Connector

Jaime Hastings

Jaime Hastings is a proud product of the public school system, who gained a deep love and appreciation for the arts in the East Rockaway School District on Long Island. Hastings went on to study music, theater and business at the State University of New York College at Geneseo, and vocal performance under Michael Crouse, William Leyerle and Andrew Byrne. She has produced and performed several New York City cabarets including MY BLUE DRESS, Maury Yeston’s DECEMBER SONGS, and WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS, starred in a reading and cast recording of the original musical 41 MINUTES, written by Daniel Ezell, and performed in several New York productions of the original musical, FAIR LIBERTY’S CALL, written by Pamela Meadows. As associate to writer and filmmaker Rebecca Miller, Hastings worked closely on several Round Films projects including the 2015 feature, MAGGIE’S PLAN, (starring Julianne Moore, Greta Gerwig and Ethan Hawke). She was also Associate Producer of the Emmy nominated HBO Documentary, ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER. Hastings is the Executive Director of the Arthur Miller Foundation, a grassroots non-profit organization honoring the legacy of the great American playwright by building and sustaining quality in-school theater education in public schools, through partnerships with the NYC Department of Education and The City College of New York.

Describe the Impact of a Project you’re focused on.

Despite the fact that NYC is the theater capital of the country, arguably the world, approximately only 20% of schools in NYC have a dedicated theater teacher or program. I am working on an initiative with the Arthur Miller Foundation to bring quality theater education into 100% of NYC schools. However, with New York being the largest public school system in the U.S. we have a long way to go. Approximately 200 schools have a theater program and 1,600 do not. We must continue moving the needle to reach our goal so that all students have the right to a theater education.

What results do you hope for when the impact is amplified?

As we further develop our programs and continue to expand our reach, the Arthur Miller Foundation is working to optimize our impact. We are driving awareness of theater education as a change agent in creating successful schools and high-performing students who are enriched by the socio-emotional skills an in-school theater education provides. As such, we are determined to increase the number of public school theater teachers in New York City and, when the time is right, in other areas of the country. The results we hope for include a transformation from STEM to STEAM through which public school students are granted a well-rounded education, inclusive of the arts. We believe arts education is a means by which to foster generations of imaginative, intuitive, collaborative, empathetic graduates, equipped with many of the life skills necessary to pursue any field of human endeavor and become forward-thinking citizens.

What do you have to offer as a connector? What can you give as expertise to others?

My primary connections stem from the entertainment world –– mainly in film and theater as well as the event world, from event producing to design and everything in between.