Merle Kailas
Merle Kailas, Board of Directors, Sponsorship
10 July 11
Merle Duskin Kailas is a leader, producer, financial expert and fundraiser with almost 40 years of professional experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Currently the President of the MK Group Productions, she is independently producing a roster of new theatrical, film and television projects.
Prior to launching her own company, Ms. Kailas served 4 years as the Executive Director of The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, where $12 million was raised during her tenure.
Previously, she spent eight years as the Managing Director of Production Finance and Management at Thirteen/WNETNew York, PBS’s flagship – and most watched – public television station. In this capacity, she was responsible for start-to-finish budgeting, production and delivery for some of the network’s highest-acclaimed and longest-running national series. Her project portfolio included the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning arts, science and biography series Great Performances, Nature, and American Masters, along with the provocative world-news documentary series Wide Angle and television’s only math-based children’s show, Cyberchase.
Her results-driven business background also includes the role of Vice President and COO/CFO of Globalvision, Inc. a multi-media production company, consulting for KPMG Peat Marwick, managing venture capital with Bradford Ventures Ltd., and investment banking with Fahnestock & Company in Paris, France.
A lifelong fan of the arts, she has also donated her time to serve as Chair of the Board of the Cherry Lane Theatre and Soho Rep and Treasurer of New York Women in Film and Television.
Ms. Kailas holds a B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude) from State University of New York at Buffalo and an M.P.P.M. from the Yale School of Management, where she was also the recipient of the Laurence C. Leeds, Jr. Honor Award.
