Systems & Strategy

Partnering with entities interested in exploring new and innovative ways to fuel a vibrant arts ecosystem!

Creative Partnership for
Arts Ecosystems and Impact

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I partner with philanthropic organizations, investors, businesses, and government leaders to explore pressing challenges in the arts and culture landscape—and to co-create strategies for moving forward.

This work is not about implementing cookie-cutter solutions. It’s about asking:

  • How can artists and arts organizations leverage their greatest asset—their creativity—to sustain and grow their work?

  • Who in the community is already succeeding, and what can we learn from them?

  • For those struggling, what systemic barriers are holding them back?

  • Where can funding, programs, and partnerships be positioned to regenerate and strengthen the ecosystem?

I approach these questions as a creative problem-solving process, using facilitation, consulting, and thought partnership as tools to uncover insight and action.

How I Work

  • Colorful rainbow-colored structure with vertical wooden beams in shades of green, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, and teal forming a tunnel-like passageway.

    Facilitation

    Facilitation is my favorite way to work as it is most like the creative process. I work with small groups over time to explore the true heart of the problem, listen to all sides, build consensus and finalize with an action plan.

    My facilitations will always conclude with actionable items rooted in a framework of responsibility, accountability, and authority to assure they are set up for successful implementation!

  • Black and white abstract scene with a reflective cube on a polka dot patterned surface.

    Philanthropic Consulting

    I help funders and other arts investors develop strategies to strengthen the health of the performing arts ecosystem. This includes attention to:

    - Artistry and creative capacity
    - Infrastructure and operational support
    -Education and community engagement
    -Access and equity

    Together, we explore opportunities to design regenerative approaches: strategies, partnerships, and initiatives that keep resources circulating within the ecosystem while maximizing impact.

  • Abstract digital illustration of layered, curved strips in shades of orange and red, forming a spiral pattern.

    Thought Partnership

    Sometimes the work is less about programs and more about perspective. I bring a bird’s-eye view of the arts ecosystem, deep experience across nonprofit, business, and community contexts, and a relentless curiosity about the right questions to ask.

    If you’re seeking someone to think with, challenge assumptions, and help connect dots across systems, this is where I excel.

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“Emily is a skilled leader and problem solver, synthesizing and clarifying diverse points of view on how dance and the performing arts feed our communities, along with an understanding of the challenges that face working artists themselves. She focuses on consensus and action to move all involved toward positive change.”

— Patch Schwadron, Entertainment Community Fund