustees, Sumit is a past board member of the Lakeside Singers. Sumit’s interests include great food, fun and interesting people, active travel, University of Michigan sports, and music of all genres and types. Sumit believes “We must actively participate in the arts, as artist and audience; for the arts connect us to one another like nothing else. The arts are the very soul, essence, and spirit of who and what we are.”