John Murphy – President
John M. Murphy is a senior insurance executive whose career spans 45 years. He is the retired President of Ivy Tech Foundation, the largest community college foundation in the United States. In his eight years in the position, he set forth new strategic direction and significantly increased revenues. As measured by donations, Ivy Tech has enjoyed eight record donation years.
Prior to Ivy Tech he was Managing Director of Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., the fourth largest insurance broker internationally. At Wells Fargo, he was a key member of the leadership team and a founder of the former company, Acordia, Inc., which was the sixth largest broker worldwide. Additionally, he co-founded the Wells Fargo Marketing Expansion Committee and was a member of the Corporate International Cross Sell Strategy Advisory Board.
Prior to Wells Fargo, John was a member of the Executive Team that took Anthem to the New York Stock Exchange in 2001. As President of Anthem’s Specialty Business, he increased revenue from $300M to $1.3B. He managed and directed Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana and Kentucky producing $3B in revenue across the bi-state. He was President and CEO of Anthem Life and Acordia Senior Benefits, Inc. and headed the integration of all administrative operations for Anthem of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.
He has earned both his B.S. in Accounting and MBA in Finance from St. John’s University in New York. John has attended executive certification programs at Northwestern, Michigan, and Indiana Universities.
John served on numerous for profit subsidiary boards and non-profit boards. He has been asked to serve on corporate pension, information technology, and international marketing committees and task forces. John has been the recipient of numerous sales and civic leadership awards. He has served on boards of numerous private equity and hedge fund capital management companies.
Julie Eckert – Vice President
Julie Eckert joined United Fidelity Bank as Community Executive in 2021. In the same year, she was thrilled to join the board for ATI. Julie is a native Hoosier with a bachelor’s degree in communications from Valparaiso University. Formerly, she was a Twittic for Broadway in Indianapolis, providing Twitter reviews on opening night for their season. She also serves as a stage manager for Circle City Tap Company. Julie lives in Hamilton County with her 18 year old dog, Tasha, as well as her spouse and 3 children. She enjoys travel, podcasts and visiting National Parks.
Sam Arce – Secretary
Arce has been in residential real estate since 1985, has lived in Indiana since 1991, and has been a resident of Carmel since 1998. Arce currently is a licensed real estate broker with F.C. Tucker and has been an instructor at the Tucker School of Real Estate since 2007. Arce has always had a passion for live theatre. In fact, he performed semi-professionally while in high school and college, and his love and passion for the arts continues to this day.
Prior to his professional involvement on Broadway and in the West End, Arce made numerous trips to New York City to see musicals and plays. Since 2018, he has invested in professional Broadway productions under his own company called “Broadway Sam Theatrical Productions” and is part of a four-person producing team.
Some of the shows Arce has invested in include: The Broadway productions American Son and Getting the Band Back Together; Off Broadway productions including Rock of Ages: The Musical and Broadway Bounty Hunter; London West End productions The Prince of Egypt and Be More Chill; and the Las Vegas shows Chris Angel Mindfreak and Heartbreak Hotel. As Arce continues to plan for several additional projects of his own, he is also anxious to be a more integral part in helping Actors Theatre of Indiana reach its goals.
Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald
Dr. Fitzgerald is an Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSOM). He was born and raised in Chicago but has been a Hoosier since 1958. He attended IUSOM and did ALL of his postgraduate training at IUSOM. Dr. Fitzgerald founded the Division of Gastroenterology/ Hepatology/Nutrition at Riley Children’s Hospital/ Indiana University Health in 1969, and served as the Director of the Division until 2005. He is the recipient of numerous national awards. With his precious bride of 63 years, they have been faithful subscribers to varied live stage and musical performances for over one half century. Dr. Fitzgerald is the father of Judy Fitzgerald, one of ATI’s Founders, and has served on the ATI Board since the inception of the Theatre. A proud supporter and benefactor.
Kathy Guider
After retiring from the FBI as a Special Agent in 2018, Kathy and her business partner opened Veracity IIR, a private investigation and security consulting firm in Carmel, Indiana. Kathy is the Vice President of Operations. Why ATI? I enjoy being a part of a group that is educating and entertaining my community. It’s a great way to contribute to the arts without being an artist myself.
Jennifer Hershberger
Jennifer was raised in Carmel, Indiana, but spent her career in Cincinnati, where she taught television production and speech in a suburban school district. After retiring, she was delighted to learn that three theaters had opened in Carmel, and she moved back home, just two miles from Center Green, so she could volunteer at all three.
Jennifer has directed stage productions and worked as a television director for both sports and educational programming. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in Radio, Television, Speech, and Drama, as well as a Master of Education and a Specialist degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati.
In addition to her work in the arts, Jennifer served as a backup photographer for the City of Carmel and still documents homes scheduled for demolition on behalf of the Carmel Clay Historical Society. Her demolition photography helps preserve the architectural history of the community.
Jennifer is a former Board Member and President of the Carmel Clay Historical Society and has also served as Vice President of the Friends of the Indiana State Archives. For the past 13 years, she has been both a board member and the official photographer for the Carmel Farmers Market. She also enjoys finance and contributes her expertise to the Finance Committee of her homeowners’ association.
Dominic James
Dominic James runs the radio station,WHJE 91.3FM, at Carmel High School. He moved to Indiana in 2016 from the UK, where he taught theatre and film making for over thirty years. He became a US citizen in 2023. He has always been a massive fan of live performance and has considerable experience directing school shows and community theatre. As an Assistant Principal, he had responsibilities for Arts education in his school district and the wider community. Prior to working at Carmel High School, Dominic worked at Park Tudor for a year, where his wife, Nicole Tremblay, is Director of Theatre. Dominic also loves to play tennis whenever he can, as well as being a keen gardener. He is gradually working out which plants thrive in the Indiana climate
Leah Miller Mosley
Leah studied music in college and toured professionally as a vocalist. She has served on worship teams at her church and presently sings with the Northview Church Worship Team. She has served on mission teams in Mexico, Bahamas, Nicaragua and Haiti. Leah volunteered for more than 10 years with the Indianapolis School of Ballet. While there, she created and developed their Nutcracker Gift Shop.
Deborah Newman
Deborah was raised in Madison County, studied at Anderson University and relocated to Carmel in 2007. For the past 29 years she has been a Real Estate Broker and is currently associated with BHHS Indiana Realty.
Newman’s prior occupations include various positions in City and County Government and the Unified Court System of Madison County. She has presided over and served on boards of directors, management committees and other governing boards. She has also participated in directing strategic planning efforts that enabled the organization to achieve short-term goals while positioning itself for long term success.
“With a passion for the performing arts and a strong desire to contribute to the city I love, I look forward to offering my time and skills to support the endeavors of ATI. The history of ATI producing high-quality theatrical performances that inspire, engage and entertain audiences has enriched the cultural landscape in Carmel. I’m delighted to play a small part in creating memorable experiences for audiences. Looking forward to joining newly elected board President, John Murphy, and the other board members in developing plans for the future growth of ATI.”
In her free time, Newman enjoys cooking, entertaining, sports and participating in all the events the City of Carmel and surrounding areas offer.
Jerry Norman
Jerry is an Indiana native and the Director of Multifamily Marketing for Carmel-based Pedcor Companies. Born in Muncie and raised in Indianapolis, Jerry’s career as a Marketing Director/Trainer for various national multifamily companies has provided the opportunity to also live in Southern California, Denver and Boston. Jerry returned to Indianapolis in 2000 and joined Pedcor in 2007.
Jerry’s passion for live theatre and performing began in high school. He continued his passion by performing at Southside Summer Theatre for several seasons in the mid-80’s. He has co-chaperoned twenty “Broadway Bound” theatre tours for high school students where they were immersed in all aspects of theatre, both on-stage and behind the scenes. Locally, Jerry is a season ticket subscriber for numerous theatre companies and estimates he has seen over 500 live theatre performances.
Jerry holds a BS in Marketing from Ball State University and serves on the Advisory Board of the Ball State University Property Management program. He is also certified trainer and speaker.