Donald Kramer, Chairman
Donald Kramer, Chairman and CEO of Ariel Reinsurance Ltd. has a long history in the insurance and reinsurance business. He was the Vice Chairman of ACE Limited following its acquisition of Tempest Re, a company he founded. He has an impressive body of knowledge built on a successful career in investment banking and securities analysis. He previously served as founder, Chairman and initial CEO of NAC Re, a company he developed from an inactive shell. Mr. Kramer has also held numerous senior executive positions in insurance, banking and investments, as CEO, president, chairman or general partner. A snapshot of his career includes: Chairman & Chief Executive Office of Tempest Re (1993-96), Past President of Kramer Capital Corporation (1995-99), Vice Chairman/President of Carteret Federal Savings Bank (1991- March 1993), Former Chairman of the Board and Founder of NAC Re Corporation (1985-1993) and Past Chairman of the Board and Chief Financial Officers KCP Holding Company and its affiliate National American Insurance Company of California (1986-1991).He holds an Honorary PhD in Humane Letters from Brooklyn College, an MBA in Economics and Investments, New York University and a BA in Economics from Brooklyn College. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He is also a trustee for the Brooklyn College Foundation and a director of the National Benefit Life Insurance Company of New York, (a subsidiary of Citigroup).

Sophia Cannonier
Sophia Cannonier has been dancing since the age of 2. She trained to be a ballerina at the School of Russian Ballet and performed extensively with The Bermuda Civic Ballet and The National Dance Theatre before heading off to New York City to join the prestigious Dance Theatre of Harlem. She traveled the world for 10 years notably dancing the roles of Stella in A Street Car Named Desire, a soloist in George Balanchine's The Four Temperaments and Billy Wilson's Concerto in F. Cannonier found Pilates to be helpful for injuries resulting from dance training and pursued formal Pilates education with Pilates Disciple Remana Krysanowska. She became a licensed massage therapist to further her education in anatomy and physiology. Cannonier was chosen by the Physical Mind Institute to be an International Certifier for the Pilates Method in Bermuda. She is a qualified Maternal Fitness Trainer, practices Yoga and is a a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practioner Awareness Through Movement Teacher and is the owner of the Integrative Health Cooperative.

Rev. Jeffrey M. Chant, B.A., M.Div 

Rev. Jeff grew up in Truro , Nova Scotia , Canada where he was an active participant in the life and work of his church, became an accomplished pianist and sportsman. He graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario with a Bachelor of Social Science in Religious Studies and received his Masters of Divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology and Halifax , Nova Scotia . It was in Halifax that he extended his training into clinical pastoral education where he worked with psychiatric and forensic patients and did subsequent work with children and families in the oncology and neurology units of the Isaac Walton Killam Children's Hospital. Jeff was ordained into the ministry of the United Church of Canada in 1997.

Jeff has also considerable experience in working in issues of international community development and education. He has worked in West Africa on three occasions, one being a term of 3 months, and has served as chairperson of the United Church of Canada's Division of World Outreach Committee for the Africa Continent.

In the last few years he has furthered his academic studies in pursuit of a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology within the Faculty of Education from the University of Lethbridge, Alberta and is in the writing stages of his thesis entitled: The Experience of Male Woundedness as it Relates To Understandings and Influences of Jesus Christ.

Rev. Jeff is an effective and passionate communicator of the Christian message and enjoys music, the arts, and is a compassionate and well-trained clinician in pastoral counseling. Rev. Jeff has served congregations in Nova Scotia and Alberta and moved to Bermuda in May of 2001.

Rev. Jeff serves as minister to the congregation of Wesley Methodist Church and serves as a Board Governor of Fairhavens Christian Care Association, a women's residential treatment center for drug and alcohol abuse. Jeff is married to his wife Holly, and has two daughters who are dancers. As a family, they enjoy the beauty of Bermuda , boating, snorkeling, and spending time with their church family and friends

Penny Cox Ray
Penny Cox Ray first came to Bermuda in 1972 while working as an air stewardess for British Airways but shortly afterwards secured a post as a physiotherapist at King Edward Memorial Hospital where she worked for nine years. She made a major career shift in the early eighties and joined the corporate world as an administrator with the law firm Smith, Barnard & Diel and now serves as corporate secretary with one of its successor firms, Wakefield Quin. Ray started dancing at age 3 and more than 50 years later, she is reputed to be the "oldest" student of tap at the Jackson School of Dance. She has been active in local theatre, both on the stage and behind the scenes. She has worked on the Bermuda Festival since its conception. She is a member of the Daylesford Singers and is a Past President of the Bermuda Ballet Association.

Connie Dey
Connie Dey retired in mid 2003 from the Bermuda National Trust where she was employed for over 30 years, most recently as Cultural Tourism Officer. Prior to that, she worked as a copy writer for Trimingham Brothers Ltd. (1959-63). Since 1963 Dey has been a part of the Bermuda Department of Tourism’s team which organises events for visitors during the winter season. She was also involved in organising the Annual Floral Pageant, and College Weeks activities. Dey studied Theatre Arts at Emerson College and has always been involved with the arts. She is one of Bermuda’s best known actresses, having appeared with virtually every theatre company in Bermuda, including numerous productions with the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society as well as handling much of the advertising and publicity related to productions. She is currently a member of the Heritage Advisory Board of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and a front desk volunteer for the National Trust and the National Gallery. She is a volunteer usher for the Bermuda Festival and most productions at City Hall Theatre and the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium. She has been involved with advertising and promotion of every production of the NDTB.

Mary Faulkenberry
Former Houston Ballet dancer Mary Faulkenberry currently chairs the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda dance committee, a collaborative effort of the Bermuda dance community. She is also Vice President of the Bermuda Ballet Association and sits on the scholarship committee. Faulkenberry recently retired from Bermuda High School for Girls as a dance and fitness teacher in order to pursue her interest in supporting the arts and education through philanthropic activities.

Faulkenberry's professional dance career included national and international tours with Maryland Ballet, Ballet Internacionale de Caracas, and Houston Ballet. She studied with legendary teachers Ben Stevenson, Frederick Franklin, Mary Day, Elena Tchernichova and Hector Zaraspe and had the privilege to dance the choreography of John Butler, Nicholas Beriosoff, Anton Dolin, Jiri Kylian, Alvin Ailey, Ben Stevenson, George Balanchine and Glen Tetley to name but a few.

In 1987 the United States Gymnastics Federation selected Faulkenberry to be the dance coach for the Women's National team, which won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta . During her tenure with USGF she co-authored a dance syllabus for the Junior Olympic Program of US Gymnastics. Faulkenberry has also acted as a consultant for the United States Diving National Team.

Faulkenberry danced the role of Kitri in the Bermuda Civic Ballet's production of "Don Quixote" in 1987 and subsequently became involved with the National Dance Theatre and the Bermuda Ballet Association in 1988. She holds the B.S. and M.S. in ballet from Indiana University School of Music, and is certified by the Physical Mind Institute as a Pilates standing and mat instructor.

A native of Baltimore , Maryland , Faulkenberry moved to Bermuda in 1987. She lives in Warwick with her husband, Terry, and three children, Rebecca, Evan, and Sophie.

Jean Hannant
Jean Hannant, now semi-retired, owns and operates her own proofreading company. For more than twenty years, she served as the personal administrative assistant for the Chief Executive of a family retail business. Hannant has had a long association with the arts through her involvement in the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society and the NDTB. She has performed as an actress, served as props manager and most recently has produced her own play. She has performed with many choirs over the years and is currently a member of Marjorie Pettit’s Heritage Choir. Her daughter Gillian was a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.

Kerry Judd
Kerry Judd is the General Manager of the marketing agency, Aardvark Communications Ltd. (July 2005) Since graduating from St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she has worked predominantly in strategic marketing capacities with the member companies of BELCO Holdings Limited (1997-98), Total Marketing & Communications Limited (1998-2003) and more recently, Bermuda Department of Tourism (2003-2005) where she was responsible for all international and local advertising for Bermuda. Kerry is also a professionally certified focus group moderator. Kerry has been involved both professionally and personally with several non-profit organizations including Bermuda Careers Centre, Bermuda Riding for the Disabled, CADA, and St. Theresa's Cathedral. She currently sits on the Organizing Committee of the Ross 'Blackie' Talbot Memorial Charity Golf Tournament.  Kerry began dancing with the Jackson School of Performing Arts at age 5 and spent one year traveling with Up With People (1991-1992). She danced with 'Concepts in Motion' at the In Motion School of Dance and has remained active with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society and BMDS performing in such musicals as Les Miserables, Carousel, Joan of Arc, Company, Guys & Dolls, the 2005 Showstoppers performance for the Bermuda Festival and most recently in What a Girl Wants, among others.

Rachel S. Moore

Rachel Moore, Executive Director of American Ballet Theater (ABT) has over 20 years' of international dance experience. Since 1994, Ms. Moore has held senior positions at leading dance and arts organizations most recently serving as Director of Boston Ballet’s Center for Dance Education (2001-04). A former member of ABT’s corps de ballet (1984–1988), she has served on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC, was an advisor to the Diversity Committee at Boston Symphony Orchestra and continues to serve on the Board of Project STEP (String Training and Educational Program for Students of Color), an educational outreach programme in Boston that prepares highly talented students of color for careers in the classical music profession.

For more on Rachel Moore, click here.

Sallie Singleton

After dancing professionally with the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells and BBC TV in London, Sallie Singleton taught ballet in Bermuda with the School of Russian Ballet and was a founder member of the Bermuda Ballet Association.

Moving to Hong Kong she headed two ballet schools there in addition to one in the former Portuguese territory of Macau. With dancers being persecuted and escaping to Hong Kong because of the Cultural Revolution in China, she founded Hong Kong's first professional ballet company, Hong Kong Ballet For All, in order that these dancers would have a way to survive. She is currently involved raising scholarships for Bermudian dance students and is a member of the Bermuda Tourism Board.

Ruth E. Thomas, MBE, JP
Ruth Thomas’ professional career was initially as an educator. She studied acting at Brock and Queen’s Universities in Canada and studied educational broadcasting at Goldsmiths College and at the BBC in London, England. Over the years, she taught primary and secondary students in the Bermuda Government School system as well as the physically challenged at the Friendship Vale School before joining the Department of Education as an Officer responsible for early childhood education (1972-84). However, it was in her role of Cultural Officer (1984-1997) where Bermudians of all ages were educated, enlightened and entertained with programs about Bermuda’s culture, history, folklore, tradition and art. Thomas is known as a singer, actress and television hostess but cites storytelling as one of her favourite activities. She has researched and written 50 dramatic works which she calls Mosaics because they reflect segments of Bermuda’s own mosaic. She is a fellow of the Bermuda College, a trustee of the National Gallery and the Menuhin Foundation, and a member of the Rotary International Club where she has been honoured with the Paul Harris Fellow award.

Alan R. Thompson

Alan Thompson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Butterfield Bank.  Mr. Thompson is an international banker of long standing, having held increasingly senior positions in the United States, Singapore and the Middle East. He assumed his current position at Butterfield Bank in January 2002. He is a council member of the Bermuda Stock Exchange and a board member of both the Bermuda Hospital Charitable Trust and the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. Mr. Thompson was born and educated in the United States, where he received an MBA from Wharton School of Finance.