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During the 23 years I subsequently spent living in California, I deepened my skills in the local, state, and national arts ecosystem in developing and implementing grant programs, providing strategic analyses, and assisting arts organizations and artists in the creation of sustainable models of practice. 

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I created the first arts and culture grantmaking program at The San Diego Foundation, seeking to find ways to connect community foundation donors with the local cultural ecosystem. This included leading a countywide research study: pARTicipate San Diego: The Case for Increased Cultural Patronage.

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I was fortunate to work with a variety of cultural institutions and to build learning cohorts of key arts education organizations for greater policy and advocacy impacts while working as a Program Officer, Performing Arts at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.  A history of the program was published in 2017: History of the Hewlett Foundation Performing Arts Program: 1966 to 2016

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I have a long history of serving on a variety of board and advisory committees in the US and the UK, most recently on the national board of the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the state board of CREATE CA (formerly the California Alliance for Arts Education).  While at California Humanities, I was a member of the Cultural Cabinet, a cohort of California state’s cultural agencies. In the philanthropy sector, I served on the board of San Diego Grantmakers, and as an active member of Grantmakers in the Arts. I have been grateful for the opportunities I have had to speak at conferences and facilitate community conversations.

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