Elizabeth is thrilled to be part of the foundation staff, serving the Island’s students and the nonprofit sector, addressing the most critical local challenges, and celebrating the unique Vineyard landscape and people who activate it. She came to the community foundation after three decades of writing for the Vineyard Gazette. She most recently worked as the newspaper’s community editor.

As a grantmaker, she led Staten Island Arts, the arts council for the fifth borough of New York City, and significantly increased funding for the borough’s individual artists and nonprofits. She created multi-sector community engagement initiatives focusing on racial diversity, ability and access, and small business development. She is proud to have been part of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs team that managed the $35 million competitive application process distributing public funds to arts groups in all five boroughs.

Her familiarity with varying approaches to grantmaking and fundraising stem from her work as a grant writer for Freshkills Park Alliance, Park Avenue Armory, SDC Foundation and 92NY, among others. She has served as an application review panelist awarding support to individual artists, arts organizations and regional economic development initiatives in processes at the New York State Council on the Arts, NJ State Council on the Arts, Dance/NYC, Bush Foundation (MN), California Arts Council, and Tofte Lake Center (MN).

She began her professional nonprofit arts career in the rehearsal hall, working as a theatrical dramaturg for some of the country’s leading nonprofit theaters. Among the new works she is proud to have developed are the Broadway musicals Spring Awakening and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Elizabeth holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where she worked as a chef at the Yale Summer Cabaret and volunteered as a class fundraising agent for the school.

In addition to The Writer’s Lab, Lorna has experience fundraising and providing strategic counsel for local, national and international non-profits (including PEN America, The National Book Foundation, City Harvest, Action Against Hunger, Police Athletic League and Red Door Community (Formerly Gilda’s Club). She also serves as the Vice President on the Board of the Franklin Food Bank. She’s a member of Women In Development and the AFP, and over the past six years has been a mentor, panelist and attendee at Fundraising Day in New York. 

Lorna is English/Irish but made New York her home 17 years ago. She’s a graduate of University College, London. Lorna is a PADI diver, has run the NYC Marathon, is an avid literature, TV and film fan, and a keen follower of F1.

With more than 25 years of industry and consulting experience, Mr. Strauss is an accomplished executive who has been working at the intersection of telecom, media and entertainment, with a proven ability to revitalize organizations, initiate company-wide initiatives and capture untapped opportunities for growth.​ He works with communications and media clients to transform their operating models as they position themselves for growth in maturing markets.

Mr. Strauss’s notable assignments include designing and executing large-scale digital transformation to address evolving TME business models and economics of Fortune 100 companies. His focus is on customer and markets strategy and operations.

Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Strauss held executive positions in strategy, sales and operations at large and respected communications, media and entertainment brands, including Slalom, IBM, Verizon, Deloitte and Mediacom. At Slalom, he served as Global Client Partner. For IBM, he served as U.S. TME Sector Data and AI Portfolio Lead, providing strategic leadership over developing and implementing highly specialized solutions focused on capabilities in analytics, AI/ML, big data and IoT.

Previously, Mr. Strauss was part of the original team that launched Verizon Digital Media Services, a strategic unit delivering infrastructure-as-a-service video content management and delivery solutions. Earlier, he worked with communications service providers, focusing on customer and market operations. Before that, he served with American Flag Pacific Island territories on economic development strategies centered on increasing global telecom carriers’ investment in those markets.

Mr. Strauss earned a bachelor’s degree in political economics from the University of Buffalo and a master’s degree in finance and management from The George Washington University School of Business.