MAY 19 - Asolo Business Council Panelists Bios

 

Erin M. Duggan, CDME, President/CEO, Visit Sarasota County

Erin Duggan earned a Bachelor of Science in Communications Arts from Florida Southern College in 1999. She subsequently held various roles for The City of Casselberry, United Way of Manatee County, and The Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County. In 2005, she joined Visit Sarasota County in a Communications role – and has served many positions before becoming the President & CEO in 2023.  She leads a team of marketing and sales professionals to shape the strategic direction of group sales, media relations/placement, communication, research, and intellectual property management, positioning Sarasota County as a premier travel destination globally.

In 2012, Mrs. Duggan obtained her C.D.M.E. (Certification in Destination Management Executive) through Purdue University and Destinations International (DI). She served as President of the Junior League of Sarasota (2017 – 2018), having been a member since 2001. She currently serves on the VISIT FLORIDA Board, Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Board, The Community Foundation of Sarasota Board, is in the current Leadership Florida class (Cornerstone 42), and actively volunteers at her children’s schools. 

She is married to Attorney Patrick J. Duggan, and together they are raising two teenage sons.

Brian Hersh - CEO Arts & Cultural Alliance of Sarasota

Brian Hersh is the President and CEO of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, a role he assumed in June 2023. With over two decades of experience in nonprofit arts administration, Hersh has held positions at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City and Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theatre. Prior to his current role, he served as the Program Director for Any Given Child in Sarasota County Schools, collaborating with the Kennedy Center to enhance arts education access and equity. 

Hersh is a graduate of DePauw University, where he earned a Bachelor of Musical Arts degree with a focus on percussion. He is also an alumnus of the Gulf Coast Leadership Institute and a member of Leadership Florida's Education Class 5.

In his leadership at the Arts and Cultural Alliance, Hersh emphasizes the arts as a vital economic driver and a cornerstone of Sarasota's identity as Florida's Cultural Coast. He advocates for increased access to the arts through public performances and educational initiatives, aiming to ensure that arts and culture remain integral to the community's development and well-being.

Peter Rothstein - Producing Artistic Director, Asolo Repertory Theatre

Peter Rothstein is an acclaimed director of theater, musicals, opera, and new work development. At Asolo Rep, he has directed the world premieres of Ken Ludwig’s Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical, as well as productions of Inherit the Wind, Man of La Mancha, Sweeney Todd, and Ragtime.

Rothstein served for 25 years as the Founding Artistic Director of Theater Latté Da, a Minneapolis-based company dedicated to new and adventurous music-theater. His extensive directing collaborations include the Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theatre Company, Ten Thousand Things, and Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre. In the world of opera, he has worked with Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Chicago Opera Theater.

He is the creator of All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, which made its Off-Broadway debut in 2018 and received the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. The production has aired on PBS and toured internationally.

Rothstein has served on the boards of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Alive and Kickin’, and the Twin Cities’ Ivey Awards. He holds degrees in music and theater from St. John’s University and an MFA in Directing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Ross Egan - Managing Director, Asolo Repertory Theatre

Ross Egan is an experienced arts administrator whose career began in Chicago, where he co-founded the Jeff Award-winning Refuge Theatre Project. He has served as Managing Director of Barter Theatre, the nation’s longest-running professional theatre, and as Director of Marketing and Operations at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival.

Ross holds a BFA in Acting from Michigan State University and an MBA from Illinois State University. He currently lives with his family in Lakewood Ranch and proudly serves as a den leader for the Boy Scouts of America.