Portland Ovations is honored to welcome five new members to the Board of Directors: Atiim Boykin, Sherouk Fetaih, Bryan Matluk, Joy McManigal, and Liz Cotter Schlax.
“I am excited to welcome an exceptional group of new Board members whose leadership, and deep community ties will help propel our mission forward,” says Sayad Moudachirou, Ovations Board President. “Their talent and passion will empower Portland Ovations to continue serving and inspiring our communities across Maine through the transformative power of live performance.”
Atiim Chenzira (Boykin) is a mental health clinician, social worker, community organizer, and creative professional whose decades of leadership bridge arts and systemic change. A strategic builder of collaborative institutions, he co-founded San Francisco’s first-ever collaborative court for transitional-aged youth while simultaneously producing 10 music albums and curating grassroots multimedia events. Since relocating to Portland in 2018, Atiim has launched neighborhood initiatives strengthening cultural resilience, mirroring his lifelong practice of using art as a tool for collective healing. This includes time as Portland Ovations’ Co-Director of Ovations Offstage, and as an advisor with Indigo Arts Alliance. In 2020, Atiim was selected as one of three Kennedy Center Artists representing Maine (Arts Across America, 2020) further showcasing his capacity to align local creativity with national platforms. He seeks to bring this dual lens, clinical advocacy and creative infrastructure-building, to Ovations’ board, ensuring the organization’s strategic growth remains rooted in equity, health, renewal, and resilience.
Sherouk Fetaih weaves together a mosaic of experiences—from Wall Street, management consulting, and private equity to startups and Fortune 500 leadership—translating complex visions into measurable results with clarity and speed. Most recently, as VP of Strategic Initiatives at IDEXX, she integrated and scaled a software acquisition, while also leading an ambitious AI-driven transformation of IDEXX’s customer support organization. She previously led IDEXX’s Corporate Strategy and Advanced Analytics function, partnering directly with the CEO and CFO to shape enterprise direction and investor-facing narratives. Hailing from Canada, Sherouk now calls North Yarmouth home. With her family, she immerses herself in diverse cultures through global travel, linguistic adventures, and culinary explorations, balanced by enjoying Maine’s natural beauty through hiking, paddle boarding, or relaxing along the beaches. As an immigrant, Sherouk is deeply attuned to the transformative power of access to the performing arts.
Bryan Matluk is a nonprofit fundraising consultant by day and a classically trained ballet instructor by night. Studying pedagogy under Marcia Dale Weary, “one of the country’s foremost ballet teachers” (NYTimes), Bryan teaches aspiring professionals through his studio, Apollonian Ballet. Maine’s only John F. Kennedy Center Arts Management Fellow, he has worked with nearly two dozen nonprofits and performing arts companies ranging from Bangor to DC and from The Ecology School to the Bolshoi Ballet. As a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) and MBA through the Isenberg School of Management, Bryan combines data-driven insight with artistic sensibility in helping nonprofits accomplish their goals.
Joy McManigal has pursued an eclectic life path as a teacher, administrator, consultant, manager, fundraiser, writer, editor, producer, and mother. Originally from Napa Valley, Joy earned degrees from Stanford and Johns Hopkins Universities. She has worked alongside migrant farm workers and Teamsters, competed internationally as the captain of the USA softball team, survived an assassination attempt, owned a pub in Ireland, wrangled celebrities at five national political conventions and two presidential inaugurations, and advised a variety of arts and entertainment organizations. Joy is currently writing a self-help book for young adults, as well as a magical memoir about her mystical meanderings.
Liz Cotter Schlax has a deep passion for community, serving as President & CEO of United Way of Southern Maine from 2015-2025. Liz’s varied career also includes leading international students with the performing arts organization, Up with People, and marketing roles in the US and Germany with Deere and Company (John Deere). In addition to the Portland Ovations Board of Directors, Liz is proud to serve on University of Southern Maine’s Board of Visitors, Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors, and FocusMaine’s Board of Directors, among others. Liz has enjoyed decades as an amateur musical theater performer and is the proud mother of two daughters who are pursuing careers in the performing arts. Liz grew up in Waterville and received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her MBA from Columbia University.
“I’m thrilled to welcome to the Ovations family an incredibly robust and diverse class of new board members,” says Aimée M. Petrin, Ovations Executive & Artistic Director. “Among these five exceptional individuals are artists, business executives and strategists, social service advocates, and community leaders. Hailing originally from Maine, across the country and as far away as Canada and Africa – the wisdom, perspectives and lived experience of each and every one of these folks will greatly benefit Ovations and the many communities we work among.”
This impressive group joins twenty additional Ovations board members, each community leaders and organizers who are committed to the power of live performance to bring people together and support the wellbeing of communities.