Board of Directors

Sue Kim

Chairwoman
(She/Her)

Sue Kim brings more than 30 years of diverse art and luxury experience to Heather James Fine Art. She has worked in the fields of fine art, photography, interior and product design, architecture, real estate, and hospitality in multiple cities including San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. She speaks conversational Italian and French. Sue received a BA in East Asian Art History from Barnard College, Columbia University, and an Associate in Applied Science in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design. Sue divides her time between San Francisco and Lake Como, where she recently established her gallery’s first Italian consultancy.

Sue on Giada Matteini:
“Giada has been the most influential instructor of my 40-year study of classical & contemporary ballet since her first class in the US at Peridance Center. This means a lot more since I’ve studied ballet in New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Milan, and many other global locations. Being herself an extremely talented dancer, she always conveyed her passion for dance to us, and made me a much better dancer. Giada is also one of two only choreographers I have ever performed for, in her masterful contemporary Nutcracker at Peridance and at Alvin Ailey, during 5 seasons. It was such a wonderful experience that I will never forget. I also had the honor of attending her first Toscana Dance Hub, both as a dancer and an Italian language coach to the young American dancers in attendance. Equally important is the great friendship we have formed over the years and the wonderful people we have in common. I’ve been witness to the early development of Giada’s creative ideas on how she can best serve her community, and I believe WADE is the culmination of them. I fully support Giada’s vision at WADE and l look forward to helping women’s causes through the beautiful realm of dance!”

Cherylyn Lavagnino

Board Member
(She/Her)

Cherylyn Lavagnino earned an MFA in Dance under the mentorship of Lawrence Rhodes from New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts, as well as a BA in Philosophy from the University of Southern California. Lavagnino’s professional dance career spanned worldwide as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet, a principal dancer with Arizona Ballet Theatre, as well as a principal dancer with Ballet del Espacio in Mexico City under the direction of Michel Descombey. She has performed a range of classical repertoire and contemporary work by choreographers including George Balanchine, Jerome Robins, Jose Limon, John Butler, Hans Van Manen, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Margo Sappington, John Butler, and Tere O’Connor. The diversity of these experiences has informed the dialogue between classical and contemporary in her work with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance. Ms. Lavagnino is an Alpert Award nominee for choreography. Lavagnino has had successful commissions at Princeton University, Intermezzo Dance, Indianapolis City Ballet, Jamaica, Southern Methodist University, University of Utah, and Repertory Dance Theatre, as well as recipient of a space grant residency from the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Lavagnino served as Chair of the Dance Department at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts from 2006–2014 and as a full-time faculty member from 1987-2022. In recognition of her superior work, Lavagnino won NYU’s prestigious David Payne Carter Award for Excellence in Teaching (2003). Lavagnino served as Visiting Professor of Dance at the University of Utah for the 2021-2022 academic year. She teaches professional ballet locally in NYC and internationally, instructs summer residency programming and company class for Abraham.In.Motion, and masterclasses in Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, and Prague. She continues to develop a creative exchange with the Beijing Dance Academy and the Conservatory and Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Lavagnino received NYU's prestigious Global Research Institute grant for travel and research in Prague (2018).