FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 10, 2013 – Alexandria, VA – National Arts Strategies is pleased to announce the participation of 50 exceptional leaders in the second class of The Chief Executive Program. Building on the success of the program’s first cohort, National Arts Strategies continues the program to help bring together cultural leaders from around the world to explore new ways to tackle the most complex and critical challenges facing the field. By the end of program, these 50 leaders will have the ideas, tools and connections to effect change in their own organizations and to work collectively strengthen the cultural field.

The Chief Executive Program is built around learning cycles of exploration, reflection, application and sharing. Beginning in September 2013 and continuing through 2014, the program includes three in-person educational events at Harvard Business School, at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and at Sundance Resort, as well as a variety of “at-work” activities designed to help leaders move forward on their own unique objectives and goals. These events and activities are designed to give participants a deeper understanding of the strategic challenges they face, a firm grasp of change leadership and the ability to translate their visions for the future into reality.

“The Chief Executive Program harnesses the power of connection – bringing together extraordinary and talented people from around the world. We are delighted to welcome a new class of outstanding thinkers and leaders into this program, and are looking forward to helping them as they create the future of their organizations,” said NAS President and CEO Russell Willis Taylor.

NAS will not only provide these executives with opportunities for learning, innovation and collaboration, but will also publicly highlight their work in an effort to raise the level of discussion on the critical issues facing the cultural sector. Ideas generated during the program will be shared via the NASblog, Field Notes, through video interviews and case stories, inNAS newsletters and at industry conferences and events.

Participants in The Chief Executive Program were selected following a highly competitive recruitment process to identify 50 of the top executive cultural leaders from around the world with an aptitude to tackle the intractable issues presented by the curriculum. The leaders chosen to participate in The Chief Executive Program were selected from a wide range of cultural forms, locations, perspectives and experience levels. These executives have proven themselves to be effective, innovative, collaborative and open-minded, and were chosen from a pool of over 250 open applications and nominations from industry stakeholders.

The Chief Executive Program Participants

David Baile, International Society for the Performing Arts (New York, NY)
Sara Bon-Harper, Ash Lawn-Highland (Charlottesville, VA)
Rowan Brown, National Mining Museum (Midlothian, Scotland)
Katy Clark, Orchestra of St. Luke’s (New York, NY)
Juan Antonio Cue?llar Sa?enz, Batuta National Foundation (Bogota, Colombia)
David Dower, ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage (Boston, MA)
Kristy Edmunds, Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA(Los Angeles, CA)
David Flatley, Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Daniel Gallant, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (New York, NY)
Vallejo Gantner, Performance Space 122 (New York, NY)
Sarah George, Natural History Museum of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)
Michael John Gorman, Science Gallery International/Science Gallery Dublin (Dublin, Ireland)
Maria Hane, Museum of Science & History (Jacksonville, FL)
Wier Harman, Town Hall Seattle (Seattle, WA)
Corinne Hill, Chattanooga Public Library (Chattanooga, TN)
Linda Jackson, The Glimmerglass Festival (Cooperstown, NY)
Kathleen Jameson, The Mint Museum (Charlotte, NC)
James Kass, Youth Speaks (San Francisco, CA)
David Koren, Figment Project (New York, NY)
Monique le Conge Ziesenhenne, Palo Alto City Library (Palo Alto, CA)
Veronique Le Melle, Boston Center for the Arts (Boston, MA)
Helen Legg, Spike Island (Bristol, England)
Jeffrey Lependorf, Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (New York, NY)
Christina Littlejohn, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (Little Rock, AR)
Angel Igor Lozada Rivera Melo, Universidad de Guadalajara (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Ann Meier Baker, Chorus America (Washington, DC)
Kevin Mills, South Carolina Aquarium (Charleston, SC)
Stephen Mills, Ballet Austin (Austin, TX)
Jonathan Moscone, California Shakespeare Theater (Berkeley, CA)
Justine Nagan, Kartemquin Films (Chicago, IL)
Christina Olsen, Williams College Museum of Art (Williamstown, MA)
Elaina Richardson, The Corporation of Yaddo (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Jessica Robinson Love, CounterPULSE (San Francisco, CA)
Ane Rodriguez Armendariz, Tabakalera – International Center for Contemporary Culture (Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain)
Art Rotch, Perseverance Theatre (Douglas, AK)
Kirsten Schaffer, Outfest (Los Angeles, CA)
Diomar Silveira, The Philharmonic Cultural Institute (Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Jill Snyder, MOCA Cleveland (Cleveland, OH)
janera solomon, Kelly Strayhorn Theater (Pittsburgh, PA)
Susan Taylor, New Orleans Museum of Art (New Orleans, LA)
Linus Tunstro?m, Uppsala Stadsteater (Uppsala, Sweden)
Kelly Tweeddale, Seattle Opera (Seattle, WA)
Kristina Van Dyke, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts (St. Louis, MO)
Tony Vecchio, Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (Jacksonville, FL)
Joana Vicente, The Independent Filmmaker Project (New York, NY)
Mark Wender, Soulsville Foundation (Memphis, TN)
Kim Whitener, HERE Arts Center (New York, NY)
C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika! (Washington, DC)
Simon Woods, Seattle Symphony (Seattle, WA)
Mike Yankovich, Children’s Museum of Denver (Denver, CO)

Development of The Chief Executive Program was made possible by the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Fidelity Foundation and The Kresge Foundation. Additional information about The Chief Executive Program is available at www.artstrategies.org.

About National Arts Strategies
National Arts Strategies works with faculty from leading universities in the country to develop leadership programs for organizations from all across the arts and culture sector. This investment in leadership capacity has produced the sector’s most diverse leadership community of alumni and faculty. It has also generated changes in the language and core management frameworks used by grantee organizations, partnerships to advance the full range of educational services available to the field and policy discussions with leading grantmakers to enhance field capacity building.www.artstrategies.org.

CONTACT:
Theresa Remick
Communications Manager
571-482-5789 ×28
tremick@artstrategies.org ###