Levine Music welcomes three new members to our Board of Trustees: Tiana Bey, Ruth LaToison Ifill, and Gail Laster!

Tiana Bey

Tiana Bey is a DC litigator at the firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP. She has a multi-faceted practice focused internationally on representing foreign governments and investors in investor-state arbitrations and arbitration award enforcement, and domestically on representing victims of state-sponsored terrorism. She also represents media and entertainment clients in copyright infringement and related matters. She attended law school at George Washington University in D.C. and undergrad at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota.

Tiana’s service on Levine’s Board of Trustees is tied to the role music education played in developing her own work ethic, socialization, and leadership skills. She hopes to facilitate confidence-building centered around music and performance in the lives of today’s youth through her work on the Board.

Tiana is impressed with Levine’s diverse music education offerings as well as its commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives that result in providing youth in underserved communities with opportunities to discover their interest in musical performance and to develop their skills. She is looking forward to rolling up her sleeves to assist with Levine’s strategy and outreach efforts and to becoming a piano and vocal student of Levine’s herself.

Ruth LaToison Ifill

Ruth began her professional career at MCIP, now the Columbia Heights Educational Campus, which provides educational and wraparound supports to undocumented students and their families. Ruth previously led the DEI and racial equity portfolio at the Council on Foundations as Vice President of Culture, Talent and Equity. Before joining the Council on Foundations, Ruth led multi-million-dollar national workforce development programs at Goodwill Industries International.

On June 1st, 2021, The Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (WRAG) Board of Directors announced Ruth LaToison Ifill as President & CEO. WRAG is a regional association of foundations and corporate giving programs that embrace and advance a vision of an equitable National Capital region in which all can participate and prosper. Ruth brings an entrepreneurial spirit to WRAG, as she founded a thriving consulting firm in DC’s Ward 7 that promotes economic empowerment and racial equity through community-based partnerships and organizational development.

Since June 2020, Ruth has effectively and compassionately shepherded WRAG during a global pandemic and racial unrest in our region and across the nation. In nine months, she worked to upgrade finance and operational systems, develop meaningful partnerships, enhance current programs, and reinvigorated WRAG’s strategic plan which incorporates racial equity, movement building, and regional recovery and collaboration.

Ruth holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Howard University, a master’s in organizational development from Trinity Washington University, and a diversity professional certification from the Institute of Diversity Certification.

Gail Laster

A Washington D.C. resident for over 35 years, Gail Laster’s professional career has focused on affordable housing and community development, consumer financial protection, and securing equal access to justice under the law. A former General Counsel for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Laster has also worked on Capitol Hill and as staff attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Since her retirement from the federal government, Ms. Laster has spent her time volunteering at Washington D.C. charter schools, and rekindling her musical interests with piano lessons at Levine. A graduate of Yale University where she sang in one of the a cappella singing groups, she continues to enjoy sing-alongs with family and friends.

“I am excited and honored to have another way to share the gift of music and support the work of such a wonderful organization.” – Gail Laster