NAS coaches

President & CEO
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kendra Whitlock Ingram

Board Member

Kendra Whitlock Ingram is the President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust in Pittsburgh, PA. Previously, she has held senior leadership positions with several performing arts institutions including: President and CEO of the Marcus Performing Arts Center, Executive Director of the Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver, Vice President of Programming and Education for Omaha Performing Arts, as well as leadership roles with Shenandoah University, Vice President The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and The Detroit Symphony.

Ingram holds a Master of Business Administration from University of Nebraska Omaha and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Duquesne University. She is also an alumna of the League of American Orchestras’ Orchestra Management Fellowship Program. In 2021, Ingram was named to the Milwaukee Biz Times Notable Minority Executives List and was recently named as an honoree for the 2022 Milwaukee Business Journal’s “Women of Influence.”

Ingram serves on the Board of Governors for The Broadway League (and Co-Chair of The League’s EDI Committee) as well as the Board of Directors for National Arts Strategies, and Board Chair for the Live Arts Centers of North America (LACNA) Foundation. She also serves as the Co-Chair of the Arts and Culture Advisory Council for America 250, the U.S Semiquincentennial Commission established to commemorate the 250^th Anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Executive Vice President
The Music Center/The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, California

Josephine Ramirez

Board Vice Chair

Josephine Ramirez is a senior level nonprofit arts professional with 30+ years of experience in programming, management, and grantmaking. She is Executive Vice President at The Music Center/The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, leading strategic, comprehensive, and impact measurement rigor in the development of all TMC arts programming, which includes an international professional dance residency and concert series, free and low-cost participatory arts learning experiences, an international professional dance concert series, as well as outdoor festivals, and music and dancing events in school and neighborhood locations county-wide, at an adjacent 12-acre park (Grand Park) and on the 35,000 square foot Jerry Moss Plaza. Her work at The Music Center also includes development of a creative workforce initiative for young adults, a digital technology innovation initiative, and a US/Canadian BIPOC fellows program aimed at transforming performing arts centers’ leadership.

Previously she was the Arts Program Director at the James Irvine Foundation, awarding an average of $18 million per year in rural and urban California. She conceived, developed, launched, and implemented a new strategic direction that supported grantees’ organizational transformation and a renewal of the arts nonprofit field through a focus on relevance, diversity and sustainability. Ms. Ramirez also held philanthropic and research roles at The Getty in Los Angeles, managing undergraduate and international graduate internships and grantmaking portfolios related to arts policy, local cultural organizations, organizational capacity building, arts education research, and museum collections cataloguing. At the Getty Research Institute she initiated and led research about art-based community building among recent immigrants. She served multiple terms as a Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Commissioner and as a founding Commissioner of the El Pueblo Historic District. Ramirez is a Harvard University Graduate School of Design Loeb Fellowship alumni, a 2003 award that supported her investigation of informal, nonprofessional art making and its relationship to individual and community vitality.

Head of Finance
Oceans 5
Los Altos, California

Jeff Malloy

Board Treasurer

Jeff manages the financial operations for Oceans 5. Prior to joining Oceans 5, Jeff spent the past 16 years in leadership positions in philanthropy, serving as the Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer for the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Director of Finance and Administration for the James Irvine Foundation. Prior to his move to philanthropy, Jeff was the General Manager of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater and an Audit Manager with Price Waterhouse. A Certified Public Accountant, Jeff has a B.S. in Accounting from Rider University and has completed the Council on Foundations’ Career Pathways Program and Grantmakers for Effective Organization’s Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship. Jeff has held leadership positions on the boards of the Foundation Financial Officers’ Group, Northern California Grantmakers, Possibility Labs, and the New Conservatory Theatre Center.

President & CEO
National accessArts Centre
Calgary, Canada

Jung-Suk Ryu

Board Secretary

Jung-Suk (JS) Ryu is proud to return as President and CEO of the National accessArts Centre (NaAC), an organization that he led as its founding President and CEO following the merger of three Calgary-based disability arts organizations – Indefinite Arts, Momo Movement, and Artistic Expressions. Under his leadership, the NaAC became Canada’s largest disability arts organization, almost tripling in size and actively showcasing Canadian artists with disabilities on the global stage. During his tenure, the NaAC also opened the Won Lee Community Arts Hub in Toronto, made possible by a generous gift by the estate of the late Canadian artist Won Lee.

In this next chapter of his role, JS will focus his efforts on constructing North America’s first multidisciplinary accessible arts campus, anchored by the old Scouts Hall that will undergo a multimillion dollar revitalization in partnership with the City of Calgary – as well as the construction of a new, multidisciplinary arts venue that will support the NaAC’s growing performing arts and community programs.

Prior to his appointment at the NaAC, JS held several senior-level roles across a variety of sectors including: Director, External and Community Relations at the Banff Centre; Director, Public Affairs at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind; Senior Consultant with the Alberta Medical Association; and Principal Speechwriter to His Excellency Kaoru Ishikawa, Ambassador of Japan.

In 2017, JS was named one of five fellows from Canada – one in 50 globally – to participate in the Salzburg Global Seminar’s Forum for Young Cultural Innovators. He was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40 by Avenue Magazine in 2019. In 2022, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. He is also the recipient of the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005.

JS has served on the boards of numerous organizations, including US-based National Arts Strategies, CCVO, the Rocky View County FCSS Board, Creative Calgary, the Health Coalition of Alberta, the Banff Heritage Corporation, and the Canadian Mountain Arts Foundation.

President & CEO
Arts Midwest
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Torrie Allen

Board Chair

Torrie Allen has more than 30 years wide-ranging experience in the performing arts including executive and artistic leadership, fundraising, marketing, policy, adjudication and performance.

He currently serves as the President & CEO of Arts Midwest. Formerly, he was the director of development at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He was chief officer of development and marketing at Alaska Public Media from 2012 to 2016 and executive and artistic director of Anchorage Opera from 2006 to 2012. Prior to joining Anchorage Opera, he served as the director of the National Patrons Council at Americans for the Arts.

Allen has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the WallaceFoundation. Also, he has provided volunteer leadership support for numerous organizations including the World Affairs Council (Alaska), University of Alaska Advisory Board, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Community Commander Program, Arts & Business Council of New York, American Repertory Ballet, Russian Chamber Chorus of New York, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage Symphony and Alaska State Council on the Arts.

His professional performance credits include Opéra National de Paris; Teatro Real Madrid; Bregenz Festpiel. Austria; Rudolfinum, Prague; Carnegie Hall; St. Petersburg State Symphony, Russia; Metropolitan Opera and the Aspen Music Festival.

Allen holds degrees from UCLA and the Boston Conservatory. He is a Fellow of the NAS Chief Executive Program through Harvard Business School, University of Michigan and University of Texas at Austin.

Availability
Let’s work out a mutually suitable time

Email jess@artinpraxis.co

Jess Solomon, MSOD (she/her)

Baltimore, Maryland
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

Jess is dedicated to supporting Black women leaders in navigating power and purpose. With over 15 years of experience in cultural work, organizational development, and social impact, Jess focuses on coaching Black women to lead sustainably—without burnout, overexplaining, or losing themselves.

As a Blooming Willow certified healing-centered coach (IFC) and a highly sought-after facilitator, Jess has worked with changemakers in arts, philanthropy, and social impact, guiding them toward deeper alignment and new generative practices. She has collaborated with organizations such as Threewalls, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Common Future, Borealis Philanthropy, Afro Charities, Emergent Fund, and National Arts Strategies to support transformative leadership.

In addition to coaching, Jess brings deep experience in power stewardship, community strategy, and organizational change. She previously powered two national philanthropic projects that collectively awarded $1.8 million in unrestricted funding:

The Community Infrastructure Fund for Mutual Aid (CIFMA) at Omidyar Network
The Bay Area Cultural Funders for Equity (BACFE)

Jess’s leadership spans cultural work, advocacy, and creative strategy, including roles as:

Board President, Alternate ROOTS
Chief Weaver of Social Fabric, U.S. Department of Arts and Culture
Vice President of the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, expanding its Arts, Culture & Social Justice portfolio
Co-Chair of Mayor Brandon Scott’s Baltimore Arts & Culture Transition Committee, leading a citywide effort to influence cultural policy
Visiting Graduate Faculty, MICA Curatorial Practice Program
Contributor, Aesthetic Perspectives – Nationally recognized evaluation framework for socially engaged art

Jess brings lived experience, structure, and creativity into her coaching to meet leaders where they are and guide them toward what’s next. She helps Black women leaders move with intention, power, and care—without self-sacrifice or exhaustion.

She holds degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park (B.A.), and American University (M.S. in Organization Development) and serves on the Valerie J. Maynard Foundation Board of Directors.

Availability:
Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm

Email swidmann@artstrategies.org

Sunny Widmann

Takoma Park, Maryland
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

As a coach, I am passionate about helping leaders live out their values at work, contributing to healthier workplace cultures, more powerful relationships and higher performing teams. I partner with clients – from entrepreneurs to executive leaders – to work through transitions and establish a clear vision for the future.

My love of coaching stems from my over ten years of experience as a nationally recognized facilitator and designer of learning experiences. In these capacities, I’ve seen firsthand how deep listening and thoughtful process can create “aha!” moments that transform lives.

This is the same approach I bring to my coaching. Through our work together, my clients have:

Found the courage to advance racial equity in their organizations
Addressed and managed imposter syndrome to lead with confidence
Created a vision for a new career path – and taken action in that direction

I’ve had the honor of working with hundreds of leaders in the arts and culture sector over my time as Director at NAS. In this role, I’ve co-designed leadership programs with institutions such as Harvard Business School, University of Michigan – Ross School of Business, Stanford Graduate School of Business and University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Social Impact Strategy.

Given my vocation, it’s no surprise that learning and growth are two of my deepest held values. My degrees are from Butler University and American University, with additional training from the Interaction Institute for Social Change, Race Forward, Equity in the Center and the NAS partner institutions listed above. I integrate the many frameworks and tools I’ve learned on this journey into my coaching to offer more value to my clients.

Availability
Flexible on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday

Email joan.communityarts@gmail.com

Joan Vorderbruggen

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

I am a warm, enthusiastic, and empathic coach who believes in the power of deep listening and inquiry to support my clients to achieve their goals, overcome barriers, seize opportunities, and navigate complexity.

In addition to coaching I am an immersed community organizer working at the intersections of art, economic development, social justice, and human service. I have several decades of experience working directly with diverse communities through placemaking initiatives as well as providing direct patient care as a public health nursing professional.

I am passionate about supporting emerging leaders working within social impact sectors to build the confidence, clarity, and strategy required to lead transformative change.

My clients have represented leadership from healthcare, arts, governance, and human service sectors spanning across the globe from Hong Kong to Appalachia. This has provided me with a rich practice supporting each persons visions and aspirations for their future and communities.

I would love the opportunity to work with you to unlock your greatest potential!

“I had zero experience with coaching prior to working with Joan and little faith in the process. I felt completely stuck in my role and basically powerless within a dysfunctional team. Through our weekly sessions I was able to imagine and articulate opportunities and strategies to change the situation I was in that required courage. Joan was a source of invaluable support, always believing in my potential while gently guiding me to step into my own power. I am now a big believer in what coaching can help you to achieve and hope to utilize coaching for years to come.”

Availability
I am flexible and and coach both virtually and in-person. Let’s work out a mutually suitable time.

Email suttoncampbell@gmail.com

Alicia Sutton

Global – Remote

I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.
– Langston Hughes

As I coach, I take a strengths-based approach to help people use their inherent skills and talents to drive the change they want in their lives, careers, or communities. I work with clients to identify clear objectives for their coaching work that will lead to actionable plans. These plans can help advance goals, remove barriers to progress, and experiment with new behaviors and approaches built on strengths. I am versed in the StrengthsFinder (now CliftonStrengths) system developed by the Gallup organization and enjoy working with these types of assessments to help clients aim their strengths at their goals.

Through coaching, I have helped clients:

Respond to challenges with plans built on core values
Understand and embrace personal strengths
Effectively communicate the value they bring
Embrace leadership roles and use their unique position to inspire others

Prior to coaching, I served for 10 years as a nonprofit Executive Director in an organization working at the intersection of arts, social service, and youth development. I am interested in public-private partnerships, using art as an agent of social change, and sustainability/capacity building in the social sector.

I have an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts from Arizona State University. I am a Fellow in the Chief Executive Program with National Arts Strategies and member of the NAS Coaches Roster. My career path has taken many twists and turns, but it has always led me to engage with passionate people making a difference and driving change. These engagements fostered my interest in coaching, and I am proud to be a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC).

Availability
I’m flexible

Email strickland.kelli@gmail.com

Kelli Strickland

Green Bay, Wisconsin
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

I approach coaching with the same values that I’ve depended on during my thirty year career in the arts and culture sector: respect, kindness, humor and honesty. I am a member of the International Coach Federation with an ACC accreditation, having completed my training through the National Arts Strategies Leadership Coaching training program.

Chances are, if you have dedicated time and energy to working in the creative sector, you have no shortage of vision and excellent ideas. But we can all use the support and space to figure out how to execute those ideas, how to bring our best selves to the vision and to get clarity on what the moment is calling for now.

Our leadership styles and proficiencies change over time. Acquiring new knowledge, experience and perspective all result in an evolution of personal leadership that needs periodic examination. From emerging leaders and social entrepreneurs in the creative sector…to those in transition…to those who are just feeling overwhelmed, coaching can be a powerful tool to reflect, clarify, evaluate, build vision and strategy.

With my experience in small producing organizations, large presenting institutions, higher education and plenty of years spent in the hustle as a freelance artist, teaching artist and consultant, I have intimate knowledge of the unique challenges and rewards that we face in our field. Areas of exploration for you might be:

Leading change
Rediscovering Joy and Passion
Transitions and Professional Growth
Learning to Share Power
Balance
Stuck-ness
Focusing an overwhelming number of ideas

“The partnership with Kelli has been transformational in both a personal and a professional sense. Each session frames a discrete area of inquiry facilitated by her skilled approach to collaborative learning. Kelli has a honed ability to articulate my questioning into concise areas of focus and to present questions which allow for a deep dive into my perspective, perceptions and principles. All of which are key to growth for myself, and the organisation I administer. The coaching relationship with Kelli has ensured a confident alignment of my actions and values.“
– Catherine Stewart

“I have tried coaching in the past, but it was a slow and tedious process because my coach was unfamiliar with my industry and its unique challenges. Working with Kelli and NAS, I was able to immediately target issues and develop solutions to the challenges I was facing. Highly recommended! “
– Drew Ogle, Executive Director, Nashville Repertory Theatre

“My coach excelled at adapting to my learning style and pairing tactical exercises with discussion to help me focus my thought process and achieve my goals.”
– Jenn McEwen

Availability
I’m flexible

Email Ejrosen319@gmail.com

Jesse Rosen

Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

I love coaching because it gets at our own barriers to achieving goals. We can read the leadership, management and self-help literature that tells us how we should be. I’ve often found those helpful, but rarely sufficient for tackling the gap between what we know and what we do, or where we are and where we want to be. Coaching lives in that space, understanding and unlocking individuals’ capacities for navigating the many dilemmas that show up in our lives.

I have experienced the benefits of terrific coaches during my own career as a music and performing arts professional that spans over four decades. As a client, I have valued coaching not only for the space it provides, free of personal or professional entanglements, but especially for the benefits of empathy, deep listening, discovery, and co-creating actions that helped me get closer to reaching my potential as an executive and leader.

I am a credentialed Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation. I began coaching in 2020 as I was winding down my tenure as CEO of the League of American Orchestras (the national association for America’s orchestras,) where I worked for 23 years. Previously I held executive positions at the NY Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony. I currently serve on the Gateways Music Festival Board of Directors.

I have worked extensively with issues of governance, strategy, management, succession planning, staff and labor relations, and leading change. I have counseled individuals in all career stages as they work to be their best selves amidst continuous change and uncertainty. The global pandemic and America’s reckoning with racism continue to inform the challenges faced by individuals and organizations alike. This is no time to go it alone and I am dedicated to helping others discover their best path forward.

“Working with Jesse has helped me manifest a new sense of agency in my professional life. He is a nuanced and compassionate listener who truly sees me and helps me see myself in ways that are otherwise difficult for me to achieve on my own. Jesse has helped me work through major challenges with confidence and clarity, and I am grateful for the growth he’s helped me achieve.”
-Jazmin Morales, Chief of Staff, The Juilliard School

“I’ve been working with Jesse regularly for nearly a year, and his coaching has helped me clarify both professional and personal goals. His ability to listen, distill, and synthesize are some of his core strengths as a coach. I would recommend him without reservation for anyone looking to improve and excel in all facets of their life.”
-Gabrielle Molina, Musician, Educator, Entrepreneur

Availability
Let’s work out a mutually suitable time.

LinkedIn
Website

Email jrose@aya.yale.edu

Judith Kepner Rose

Cold Spring, New York
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

I am a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, currently serving as Co-President. I am also a practicing stone carver.

My coaching work is focused on senior management and board leadership in the not for profit sector. My clients are all seeking to improve their organizations and to find ways to do their own work better. They are often the “”bench strength””, the people who support the Executive Director while supervising their own departments. They are also board members, and frequently board chairs who want to do the best job possible guiding their organization.

As an organizational development consultant, I have learned that the clients always have the solutions they need within their own experience; my best role is as a coach helping them formulate their goal, identify what expanded capacity they need, and then develop a plan to meet the challenge. Answers to challenges come from within- sometimes they just need a little help.

I am an accredited coach through the International Coaching Federation and a member of the NAS coaching cadre and the NeighborWorks America coaching cadre.

If interested, please email me to set up an initial 1/2 hr chat, Jrose@aya.yale.edu . My preferred coaching hours are 7am-6pm EST.

Availability
9 – 12pm EST & Weekend availability

Email raidergcoaching@gmail.com

Steven Raider Ginsburg

Port Angeles, Washington
Pacific Time Zone (UTC−08:00)

I believe in action and change. I believe that people are at the center of making change, making art, making policy, making friendships, being human and being deliberate.

As a coach my aim is to partner with you so that we can co-create sessions that center and ground you while allowing for resilience and clarity. I will also work to elevate and clarify your efforts to match your intentions and values.

For more than twenty years I’ve been collaborating with the needs of diverse communities at the intersection of the arts. Through this, I’ve witnessed the arts and culture sector as so import to our health and wellness.

Unfortunately, we in our workplace we encounter adversity and challenges as all-too-common experiences, our blood boils, our passions rise – these can be helpful signs! Through coaching we can co-create pathways to utilize your skills and experiences to achieve the outcome you envision. And if you aren’t sure of what the vision is, coaching is great for that too!

I am happy to speak to you about receiving executive leadership coaching from me, an experienced community engaged artistic and executive director focused on change-making.

Currently I serve as the Executive and Artistic Director at the Field Arts & Events Hall in Port Angeles, WA. In August of 2021 I joined the team to close out a $56 million capital campaign and set up operations July 2023 grand opening and beyond.

Before that I was at the globally curated Autorino Center for the Arts at the University of Saint Joseph as well as from 2001-2015 I served as the co-founding Producing Artistic Director of HartBeat Ensemble.

If you’re looking for a coach to help you strategize to reach your full potential, build a joyful practice with a justice oriented, anti-racist lens let’s connect.

“Steve helped lift up themes out of all my ramblings—all the different projects I juggle in my work and life. I was able to re-find, name, and re-center the thing I love the most in my work— my design process— and start a plan to reorganize my days so I can amplify this core creative practice.”
– Megan Bullock, Creative Director & Founder, Studio Mesh

“Working with Steve was incredibly valuable.”
– Scott Burkholder, Burkholder Agency, Baltimore, MD

“Steve helped me concentrate on the smaller steps without losing sight of the larger whole.”
– Sharon Fantl, Redfern Arts Center, Keene State College

Availability
Let’s work out a mutually suitable time.

LinkedIn
Website

Email potter.julie@gmail.com

Julie Potter

Austria and the U.S.

As a coach, I partner with clients to facilitate generative inquiry, transformative processes and meaningful results. My professional career and creative work spans across arts and culture, public life and higher education in the U.S. and Europe.

My coaching practice calls upon deep experience engaging with artist communities, cultural organizers, creative changemakers and social impact leaders. I additionally draw upon my background in performance and pedagogy to facilitate a coaching journey which integrates client vision with emotional, embodied and relational awareness.

By balancing supportive resourcing and challenging provocations, I hold space for clients to create outcomes aligned with their values and attuned to what’s happening both inside and around them. I am passionately curious and will meet you where you are with care and focus. In addition to providing support in navigating complexity, cultivating learning environments and leadership development, clients work with me to build regenerative and creative practices.

I am accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF) as an Associate Certified Coach and was trained as part of the NAS Leadership Coaching Program in partnership with the Goldvarg Consulting Group. I began coaching as the Director of ODC Theater in San Francisco, where I provided executive and artistic leadership for season programming, public engagement and artist residencies. Prior to that role, I was the Creative Ecosystem Senior Program Manager at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts designing public programs including YBCA:You, a membership at the intersection of art and wellness, and YBCA Fellows, a series of cohort-based think tanks deploying creative practice toward social change. I earned my MA from Wesleyan University’s Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance and enjoy shaping and sharing civic sites that build a sense of place and purpose.

As a coach, I will partner with you to build awareness, explore new perspectives and develop personal strategies and pragmatic actions. My approach is developmental: as new opportunities and challenges emerge in your professional and personal spheres, our sessions will foster continued learning. Who do you want to be and how do you want to show up for yourself and others? Let’s talk about bringing your vision to life.

Availability
Let’s work out a mutually suitable time.

Email paulobyrne@me.com

Paul O’Byrne

Lisbon, PT / Sydney, AU / USA
Time zone varies based on travel

I am a leadership coach and strategic consultant for creative and impact businesses and individuals changing the world. As a consultant, I led the creation of the NAS Coaching until late 2020, and am now proud to be part of this NAS coaching collective. For 30+ years, I have applied my strategic, entrepreneurial, problem-solving and mindfulness-teaching skills towards leading change for individuals, organizations and communities around the world. I’ve done this being a successful startup founder, major event manager, business catalyst, social entrepreneur, environmental and corporate change-maker and strategic consultant and leadership coach. I have multiple post-graduate degrees and awards in social impact, entrepreneurship and innovation from Australia’s leading universities. I’ve won Australia’s highest environmental award. I divide my time between Europe, Australia and the US. If you are looking for someone to stand alongside you through a complex, multifaceted or unique business issue or project/s, let’s talk about how we might work together.

Availability
I’m flexible

LinkedIn
wendycmorris.com

Email wendy@wendycmorris.com

Wendy Morris

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

I am a facilitator of leadership development with over 15 years of experience teaching and coaching at premier leadership centers in Asia, Europe, and North America while supporting arts-based changemakers at home in the Midwest. I am passionate about helping leaders become more agile, effective, and whole. Two career highlights are stewarding an innovation initiative to advance racial equity by placing community artist-organizers within city government (which has inspired related efforts in cities from Boston to San Francisco); and co-founding a learning network of 250 changemakers forging arts-infused, cross-sector partnerships.

As a coach, I ask generative questions that enable clients to tap their own wisdom and make decisions that align with their values, context, and goals. I draw on my background working at the intersections of arts, culture, community, and systems change to shape questions that spark insight and solutions.

I have an MA degree in Human Development and am an ICF Certified Coach. I partner with global networks for change including the Human Systems Dynamics Institute, the Presencing Institute, and the Art of Hosting network. I also have had long-term affiliations with research and training centers at the University of Minnesota: the Humphrey School of Public Affairs Center for Integrative Leadership and the Center for Spirituality and Healing. I currently facilitate a live-online systems thinking learning program for changemakers working in unpredictable and challenging conditions (HSDessentials.com) and an organizational coaching program (Wayfinding Through Feedback).

My coaching informed by 19,000 hours of mindfulness training and somatic/embodiment practice, and my background as a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory/IDI. My work has been recognized with 25 awards in leadership, artmaking, and interdisciplinary practice, including fellowships from the Bush Foundation, McKnight Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts. I am dedicated to setting conditions for an equitable, creative, and thriving future.

“Wendy is working at a master level. She is extremely receptive to ideas, collaboration and synthesis. People breathe when Wendy’s around. They change the way they interact which frees up potential for innovation and creativity that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Her ease in her own skin makes other people be at ease in theirs.”
—Patricia Neal; Center for Purposeful Leadership, President; Co-Author of “The Art of Convening”

“Wendy has taken leadership science, the arts, chaos and complexity theory, and group dynamics through a power sifting process, which is transformative to experience. As the world more and more, calls for leaders who can improvise realistic, creative responses to the “impossible” problems facing us, Wendy is helping all of us to answer their call. Every time I leave a session with Wendy, I come away with insights and process ideas which deeply impact my work.”
—Alejandra C. Tobar Alatriz; Just Embody, CEO; Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center, Founding Collective Member

Wendy is a master integrator. She’s part of that rare breed of people who have a deep knowledge of a particular domain, the ability to make strong connections across domains, and a graceful way of leading others to find those connections for themselves.
—Colin Funk; Pacific Centre for Leadership; Banff Centre Leadership Development, Creative Programming Director (former)

Availability
Let’s work out a mutually suitable time.

LinkedIn
afrotaino.com

Email marangelimejiarabell@gmail.com

Marángeli Mejía Rabell

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

My practice is centered on co-creation, capacity building, leadership development, cross-sector collaborations, community media practices, cultural organizing, intersectionality, accessibility, diversity and honoring our roots and arts & culture as a tool for social change and community self actualization.

Serving as part of this community of practice provides me with the opportunity to partner with others to navigate the complexities of our landscapes, develop strategies through self reflection and design actions to drive positive change.

“The honoring of those that are now spirit is essential as is honoring their work to assure that their work continues to be expanded upon generation after generation.” – Dr. Marta Moreno-Vega

Availability
Let’s find a mutually beneficial time together

Email clittlejohn@arkansassymphony.org

Christina Littlejohn

Little Rock, Arkansas
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

Christina Littlejohn’s professional career includes starting and building the Mobile Symphony (AL), launching The Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami Residency, and navigating the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra from near bankruptcy in 2009 to an artistically and financially healthy orchestra that puts service to its state first. The Arkansas Symphony raised $11.75M to build the new ASO Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, a radically welcoming hub of musical activity for all Arkansans, which will open in September 2024. During the Pandemic, the ASO reached over a million people in over thirty countries with its “Bedtime with Bach” series, kept all full-time musicians and staff employed, and continued its education programs and even expanded them to serve more students across the state. Christina was recently recognized by the state with the 2023 Governor’s Arts Award for Community Development.

A cellist, she earned a BA from Furman University and an MBA and MA from the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She has enjoyed leadership development training at the business schools of Stanford University, University of Michigan and Harvard through National Arts Strategies.

In 2017, she gave a TedX talk titled “Transform a Symphony, Change a Community,” and is a frequent speaker on the topics of Governance and Leading through Change. She is an executive coach working with arts administrators and is accredited through the International Coaching Federation.

On coaching, I feel passionately that everyone working for an arts organization is a leader, no matter the title. Each of us needs a safe space to think, brainstorm, and talk through a key idea or professional development goal so we can move the organization or our personal lives closer to our vision. Sometimes, we need to reflect from a different perspective to get “unstuck,” so we can change the world faster. Coaching helps all arts administrators feel seen and gives energy and light to move closer to our dreams.

The experience I draw from when coaching includes 25 years of leading orchestras, a sense of humor, being a parent, running two marathons, a background in journalism and cello performance, and an MBA and MA.

Christina’s calm and attentive presence, insightful questions, and centering perspective have been an essential part of my work life in the past few years. With her help, I have been able to navigate opportunities, challenges, and crises. I am incredibly thankful to have her as a coach.
– Jessie Glover, Co-Founder, Ohio Prison Arts Connection

I greatly valued my coaching experience with Christina. She helped me dig deeper into specific challenges I faced and create appropriate action steps to overcome those challenges. Through my sessions with Christina, I was able to realize that I was the only person holding myself back and now feel more confident in myself, my leadership skills and my overall stress levels. Working with a coach early in my professional career has helped me for the better, and I cannot thank Christina enough for the time she spent with me to help me realize my potential.
– Trianne Newbrey, Knoxville Symphony

Availability
Let’s work out a mutually suitable time.

Email vlemelle924@gmail.com

Veronique Le Melle

San Antonio, Texas
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

Veronique Le Melle began concentrating much of her professional energy on consulting projects in 2018. Her services range from general administration and interim management to executive coaching. In addition to her executive coaching, Ms. Le Melle studied Integrative Health Coaching at Duke University’s Institute of Integrative Medicine and is a nationally certified health and wellness coach. Much of her health coaching practice focuses on helping artists and arts managers to navigate wellness and selfcare effectively.

Before becoming an independent consultant, Veronique was the Executive Director of Artpace, Inc. from January 2016 until April 2018. During her tenure, she built on the organization’s rich history to develop new programmatic directions and established an enhanced community outreach to more than double its exhibition attendance. Additionally, Ms. Le Melle focused on identifying diversified earned income streams to create long-term stability for the organization.

Previously President and CEO of the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) from 2009 through the end of 2015, Veronique revitalized BCA programs, spearheaded initiatives to increase services for working artists, and explored ways to connect with youth and community organizations in Boston’s vibrant South End.

Prior to her work in Boston, Le Melle directed a number of arts and cultural organizations including the Louisiana Division of the Arts. As the Division’s Executive Director, she successfully restructured Louisiana’s Grants Program and implemented a streamlined grant application process.

As Director of Cultural Affairs & Tourism for the Queens Borough President’s Office, her responsibilities included the oversight of cultural policy, grants administration and the development of tourism strategies for the Borough of Queens. Her charge was to support and advise both the established cultural institutions in Queens and new community-based arts groups who provide vital services within their neighborhoods.

Veronique holds an MPA in Public Policy & Administration from Columbia University-School of International and Public Affairs, an MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College, and a BA in Economics/Business Administration from Colorado College.

Availability
I prefer to meet Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm.

Email krazykiowa24@yahoo.com

Charles Kennedye

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

My focus as a coach is on uplifting the individual. I provide a safe space in which we can co-create your place in the world, be it a career path or a new position, by using your vision. Together we will explore achievable steps towards your goal.

I love coaching clients who are open to new experiences of personal growth and professional advancement. My genuine style builds trust and keeps clients at ease. Listening is the most important part of coaching because we are not always truthful with ourselves. My observations will challenge you and encourage new modes of reflection and thoughtfulness.

As an award-winning documentary filmmaker, coaching is a natural extension of my work. My career in television has led me to the highest levels of PBS (Public Broadcasting System). I have found the competency and mental toughness it takes to work with a variety of institutions, personalities and economic models. I draw from this background in communications and as a coach I work with organizations and individuals looking to create meaningful change, develop potential and achieve success.

Availability
Monday, Thursday, Friday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST

LinkedIn
Open Sky Jazz Leadership Coaching

Email coachsuzanj@gmail.com

Suzan Jenkins

Maryland
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

I am a CEO, advocate, leadership coach and strategic consultant committed to supporting a diverse network of leaders across the world who are committed to advancing racial equity in arts and culture and making an impact in their community. My expertise is in leading teams and spearheading organizational and programmatic development in the national and international arts and culture sector.

A New York native, my deep understanding of critical and complex cultural norms, is informed by my upbringing in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and San Juan, Puerto Rico. My vast professional experiences – in the performing and visual arts, retail, banking, the recording industry, the federal government, and higher education – inform my keen interests at the intersection of business, innovation, equity and impact.

A critical voice in the movement towards operationalizing racial equity in the arts and culture sector throughout many facets of her career, my advocacy work in the music industry towards royalty-reform, my work in the development and implementation of Racial Equity Principles at National Arts Strategies and my work as a member of the Remembrance and Reconciliation Commission in my community bolsters this commitment. I am dedicated to anti-racist work that is both organizationally and individually bound.

My education includes Harvard Business School’s Chief Executive Program: Community and Culture; University of Michigan’s Ross Business School; Certification in Leadership and Team Effectiveness from the National Leadership Institute; a BS in Psychology and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

As leaders, we are always searching for ways to strategically problem solve and forge new ground both personally and professionally. If you are a race-conscious leader grappling with current issues in multinational, multicultural settings, let’s talk.

“Suzan’s coaching… has been an invaluable blessing during the biggest transition of my career and life. Her wise questions helped me understand the power of curiosity in leadership and the importance of trusting “myself, the process and the people…. help[ing] me gain perspective and compassion for limiting [self] beliefs I held onto, encouraging me when I felt stuck. Her sense of humor stands out as one of her superpowers… Suzan helped me navigate many critical moments and decisions in my first year of a new role [and] a brilliant and resourceful coach….”
-Sita Frederick, Director, Performing Arts Center@ Penn StateU

“Suzan’s spot-on coaching opened new doors for me in every meeting. With Suzan as coach, I discovered new approaches to onboarding BIPOC committee members, strategizing public advocacy efforts, and strengthening my internal capacity in our ongoing racial equity work. Suzan’s coaching style was a perfect fit, and made for truly enjoyable sessions!”
-Karen Ristuben, Program Director, Creative County Initiative, Essex County Community Foundation

“Working with Suzan was hugely impactful. When we started the process, I was coming out of a toxic Board situation, and heading into a pandemic. I was also dealing with some challenges with my staff. Since [working with Suzan], I have recruited new Board members, replaced my bookkeeper with a Finance Manager…, started the hiring process for new team members, and best of all…stayed in the black. All while maintaining sanity. The thinking tools Suzan provided and the perspective she encouraged are a large part of that.”
-Chandra Stephens-Albright, Managing Director, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company

Availability
I will gladly meet virtually or in person and prefer weekdays from 7:30am to 6:00pm CT, but can be flexible if my schedule allows.

Email estherg@ameritech.net

Esther Grisham Grimm

Chicago, Illinois
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

“Esther supported me as a new ED, through an organizational turn-around, the pandemic, a volatile HR issue, facility planning, Board development, and strategic planning. As unreal as this list sounds, she had the insight, experience, and empathy to help me lean into my strengths and address my fears and shortcomings.”

As a leadership coach, I work both independently and through National Arts Strategies to support arts, culture, and social impact artists and leaders at every level. I am accredited as an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation. Coaching is a natural offshoot of my career in the arts, which spans philanthropy, museum education, arts education, social justice, and advocacy.

In addition to coaching, I am the Executive Director of 3Arts, a nonprofit grantmaking organization that supports women-identified artists, artists of color, and Deaf and disabled artists working in the performing, teaching, and visual arts in the Chicago area. I am driven by the conviction that arts leaders and artists have the ability to point humanity in the right direction, or, as Toni Cade Bambara put it, that “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.”

I have worked in, learned from, and advocated for the arts for decades. In a pivotal moment in my career, I had the great fortune of re-inventing and rebuilding our 110-year-old organization from the ground up. That transformation included creating a grantmaking mission centered on gender, racial, and disability justice; designing unprecedented artist-centric programs; developing the Board of Directors and fundraising efforts; and establishing organizational policies and procedures—and everything in between. With a commitment to advocating for our field, I serve on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Cultural Advisory Council and am the immediate past Chair of Artist Communities Alliance.

This experience dovetails with my coaching practice as I help clients define and navigate evolution in themselves and their organizations while strengthening their visionary work in the world. My own work as a coach begins with your goals and passions, progresses through an inquiry-based exploration and discovery process, and culminates in actions and insights that lead to the new thinking and actions you seek to incorporate into your life.

My belief that arts and culture are essential to the endurance and soul of our planet fuels my work as a coach with an emphasis on supporting both established and emerging leaders and advocates who are propelling transformation(s). The interrelated personal and professional growth and wellbeing of my clients is paramount. I know from my own experience that change doesn’t always come easily and that the voyage can sometimes be stormy. Working with you to pave a way through those storms—or even just a cloudy day—is my mission as a coach.

“I wanted to make a shift in my life. I was stuck. And frustrated as heck. When I sought out coaching from Esther, I didn’t know what I was asking exactly. What Esther did was to help me to see who I am and what I want. She gave credence to my own thought process. Her gentle reflection, kind validation, deep listening and unconditional positive regard pushed me out of a self-defeating cycle. And onto a path that is clearer and more directed. I am so grateful to her and give her my highest recommendation, no matter where you are in your process of building a better life.”

Availability
I’m flexible

Email kategriffinconsult@gmail.com

Kate Griffin

Berkeley, California
Pacific Time Zone (UTC−08:00)

I work with both established and emerging leaders in arts and culture, public humanities, higher education, community development, and social justice. I love coaching clients who are ready for change at both the personal and social levels.

Coaching provides a uniquely powerful learning space. It is built around co-creating, deep listening, asking questions, holding space for reflection, and identifying action steps. Your personal growth and your work to make a better world are interrelated – and coaching challenges you to go deeper. It draws out your inner wisdom and your core values to help you embody your own, authentic leadership.

As a coach, I draw on my background in facilitation, teaching, and other practices of listening and collaboration as well my experience as a white person working on issues of social justice, civic engagement, and equity.

Growing up in a low-income household in a rural community, living with a disability, and my background in higher education have led me to become a student of many different fields that shape my approach to coaching, including somatics and other healing modalities, humanities, social justice, and cultural strategy (using arts and culture for social change work). I have a regular meditation practice and am deeply curious about practices for cultivating moral imagination and about the intersection of personal and collective transformation.

I have been an Executive Director, strategist, program designer, network-builder, and founder and am currently the Executive Director of the American Studies Association, which supports scholars, activists, and community members engaged in interdisciplinary research on U.S. culture and history in a global context. I am ACC-certified by the International Coaching Federation.

Availability
I’m flexible Mon-Thur

Email ddudley@artstrategies.org

Deryn Dudley

Alexandria, Virginia
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

As leaders you carry a heavy load: ranging from managing team dynamics, unsustainable financials to building equitable and inclusive organizational cultures while maintaining your own health and well-being. As a coach, I facilitate growth, awareness, and confidence among emergent and experienced leaders managing personal, organizational, or systemic change.

My clients have been able to:

Strategically align their professional development activities with their organization’s mission and value
Manage leadership and board transitions
Manage diverse teams and difficult relationships
Develop the courage to dismantle existing systems to create more equitable and inclusive structures
Engage in effective career planning
Overcome imposter syndrome to lead authentically and confidently

My approach as a coach is guided by my doctoral training as a social psychologist and my 15 years of experience as a program evaluator, educator, and nonprofit strategic consultant. During coaching sessions, I use powerful questioning to generate awareness of the assumptions underlying clients’ behaviors and beliefs. I encourage clients to think critically about their own behaviors and actions, to reflect on mistakes and to identify the mental roadblocks hindering them from moving forward.

Coaching sessions are safe spaces where leaders can navigate complex problems and work to find effective and sustainable solutions. I partner with clients to create a strategic action plan and I provide the support, accountability and guidance to help them make progress towards their goals.

I am a member of the International Coach Federation with an ACC certification. If you would like to learn more about my professional experience please visit me on LinkedIn. If you are feeling stuck and need a thought partner or someone to support and guide you toward your success, my coaching services may be the stepping stone to your goal.

Availability
I’m flexible

Email gcrider@artstrategies.org

Gail Crider

Alexandria, Virginia
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

As you face challenges, move through complex situations, and explore possibilities, it can help to have to have someone beside you during those times. A space just for you. When coaching, I work with clients to co-create reflective and supportive spaces that encourage discovery and confidence. Areas of focus include:

• testing and shaping new ideas
• building equitable and inclusive organizational structures and cultures
• deepening alignment between personal values and work structures / practices
• leading through times of ambiguity and uncertainty

I am a graduate of the NAS Leadership Coaching Program, and an International Coach Federation (ICF) accredited coach. My background includes urban and rural community development, finance, management and leadership development. I have additional training from RaceForward, DC Peace Team, Stanford University, Harvard Business School, University of Michigan – Ross School of Business, and CommonSense Consulting@Work (intercultural agility).

In my career, I have led and navigated change under many different circumstances, working inside and outside established structures. I’ve been an entrepreneur, and I’ve worked in the banking industry, the commercial arts market, regional theatres, and public and private philanthropy. So far, I’ve lived in eight states – both rural and urban areas and traveled to 14 countries. My work, ongoing training and long study of meditation have taught me to be curious and questioning, persistent, and to foster space for equanimity. I look forward to talking with you about your journey.

Availability
I’m flexible

LinkedIn
jonascartano.com

Email jcartano@mac.com

Jonas Cartano

New York, New York
Eastern Time Zone (UTC−05:00)

As a coach, I work with individuals to thoughtfully explore frustrating and sticky issues, areas of future work, and professional questions in order to create clarity and momentum for change.

I coach individual leaders because I love learning and co-creating with others. Through conversation and questioning, coaching provides an opportunity to reflect, learn, and make intentional decisions about what to do next. I struggle with the same challenges my clients face—I am very familiar with pressures of the job, misalignment with co-workers, questions around personal leadership, feelings of inadequacy, lack of clarity around mission/purpose, or even just identifying what the next step could be. By providing a supportive space to uncover and give voice to those feelings and explore different responses, coaching can make us feel less lonely and give us more focus and confidence in our work and in ourselves.

I enjoy coaching people of all experience levels, not just senior leadership, and from many fields of work. I am, however, mindful about systemic economic injustice and know from experience that many promising leaders who work in the nonprofit sector often lack access to professional development like coaching and dedicate a good portion of my coaching practice to these individuals. I am an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation.

In my professional life, I’m an independent consultant and coach working primarily in the arts and nonprofit sectors. I’ve spent over 20 years in the arts and nonprofit sectors as a designer and director of arts education, leadership development, nonprofit management, and innovation and change management programs.

Availability
I coach via videoconference. Let’s work out a mutually suitable time!

Email ayden.adler@gmail.com

Dr. Ayden Adler

Houston, Texas
Central Time Zone (UTC−06:00)

With over three decades of experience as an arts administrator, performer, higher education administrator, and author, I am a nationally recognized leader and sought-after speaker and advisor on best practices in arts administration and leadership.

My vision is to sustain the arts through robust inclusivity and diversity, superlative artistry, and innovative approaches to audience engagement and retention. My forthcoming book, Orchestrating Whiteness: Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, addresses the historical roots of systemic racism in classical music, and emerged from my experience performing and programming concerts, engaging donors, building audiences, and negotiating strategic community partnerships at four major American orchestras. I am a Chief Executive Global Fellow of National Arts Strategies, and a Dean’s Inclusive Teaching Fellow of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Houston.

As a leadership coach, I call upon my creative arts background to inspire and support leaders who envision meaningful personal and organizational impact and who seek to serve as change agents cultivating diverse and inclusive cultures.

My goal as a coach is to provide a powerful and safe space to encourage reflection, learning, and growth. I am an experienced and empathetic thought-partner; I provide unwavering support, guidance, and accountability as my clients progress toward their goals. Through honest conversation and respectful inquiry—and a dose of good humor—coaching provides an opportunity for my clients to gain new perspectives, embody their own, authentic leadership, and drive change. My client list includes small and large nonprofit organizations as well as individual employees, board members, artists, academics, and entrepreneurs—at every level of experience. In addition to leadership coaching, I provide expertise in strategic planning and execution, career planning and growth, social justice and equity, project/program development, resource acquisition, assessment, and accreditation.

I would love the opportunity to work with you!

“I can’t say enough good things about my experience working with Ayden as a leadership coach. Ayden is a lovely combination of no-nonsense clarity and compassionate, kind, and experienced counseling. I had an overall excellent experience at a very trying time during the COVID pandemic. Ayden was instrumental in helping me to gain perspective on the many challenges our company and I was facing. She became a partner in problem-solving under the trying conditions.”
– Christopher V. Edwards, Artistic Director, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Boston, MA

“Ayden was the perfect balance of focused listening, guidance, and encouragement. I knew I had two main areas I wanted to dive into, and she helped me to focus in on the most important parts of each. I can still remember a very clear ‘Aha!’ moment during one of our conversations about communication, control, and stress. It was a game changer! Ayden is thoughtful, knowledgeable, and generous with her time and I highly recommend coaching with her if you get the chance.”
-Anonymous, Celebrity Series of Boston

“My sessions with Ayden Adler were informative, enjoyable, validating, non-judgmental, and inspiring. Ayden provided the perfect balance of structured discussions and support while our discussions often organically pivoted during our sessions. I appreciated her warmth, extensive knowledge, generosity of spirit, all while staying organized and being extremely clear. I would encourage anyone working in the field of arts administration to take the opportunity to work with Ayden and learn how to become the best leader possible for their organization.”
–Lisabeth Miller, Founder and CEO, Harford Opera Theatre

Availability
Tuesday – Friday, usually 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. MT

Grownup Navajo
Website

Email jmroessel@gmail.com

Jaclyn Roessel

Pueblo of Tamaya, New Mexico
Mountain Time Zone (UTC−07:00)

I am citizen of the Navajo Nation and a proud Diné asdzaan (Navajo woman) who carries German and Scottish lineages. As a writer, lactivist and a cultural equity & justice consultant, I believe in the power of Indigenous ways of knowing and teachings to support the building of healthy, strong, and just communities.

My practice as a certified personal coach integrates my Diné perspective and belief in the inherent wisdom of my coach partners to navigate challenges and achieve healing transformation in their lives and work. I am most thrilled to work with parents, caregivers and Indigenous, Black and people from various communities of color.

I come to this work from a history of cultural production, museum education and deep understanding of the oppressive nature of non-profit institutions.

I am one of eight co-founders of Native Women Lead. In my role as director of decolonized futures and radical dreams at the U.S. Department of Arts & Culture, I stewarded the Honor Native Land Project. I serve on the New Mexico Governor’s Council for Racial Justice and an organizing member of the Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective.

I live, play, farm and make home in the Pueblo of Tamaya with my husband and our children.

mariana@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789

Mariana Calvo Valdez

Program Manager

For over 10 years, Mariana has worked as an arts manager in Mexico coordinating cultural projects, producing events, and collaborating with social entrepreneurs. Working in the arts has allowed her to serve causes she supports, such as cultural rights and social justice. She helped create a co-working space and community of entrepreneurs at Mandarina Hub, and collaborated with the sharing economy think tank Ouishare. In 2018, she partnered with Cartonclub, the Latin American Cartoonist Club, to co-produce the region’s first graphic humor festival. With a passion for live arts and film, Mariana has worked with independent dance and theater companies, the Cervantino International Festival, and the Guanajuato International Film Festival. She has also coordinated the post-production of films and series for major streaming platforms.

Mariana holds a BA in Culture and Arts from the University of Guanajuato. In her free time, you’ll find Mariana traveling, exploring local markets, cooking, and thrifting to create a new home with her partner in Philadelphia.

Managing Director
FRONTLINE
San Francisco, California

Brian Eule

Board Member

Brian Eule is the Managing Director for FRONTLINE on PBS, where he oversees FRONTLINE’s business operations and strategic planning under the leadership of FRONTLINE editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath.

Brian has a background in philanthropy, having worked in program and strategic communication roles at multiple national foundations. Most recently, he served as the director of journalism and communications for the Heising-Simons Foundation for nearly a decade. In his work at Heising-Simons, he created and directed the foundation’s journalism grantmaking initiative, which focuses on journalism as a critical component of a healthy and diverse democracy, managing a portfolio of grants supporting investigative journalism and underrepresented voices in mass media. There, Brian created and directed the American Mosaic Journalism Prize, the largest journalism prize in the United States in which two freelance journalists are awarded $100,000 annually “for excellence in long-form, narrative, or deep reporting on stories about underrepresented and/or misrepresented groups in the present American landscape.”

Brian is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and the author of the nonfiction book, Match Day: One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s from Columbia University.

Executive Director
Appalshop
Whitesburg, Kentucky

Alexander Gibson

Board Member

Alex joined Appalshop in 2014 as our Executive Director. He graduated from Berea College in 2008 with a B.A. in Philosophy and earned his J.D., Doctor of Laws from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2012. Alex also holds certificates in International Comparative Law from Queen Mary at the University of London, England, and in Thai and Southeast Asian Studies from Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Before joining Appalshop, Gibson practiced law within the torts, insurance, and business litigation practice groups at Stites & Harbison, PLLC in Louisville, and in the business litigation group at Ballard, Spahr, Andrews, and Ingersol in Philadelphia. He also served as a federal law clerk for the Honorable Thomas W. Phillips, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, where he assisted in the resolution of multi-million dollar lawsuits, federal criminal trials, and questions of constitutional law concentrating on the First Amendment. Alex has provided pro bono legal services to asylum seekers from central and west Africa; conducted tax workshops in West Philadelphia; and served as part of a delegation that went to serve Mombasa, Kenya, in order to teach constitutional law to women’s rights groups in the wake of Kenyan constitutional reform. He was raised in Jackson County, Kentucky on a tobacco farm and will play anyone in 1-on-1 basketball — as long as his opponent signs an embarrassment release form.

swidmann@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789 x 808

Sunny Widmann

Vice President, Programs & Partnerships

Sunny leads the design and development of NAS programs. Together with the NAS leadership team and board, she guides the organization’s strategy and fundraising. Sunny’s emphasis is on co-creation, designing and leading processes for NAS to work in partnership with its community to create transformational learning experiences. She co-designs programs with and for artists, entrepreneurs, and arts leaders of all kinds. Some of her proudest moments at NAS include leading Creative Community Fellows, NAS Homecoming, and The Project.

Sunny is a nationally recognized facilitator and a leadership coach. Her degrees are from Butler University and American University, with additional training from Harvard Business School, University of Michigan-Ross School of Business, Interaction Institute for Social Change, and DC Peace Team, and Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo, where she focused on supporting community micro-lending structures and advancing community goals through the arts.

mcesena@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789 x818

Mariah Cesena

Programs & Communication Associate

Mariah supports NAS’s programs and communications, working across initiatives toward successful program delivery and mission achievement.

She is NAS’s newest addition and with her prior experience as an Operations Assistant at Arlington National Cemetery, she brings a wealth of knowledge in serving and assisting people worldwide. Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Mariah relocated to Washington, DC to pursue her education at Howard University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Culture. She also holds a Letter of Recognition in Art History from the College of Southern Maryland.

Her passion for the arts extends beyond her academic pursuits, as she volunteers at the National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian American Art Museum. Additionally, Mariah channels her creative drive by freelancing as a creative director and photographer in her spare time.

jade@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789

Jade Cintrón Báez

Director of Community Partnerships

Jade leads and facilitates multiple collaborations among external partners to better support arts leaders as they engage with their communities.

Prior to NAS, Jade was a theatre and language educator and program administrator, specializing in teaching ESL through theatre, song and movement. Inspired by her own experiences and challenges, Jade pinpoints the link between cultural identity and language using the arts as a vehicle for increased empathy and greater community involvement. She holds a Masters in Arts Administration from Drexel University, where she concentrated on enhancing cultural awareness through theatre and language education. Jade is also the Founder of “¡Looking Bilingüe!,” a storytelling series that focuses on Latiné empowerment and the celebration of multiculturalism and multilingualism in the Latiné community. Jade does not believe in sitting still and can always be found running, traveling, dancing, or even hula hooping. She is fortunate enough to have a wonderful partner and little girl that are her allies in crime.

neo@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789

Neo Gcabo

Program Manager

Prior to NAS, Neo was Director of Marketing and Community Development at Dunamis Inc, a non-profit providing professional development training to emerging artists and arts managers of color in Boston. Through this work, she has produced a number of events, including Jamaica Plain Porchfest and a masterclass series geared to having honest questions with creative entrepreneurs in Boston. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Business/ Management from Berklee College of Music and holds certifications from Harvard’s Arts and Culture Organization Management and Institute for Nonprofit Practices’ Community Fellows Program. Passionate about the arts and social change, she was a featured artist for Songs For World peace, a global initiate by musicians from all over the world to promote peace though the power of music.

Originally from Pretoria, South Africa, she is a multihyphenate creative who focuses on music, visual art and event curation. She holds deeply to sharing stories of South African history and culture through song by singing in multiple languages and promoting audience engagement as a means of building connection.

When she’s not making her friends laugh, she spends loads of her time singing at weddings, travelling, brunching and attempting to be a part-time influencer!

To contact Gail, please reach Michael Tune at:
mtune@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789

Gail Crider

President & CEO

Gail Crider is President & CEO of NAS. She facilitates strategy, program design and organizational alignment to values. She consults on strategy, leadership, planning and governance. Gail was Vice President and COO for over a decade and was instrumental in our transition from the National Arts Stabilization Fund to National Arts Strategies and providing the range of services offered today.

Over the course of her career, Gail has been an entrepreneur, worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations and spent a decade in philanthropy. Prior to NAS, she was as a program officer for a private foundation where she worked on inner-city redevelopment and community building in Washington, D.C. Gail has also worked for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, the National Endowment for the Arts and Key Bank. She co-chaired the Community Development Support Collaborative in Washington, D.C., and has served as a senior fellow for the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania, on the audit committee for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and on grant panels for the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps), the National Endowment for the Arts and the Department of Treasury, CDFI Fund. She holds a B.S. in theater from Lewis and Clark College and continues to learn formally and informally through her work at NAS, including continuing education at Stanford University, Harvard Business School and University of Michigan – Ross School of Business.

csamson@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789 x 803

Carla Kocher

Exchange Manager

Carla manages connections among alumni and serves as the champion of our online communities and classrooms.

Born and raised in northern Virginia, Carla grew up as a competitive dancer. During her time at Virginia Tech (go Hokies!), she was a member of their prestigious dance team, the HighTechs, performing at football and basketball games and competing yearly at nationals in Daytona Beach.

After graduating in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Communications, she decided to move home to the metro area. Carla worked at a Montessori Preschool, concentrating on early childhood development. Her performance background eventually drew her back and she worked with the contemporary ballet company, Chamber Dance Project in DC as the administrative assistant while also working on the company’s social media and communications. During which time she also had an internship in Communications for Dance/USA.

Carla loves the arts and performance and still tries to dance when possible. When she’s not dancing, she loves to read, pretend she can sing and practices for her Broadway debut (a girl can dream).

ddudley@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789 x807

Deryn Dudley, Ph.D.

Vice President, Learning & Engagement

Deryn leads initiatives at NAS that increase effectiveness of programs overall, deepen participant learning and engage alumni throughout their careers. Her portfolio includes the Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, internal evaluation, and Exchange.

Deryn Dudley, Ph.D., has over 12 years of experience evaluating complex programs and initiatives, at the national, state, and local level. Deryn’s expertise is in research and evaluation of leadership development programs, community change initiatives, civic and community engagement programs, and education. She has managed the design and implementation of quantitative and qualitative data collection activities to evaluate multiple initiatives designed to shift thinking and attention, catalyze action, and coordinate players in an effort to drive systems change. Before joining the NAS team, Deryn worked as an independent evaluation consultant for non-profit organizations and foundations on program monitoring and evaluation, strategic planning and provided technical assistance to help build organizational capacity.

Before branching out on her own as an independent consultant, Deryn worked at Community Science where she led the evaluation of the Bush Foundation’s Change Network leadership program and Groundwork USA’s Green Team youth development program. Prior to joining Community Science, Deryn worked as a senior research analyst in the Research and Evaluation Unit at Special Service for Groups, a California nonprofit that is focused on community engagement and provides capacity-building and technical assistance services to community-based organizations, hospitals and clinics, and grantmakers.

Deryn received both her M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology and Program Evaluation from Claremont Graduate University and has published and presented her work related to leadership development, collective action, pro-social behaviors, and student engagement.

trodger@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789 x 817

Teddy Rodger

Program Manager

Teddy helps deliver NAS’s programs, working with her colleagues to bring NAS’s mission into action.

Prior to joining NAS, Teddy designed and implemented arts and culture programs with the Goethe-Institut, IA&A at Hillyer, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Passionate about the power of arts in transnational dialogues, Teddy has led international exchange opportunities, residencies, convenings, and symposia in Cambodia, the UK, and Germany, and has facilitated exchange with artists and cultural changemakers from around the world within the US. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Teddy co-founded Plain Sight, a street view public art gallery that showcased works by DC artists in partnership and with financial support from the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities and the EU National Institutes of Culture. Teddy is a board member of The Inner Loop Reading Series.

Teddy studied Theater at the New School, and like many was an unofficial student of New York’s incredible performance landscape, where she worked with contemporary greats including Big Dance Theater Company, Charles L. Mee, Ma-Yi Theater Company, and Elizabeth Swados, with whom Teddy performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In her free time, Teddy has a soft spot for a funny movie and a gardening podcast.

mtune@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789

Michael Tune

Operations Associate

With more than 16 years of service to the nonprofit industry, Michael facilitates all aspects of NAS operations, including accounting, finance, budgeting, meeting coordination, office administration, contracts, as well as provides logistical and technical support to the NAS team. Additionally, he strengthens NAS development initiatives through research, reporting, and donor cultivation. Michael is often your first point of contact here at NAS.

Previously, Michael served as director at two nonprofit organizations in Washington, D.C. He received his MA in African American history from The George Washington University, and is a PhD candidate of African American history at GWU. His research examines the role of armed self-defense in the lives of African American women in early-20^th century Washington, D.C. in order to discern its prevalence, characteristics, and relevance to Black women’s lives in American history. For his Master’s thesis, Michael utilized a comic book character, Misty Knight, to examine white fantasies of the Black female image, providing a multifaceted, in-depth look at the comic book industry of the 1970s.

An avid photographer, a comic book enthusiast, and an absolutely amateur artist, when he isn’t consuming literary fiction in bountiful mouthfuls, Michael and his husband are chasing their toddler, dividing their time between their homes in Virginia and Nebraska. Let’s Go Nats! Go Big Red!

Executive Director
Greene Space at New York Public Radio
New York, New York

Kristina Newman-Scott

Board Chair

Kristina Newman-Scott is an award-winning, purpose-driven leader with over 20 years of experience in contemporary visual and performing arts, entertainment, and media. She is the inaugural Executive Director for The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at New York Public Radio/WNYC, the company’s multi-platform and live studio space.

Newman-Scott’s awards and recognitions include being named one of the City and State New York’s, Telecommunications Power 50 individuals shaping New York’s digital future, an Observer’s NYC Arts Power 50, and a Next City Urban Vanguard. She is a recipient of the Selina Roberts Ottum award from Americans for the Arts and was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by the University of New Haven, Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in 2018.

Her past leadership positions include serving as President of BRIC, an art, and media organization in Brooklyn; the Director of Culture for the State of Connecticut; Director of Programs at the Boston Center for the Arts; and Director of Visual Arts at Real Art Ways.

Kristina was appointed to the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission in 2020 and currently serves on the Boards of Americans for the Arts, the Brooklyn Arts Council, National Arts Strategies, New Yorkers for Culture and Arts and the New York Arts Education Roundtable.

Kristina was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica and worked as a practicing artist and TV/radio host and producer in her home country before moving to the US in 2005. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Executive Director
The LeadersTrust
Haddonfield, New Jersey

Sidney Hargro

Board Member

Sidney Hargro is a philanthropy strategist, speaker, and imagineer (advocate for reimagining approaches to social justice). Hargro believes the key to sustainable social impact is flexible, long term investment in trusted, talented people who lead on-the-ground and systems change in their communities. Hargro leads the Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia. He is also a Lecturer in the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, teaching equity-informed social impact measurement. Previously, he led the Community Foundation of South Jersey, a startup foundation, which grew from $400,000 to over $21 million in assets in seven years. Prior to that, he served as a Senior Officer at The Columbus Foundation, the nation’s 7th largest community foundation. Outside of philanthropy, Hargro is a street photographer who produces visual stories about activism and lived experience of people of color. He earned a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University, Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, summa cum laude, from North Carolina A&T State University. He serves on boards of regional and national organizations, including Independence Public Media, United Philanthropy Forum, World Education Services (US/CAN), Mayor’s Fund of Philadelphia, and Wells Fargo Regional Foundation and CDC (Program Chair).

Executive Director
Court Theatre, University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Angel Ysaguirre

NAS Board Chair

Angel Ysaguirre is the Executive Director of the Court Theatre, the professional theatre at the University of Chicago and the only LORT theatre on Chicago’s south side. The Court Theatre is dedicated to innovation, inquiry, intellectual engagement, and community service. Court’s productions re-examine classic texts that pose enduring and provocative questions about the human experience. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of Illinois Humanities from 2014 to 2018. From 1999 to 2005, served as Illinois Humanities’ Director of Programs, creating programs and series that include The Odyssey Project, Einstein’s Revolutions, and Brown v Board 50 Years Later: Conversations on Race, Integration, and the Law. He was Deputy Commissioner at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events from 2012 to 2014, where he managed the City’s public art program, creative industries offices, and arts programming. From 2005 to 2012, he was Director of Global Community Investing at The Boeing Company, overseeing the company’s grantmaking program in 60 offices throughout the globe. He began his career in Chicago as a program officer at the McCormick Foundation.

Simon Woods

Interim Director
Grand Teton Music Festival
Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Born in London, England, Simon Woods earned a degree in music from Cambridge University and a diploma in conducting from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

From the late 1980s to the late 1990s, he worked as a record producer at EMI Classics in London, where he initiated and produced recordings at Abbey Road Studios and on location with many of the world’s foremost classical artists and ensembles.

From 1997 to 2004, he was Artistic Administrator and later Vice President of Artistic Planning & Operations at The Philadelphia Orchestra. From 2004 to 2005, he was President & CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, before moving back to the UK in 2005 to become Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, one of the United Kingdom’s leading symphony orchestras.

Returning to the US in 2011, he became President & CEO of the Seattle Symphony, a post he held for seven years. During this period, he led the organization through a period of unprecedented artistic success, institutional growth, and fiscal stability, and built the organization’s distinctive community presence and commitment to social impact.

In November 2017, Woods was appointed CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a post he held for almost two years until leaving in September 2019. During this time, he oversaw the organization’s Centennial celebrations, relaunched the organization’s recording program, and instituted a significant new focus on collaborative culture, professional development, and equity and diversity.

In February 2020 Simon Woods joined the Grand Teton Music Festival, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as Interim Executive Director.

Passionately committed to nurturing the next generation of arts leaders, Woods has for two decades contributed to the League of American Orchestras’ professional development programs. He is Faculty Director of the League’s signature annual immersive training program, Essentials of Orchestra Management, and is known throughout the sector as a highly trusted mentor to orchestra management professionals, emerging leaders, and conductors.

Woods and his wife were honored to become American citizens in 2018.

kjillson@artstrategies.org

571-482-5789 x 806

Kyle Jillson

Engagement Manager

Kyle has more than eight years of marketing and public relations experience with nonprofits. As the Engagement Manager at NAS, he implements the organization’s outreach and evaluation initiatives to ensure we provide arts and culture professionals with skills that will potently effect their communities.

Born and raised in Reston, Virginia, Kyle has a deep appreciation for the arts. He grew up performing in community theater and possesses deteriorating skills in several instruments. In his free time he enjoys hiking, painting, and forming strong opinions about movies. Kyle holds a degree in Marketing from James Madison University.

Deron Hall

Deron has developed and led multi-million dollar social impact strategies executed by schools, nonprofits, philanthropies and others. A french hornist turned arts administrator, he began his arts admin journey as a senior leader of Cincinnati Outreach Music Project, a creative youth development initiative that served nearly 800 students each school day.

Following his work in Cincinnati, Deron directed partnerships, operations, and research as the Director of Partnerships and Operations for the Memphis Music Initiative, a 5-year, $25-Million creative youth development initiative. He then served as the Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Boston Symphony Orchestra leading education and community partnerships for the brand. Following BSO, Deron served as Assistant Director for Youth Programs at Carnegie Hall where he directed Carnegie’s NYC-based teen strategy, Future Music Project. There, he led a team of Grammy Nominated and Award-Winning Teaching Artists to build content and experiences for youth from all 5 boroughs.

He is a proud graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (MM, Music Education, French Horn) and the Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania with National Arts Strategies, where he routinely serves as a teaching fellow for the Strategy And Positioning course.

Teaching Fellow for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy

George Nunes

Teaching Fellow
Nonprofit Fundraising, Impact Management & Value in Arts & Culture

George Nunes returns in 2018 for his third year as a teaching fellow for the Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy. During 35 years working in the public and private sectors, George Nunes has collaborated successfully with volunteers and staff to build thriving organizations.

George has held leadership positions at ACT Theatre, Dance/USA, Ballet Arizona, Seattle Art Museum, and the Tateuchi Center, and in his family’s business. Through Captacion Fundraising Consulting, Nunes collaborates with clients to create stable, long-term revenue streams. Current and past clients include the Arizona Community Foundation Center for LGBTQ Philanthropy, U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership, The Sonoran Institute, and the Mesoamerican Reef Fund, among others. He has generated close to $50,000,000 in contributed and earned revenue.

In addition to his teaching fellowship with NAS, Nunes is a faculty associate for the Arizona State University Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation. His academic and professional education includes certification as a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy from the American College of Financial Services, a Certificate in Fundraising Management from the University of Washington, a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Golden Gate University, and Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dominican University of California.

George Nunes is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement, Grant Professionals Association, and the Planned Giving Roundtable of Arizona. George has served on grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, other government entities, and private foundations.

Born in California, Nunes resides in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. George is an avid hiker and a published travel writer about Mexico. He has walked the Inca Trail in Peru, the Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and throughout more than 100 archeological sites in North and South America and Asia.

Teaching Fellow for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy

Horst Abraham

Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Faculty Partner

Horst Abraham is a faculty partner of the Center for Executive Development. His skills as a process consultant and coach were developed first in working with high performance athletes. From 1971 to 1984 he served as the education vice president of the Professional Ski Instructors of America. From 1980-1984, he helped coach the National Alpine Ski Team during a time when America’s skiers rose from perennial also-rans to world class. He is a visiting faculty member in the executive education programs of the University of Michigan and Boston University.

Since 1984 he has worked with top executives at many Fortune 200 firms to support a variety of organizational change interventions, including building and managing high performance teams. His innovative thinking in the domain of Learning and Teaching earned him an honorary assignment to the Education Commission of Japan. He holds a Masters degree in Education and the Behavioral Sciences from the University of Vienna and the University of Cologne. He also graduated from the National Ski- and Mountaineering Institutes in France and Austria. He is an avid rock climber and a nationally ranked, competitive sailor. He splits his residence between Vail, Colorado and Punta Gorda, Florida.

Faculty for The Chief Executive Program, 2011 – present; Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Leaders, 2012; Day of Learning with the Association of Art Museum Directors, 2015

Warren Boeker, Ph.D.

Foster School of Business, University of Washington
Professor of Management
Douglas E. Olesen/Battelle Endowed Chair
Chair, Department of Management and Organization

Warren Boeker earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Past academic appointments have included Columbia University (1987-96), London Business School (1996-98) and the University of Washington, where he is the Douglas Olesen Professor and Chair of the Department of Management and Organization.

Professor Boeker has been involved in teaching and advising in the areas of governance and organizational strategy for the last 20 years, first as the Strategy Director of Columbia University’s Institute for Non-profit Management, and most recently as an advisor to non-profit organizations undergoing strategic change and board transitions. He is also actively involved in research investigating for-profit organizations, including the effect of founders on new ventures and alliance activity between biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. His major publications/papers include articles in Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, and chapters in books, and he has presented research seminars at a number of universities, including Harvard, INSEAD (France), London Business School, New York University, Northwestern, Stanford, University of California (Berkeley, Irvine, and Los Angeles), University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale, among others. He has consulted with numerous organizations, and has been an active designer, participant and leader in more than 25 executive programs across numerous universities, both domestic and international, including the University of Zurich, Ecole Polytechnique (Paris), Australian Graduate School of Management, and Hebrew University.

Faculty for Strategic Governance, 2008 – present

M. Diane Burton, Ph.D.

School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Professor and Department Chair of Human Resource Studies

Diane Burton is a Professor and Department Chair in the Human Resource Studies Department at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations where she teaches courses in entrepreneurship, business strategy, and research methodology. Professor Burton studies employment relations, organizational change and white-collar careers. She has published articles in a number of academic journals including American Sociological Review, the American Journal of Sociology, and the Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization Science. Prior to joining Cornell, Professor Burton taught at MIT Sloan School of Management, Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Professor Burton earned degrees from Carnegie Mellon and Harvard Universities before receiving her Ph.D. in Sociology at Stanford University.

Faculty for Managing People, 2004 – present, Day of Learning with the Association of Art Museum Directors, 2015

Paula J. Caproni, Ph.D.

Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Lecturer of Management and Organizations
Academic Director of Executive Skills Program

Paula J. Caproni serves on the faculty of the Management and Organizations Department at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. She is also the Director of the Day MBA Program and the Professional Development Coach for the Executive MBA Program. Professor Caproni teaches courses in leadership, interpersonal skills, and team development both in the U.S. and internationally with the Ross Executive Education. In addition to extensive teaching, she consults with organizations in public, private, and non profit sectors and has presented her research at several conferences in the U.S. and abroad, including the Academy of Management Meetings, the Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, the Academy of International Business, the European Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, and the European Group for Organizational Studies. Professor Caproni’s book, “Management Skills for Everyday Life: The Practical Coach” is now in its second edition, and she is currently writing a new book called “What Predicts Success: What Researchers Know That You Don’t Know.” The Ross faculty honored Professor Caproni with the Victor Bernard Leadership Teaching Award in 2008. Professor Caproni holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Yale University.

Faculty for Sustainable Power and Influence, Fall 2009, The Chief Executive Program, 2014 – present, Leadership Training Program for Senior Cultural Executives, 2014

Jeannette Colyvas, Ph.D.

School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
Assistant Professor, Human Development and Social Policy

Jeannette Colyvas is assistant professor of learning and organizational change at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy. Her research interests include organizations and entrepreneurship, comparing public, private, and non-profit forms of organizing, and the study of networks. Professor Colyvas teaches the course Tools for Organizational Analysis at Northwestern and while at Stanford co-taught graduate courses on the nonprofit sector with Professor Walter W. Powell. Her published work has appeared in the journals Management Science and Research in Organizational Behavior. Professor Colyvas’ current research addresses university-industry relations, scientist collaboration networks, and the development and commercialization of academic research. Professor Colyvas has a Ph.D. from Stanford University, with M.A. degrees in Sociology and East Asian Studies.

Faculty for Creative Alliances, 2006 – 2012, Extending Your Reach, 2013 – present

Jed Emerson

Gary Community Investment Company

Jed Emerson is originator of the concept of Blended Value, Jed Emerson has extensive experience leading, staffing and advising funds, firms, social ventures and foundations pursuing financial performance with social/environmental impact. Jed currently focuses on working with families exploring how to ensure a long term legacy by managing their full net worth for impact and engage in family processes which bring multiple generations into that effort. He is an internationally recognized Thought Leader in sustainability and sustainable finance, impact investing, social entrepreneurship and strategic philanthropy. Emerson has played founder roles with some of the nation’s leading venture philanthropy, community venture capital and social enterprises.

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2018 – present

Hannah Fox

Derby Museums

A graduate in design and visual communications, Hannah started her career in the advertising and photography industries before moving her focus to work with non-profit organizations. For the past 18 years Hannah Fox has developed and delivered creative projects for education, culture, heritage, and health clients in the UK. Her current role as Director of Projects and Programmes at Derby Museums has seen her lead the vision for the Silk Mill – widely regarded to be the site of the world’s first factory – as the UK’s new Museum of Making, securing commitments of $24m for the project. The Museum of Making is being co-produced with communities and partners as citizen curators and makers, in a fully participative approach that puts people and place at its heart.

Hannah consults on human-centered and co- production methodologies with people and organizations internationally. She sits on a number of museum advisory boards, including the Museum of Homelessness, and is a board member for FIGMENT Global, a participatory arts festival based in New York. Hannah is a proud alumna of the Creative Communities Fellowship (2014), which she credits with giving her the focus and confidence to take the Silk Mill project to the next level. She has an accent that can be hard to pinpoint…

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2017 – present

Peter Frumkin, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania
Professor of Social Policy
Mindy and Andrew Heyer Chair in Social Policy
Faculty Director, Center for Social Impact Strategy
Director, Nonprofit Leadership Program

Peter Frumkin is Professor of Social Policy and Faculty Director of the Center for Social Impact Strategy, both at the University of Pennsylvania. His research and teaching focus on philanthropy, nonprofit management, and social entrepreneurship.

Frumkin has written articles on all aspects of philanthropy, including the formulation of grantmaking strategy, the changing profile of major individual donors, theories of philanthropic leverage, the professionalization movement within foundations, and other topics. His book, Strategic Giving: The Art and Science of Philanthropy, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2006. It has been touted by reviewers as the “benchmark text for the field” and “the most penetrating exploration of contemporary philanthropy now available.” He has lectured on philanthropy at meetings of grantmakers in the U.S. and abroad, and served as a consultant to foundations and individual donors on strategy and evaluation.

Frumkin is the author of Building for the Arts (co-authored with Ana Kolendo; University of Chicago Press, 2014), which considers the management challenges associated with the recent cultural building boom in America. Frumkin’s On Being Nonprofit (Harvard University Press, 2002) won the best book award from the Academy of Management’s public and nonprofit section. This book considers the changing roles and responsibilities of nonprofit organizations in American democracy and the evolution of public policies shaping the sector’s growth. He has also authored numerous articles on topics related to nonprofit management, including ones focusing on compensation policies in nonprofit organizations, the effective deployment of volunteers, the impact of fundraising strategies on nonprofit revenue generation, nonprofit accountability systems, and the effects of public funding on nonprofit mission definition.

In 2010, two books by Frumkin were published: Serving Country and Community co-authored with JoAnn Jastrzab (Harvard, 2010), which examines the effectiveness of the national service programs AmeriCorps and VISTA, and The Essence of Strategic Giving: A Practical Guide for Donors and Fundraisers (University of Chicago Press, 2010), which provides a roadmap for how to improve the effectiveness of philanthropy. The Strategic Management of Charter Schools (Harvard 2011), which Frumkin co-authored with Bruno Manno and Nell Edgington, develops a systematic way of thinking about and handling the many management challenges associated with starting and sustaining a charter school.

Prior to coming to Penn, Frumkin was Professor of Public Affairs and Director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. He has taught at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and served as a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. Before academics, Frumkin worked as a foundation program officer, a nonprofit manager, and as a program evaluator in both nonprofit and public agencies. Frumkin received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago.

Faculty for The Chief Executive Program, 2011; Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2014-present; Arts & Culture Strategy, 2014-present; Creative Community Fellows, 2014-present.

Brea Heidelberg

Drexel University
Assistant Director, Entertainment & Arts Management

Brea M. Heidelberg is an arts management educator, consultant, and researcher focusing on the intersection of the arts and other fields of study. She is currently a member of the faculty and serves as Assistant Director of the Entertainment & Arts Management program at Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media, Arts and Design. She sees arts administrators as intellectual translators and works to instill a respect for both theory and practice in her students and clients. She is a board member of the Association of Arts Administration Educators and currently serves as Co-Chair of Americans for the Arts’ Emerging Leaders Council. She is also on the editorial board of the American Journal of Arts Management. Dr. Heidelberg earned her PhD in Arts Administration, Education and Policy from The Ohio State University. Her research interests include professional development issues facing arts administrators, arts advocacy rhetoric, and (inter)national cultural diplomacy. In addition to earning a MA in Arts Policy and Administration from The Ohio State University, she also earned a MS in Human Resource Development from Villanova University. Her current research interests involve the professionalization of the field of arts management, the training and development of arts managers, and management issues unique to small and midsized nonprofit arts organizations. Past projects include investigations into arts policy and advocacy rhetoric at the state and federal levels.

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2018 – present

Gray Garmon

University of Texas at Austin

Gray Garmon is a Clinical Professor of Design and Innovation at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. He has a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science of Architectural Studies from the University of Texas in Austin. Gray served in Peace Corps Ghana from 2007-2009 where he worked on various projects, including teaching, HIV/AIDS, empowering women, and building concrete latrines. After Peace Corps, he started a social venture called the Global Latrine Project to develop pre-fabricated composting latrines for the developing world. He is a recipient of the American Institute of Architects Henry Adams Medal, and a University of Pennsylvania Social Impact Fellow. He has facilitated workshops in Human-Centered Design for the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, Startups, non-profits and large corporations like Southwest Airlines, Fossil, and JCPenney.

Gray is a practicing designer in Dallas, TX, leads a public design initiative called Design Future Dallas, and is a founding member of the Offset Collective.

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2018 – present

Eileen R Heisman

National Philanthropic Trust
President and CEO

Eileen R. Heisman, ACFRE, is the President and CEO of National Philanthropic Trust. She is a nationally recognized expert on charitable and planned giving. She was among the first fundraising professionals to earn the distinguished ACFRE certification. In both 2011 and 2014, she was named by NonProfit Times as one of their Power and Influence Top 50, an annual listing of the 50 most influential executives in the philanthropic sector. Ms. Heisman is currently a member of the faculty at Leadership Philadelphia, as well as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work graduate program and at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. She is a regular lecturer for the Nonprofit Board Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a member of the Governance Committee for the Nonprofit Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice.

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2018 – present

Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D.

Kresge Foundation
Senior Advisor, Arts and Culture

Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson’s expertise is in comprehensive community revitalization, systems change, the dynamics of race and ethnicity and the roles of and arts and culture in communities. She is Senior Advisor, Arts and Culture at the Kresge Foundation and consults with national and regional foundations and government agencies on strategic planning and research. In 2013, with U.S. Senate confirmation, President Obama appointed Dr. Jackson to the National Council on the Arts. She is on the advisory board of the Lambent Foundation and on the boards of directors of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and LA Commons. Previously she was on the boards of the Association for Performing Arts Presenters, the National Performance Network, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Cultural Alliance for Greater Washington, Fund for Folk Culture and the Dunbar Economic Development Corporation. She also advises a number of national and regional projects focusing on arts leadership, arts organizations and changing demographics and arts and health. Dr. Jackson has been adjunct faculty at Claremont Graduate University where she has taught cultural policy. She is adjunct faculty in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California where she teaches in the Arts Leadership Program. Dr. Jackson is also the James Irvine Foundation Fellow in Residence at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Previously, for almost 20 years, Dr. Jackson was based at the Urban Institute, a public policy research organization based in Washington, D.C. There she was a senior research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center and founding director of UI’s Culture, Creativity and Communities Program. At UI, she led pioneering research on arts and culture indicators, measuring cultural vitality, the role of arts and culture in community revitalization, development of art spaces, and support systems for artists. She also was a senior researcher on studies of public housing programs, use of urban parks, handgun violence prevention and teacher training initiatives for urban schools.

Dr. Jackson earned a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California.

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2018 – present

Elizabeth Keating, Ph.D.

Boston University
Affiliated Scholar

Elizabeth (“Liz”) Keating is well known as a nonprofit finance researcher and educator. Her research has looked at nonprofit financial performance, reforming the nonprofit reporting system, overhead, financial distress and fraud. She is perhaps best known for her Boston Foundation report, “Passion and Purpose: Raising the Fiscal Fitness Bar for Massachusetts Nonprofits” which documented the lack of funding in the sector, as well as for her pamphlet “How to Assess Nonprofit Financial Performance,” used in many nonprofit finance courses. She has taught nonprofit finance and accounting in executive as well as degree-granting programs at the Harvard Business School, Kennedy School at Harvard, Kellogg School at Northwestern, and Columbia University. She is presently an Affiliated Scholar at the Urban Institute and a Lecturer at Boston University. She holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the Stern School at NYU and a PhD in accounting from the Sloan School at MIT.

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2018 – present

Katie Krummeck

Southern Methodist University
Director of SMU Maker Education Project

Katie is the director of the SMU Maker Education Project at the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU. Previously at SMU, she directed the Deason Innovation Gym, the Lyle School’s makerspace.

Before directing the Deason Innovation Gym, Katie was most recently working to bring design thinking to K12 education at the Hasso Plattner Institute for Design (d.school) at Stanford University. During her time at the K12 Lab Network at the d.school, Katie contributed to a diverse array of projects, including a mobile maker education initiative called SparkTruck, a series of introductory and advanced design thinking workshops for educators, school-based design projects and School Retool, a principal professional development program designed in collaboration with IDEO and the Hewlett Foundation.

Recently, Katie has brought the SparkTruck project to SMU to further her work in developing maker-based instructional strategies to support teachers authentically integrating maker-based learning experiences into their classrooms. Called the SMU Maker Education Project, Katie is partnering with Professor Rob Rouse of the Simmons School of Education to develop these materials.

Faculty for Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, 2018 – present

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

The NAS Coaching Roster

Ayden Adler

Jonas Cartano

Gail Crider

Deryn Dudley

Kate Griffin

Esther Grisham Grimm

Suzan Jenkins

Charles Kennedye

Veronique LeMelle

Christina Littlejohn

Marángeli Mejía Rabell

Wendy Morris

Paul O’Byrne

Julie Potter

Steven Raider Ginsburg

Jaclyn Roessel

Jesse Rosen

Jess Solomon

Alicia Sutton

Joan Vorderbruggen

Sunny Widmann