Nancy Petaja, Producer

Background

Executive Producer of New York Revels, Inc.
Professional Training & Coaching Consultant and Contractor, Greater New York City Area
Consultant at Petaja Consulting (Sole Proprietorship)
Director of Learning and Development at JP Morgan Chase

Education

Columbia University in New York City
Oakland University

Before becoming the Producer of the New York Revels, Nancy was at Performance Strategies. She had 20 years' experience consulting to major corporations from both inside and outside in the areas of organization and staff development. She worked closely with clients to strategically align her efforts with the goals, objectives and culture of the organization. Her areas of expertise included organizational development, learning design and development, facilitation, team building, coaching, and competency model development.

She was Director of Learning and Development at JP Morgan Chase for the Investor Services business. She was also Manager of Employee Relations/Human Resources for Yankelovich, Skelly and White, a market and social research firm.

Nancy holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University. Prior to her work in the corporate world, she served in the Peace Corps and the American Friends Service Committee. She has published several articles, one of which is “Keeping Pace in a Rapidly Changing Environment,” Trust & Investments, May/June 1998.

New York Times
Morris Dancing Aplenty
Published: May 7, 2003
To the Editor: 

Nigella Lawson honors the pagan spirit with her May Day brunch 
("At My Table: A Spring Repast for Pagans and Puritans Alike," 
April 30) but misses a fine primal beat when she sniffs that 
"Morris dancing, I'm afraid, still goes on in some villages in England'' 
and caricatures it as ''people tying bells on themselves and lolling about." 

In the United States, at least, Morris dancing is alive, well 
and very athletic. At least five Morris teams regularly enjoy 
practicing and performing in good and bad weather in New York 
City streets and parks and, in December, in the annual New York Revels 
celebration of the winter solstice. By one count, 82 groups are 
dancing around the country. 

Bells, yes. Lolling? Hardly. The leaps and figures use muscle 
and stamina to ritually evoke deep mysteries. If Ms. Lawson took a 
look, she might soon find herself dancing off the caloric effects 
of those muffins. 

NANCY PETAJA 
Brooklyn