Chair
John Haworth
Director, George Gustav Heye Center
National Museum of the American Indian
Smithsonian Institution

Immediate Past Chair
Steven D. Spiess
Executive Director
Cravath, Swaine & Moore

Vice Chair
Kevin Hogan
Director of Planning and Assessment
Asia Society

Secretary
Kathleen A. Pavlick
Arts Consultant

Treasurer
Jennifer Doré Russo
Managing Director
Sonenshine Partners

Director
Alessandra DiGiusto
Chief Administrative Officer
Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation

Director
C. Kendrick Fergeson
Chairman
NBC Oklahoma

Director
Martin Grant
Vice President
Bernstein Wealth Management

Director
Robert L. Lynch
President and CEO
Americans for the Arts

Director
Teri Wade
Principal
Mission & Message Communications

The Arts & Business Council was created in 1965 by a group of business leaders from the New York Board of Trade, with the purpose of creating closer ties between business and the arts. Arts membership was started in 1970, and the organization was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1973. The Business Volunteers for the Arts program was launched in 1975 and, with assistance from the Rockefeller Foundation, replicated across the country. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the Arts & Business Council expanded its affiliation with like organizations in other cities and started the National Arts Marketing Project. In 2005, the Arts & Business Council merged with the national organization Americans for the Arts; national affiliates are now coordinated by the Private Sector Affairs department of Americans for the Arts.

Arts clients. Business consultants. ABC/NY matchmaker. For more than 30 years, ABC/NY has identified—and brought together—challenging projects at arts organizations and capable volunteers from the business sector to solve those challenges.

About the Process
The arts client submits an application for assistance with a project, followed by an interview with ABC/NY staff. Free for arts members. The business volunteer consultant submits an application, followed by an interview with ABC/NY staff and by opportunities for orientation sessions.

About the Projects
Project times vary from a few hours to a year. Typically, the volunteer is investing one or two hours a week, in a flexible way that suits his/her schedule. Typical projects can include business and marketing plans, entrepreneurial plans for increased earned revenue, PR/communications, strategic plans, staff/volunteer training, or analysis of financial systems, technology systems, human resource/staffing systems. Some projects are more specialized, (e.g., events, real estate, legal).

BVAs are not expected to become members, subscribers, donors, or trustees of their arts organization, but it is not a surprise that some are asked to join arts boards. Some use the experience to enhance their training for board service. Some use the experience to build their own professional skill sets/portfolios.

Arts Client Application | Business Volunteer Application

Board Services
Additionally, ABC/NY staff interview and work with each arts organizations seeking volunteer leadership, to ensure it is prepared to effectively utilize its board members. As with the project-based BVA placements, ABC/NY is a matchmaker, introducing business people to arts organizations. Arts Board Recruitment/Training strengthens the volunteer leadership of arts organizations by identifying and recruiting board prospects and orienting them to responsibilities in governance, nonprofit finance, and fundraising.

Sponsors

	New York State Council on the Arts
	New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

The Multicultural Arts Management Internship program was created to promote diversity in arts management careers and to provide young people who have an interest in a career in either the arts or business with a hands-on introduction to work in the business fields of the nonprofit arts sector. Each summer, the Arts & Business Council of New York matches select undergraduate students with arts organizations who need their help and with corporate mentors who can guide their personal and professional growth. Over ten weeks, interns complete projects in marketing and communications, development and fundraising, event planning, audience development, community outreach, and more. In addition, interns attend site visits to all participating arts organizations, an opening orientation breakfast meeting, weekly social gatherings and/or workshops, and a closing ceremony and dinner.

This program is distinct from ABC/NY's ongoing internship opportunities and is specifically geared towards students from multicultural backgrounds. Participating students come from around the country, and they bring with them a variety of personal and academic backgrounds. Arts organizations serving as intern hosts represent a range of disciplines, including music, dance, theater, visual arts, museums, and arts services. Business mentors hold numerous professional occupations but share a common passion for the arts and desire to guide a young person in his/her pursuits.

Learn more about becoming an intern. | Learn more about hosting an intern.

Learn more about the program by reading our Internship Program FAQs

Sponsors

	Con Edison
	New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
	New York State Council on the Arts
Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation

Networking and Development for New York City Arts Professionals

We are a New York City-based networking and professional development group that explores new ideas, best practices, and challenges in the field of arts management. Our membership includes an evolving group of arts administrators in our 20s and 30s who empower ourselves with hands-on leadership opportunities and programming that elevates our field.

Our activities vary from casual networking happy hours to content-based panel conversations and peer-to-peer dialogues that we call Creative Conversations. View our event calendar. ELNYA also hosts a book club that reads professional and leadership development titles and a listserv through which we discuss issues relevant to young arts administrators, announce events, and share relevant opportunities from other organizations.

ELNYA is the newest link in the Arts & Business Council of New York’s continuum of leadership development programming and is also part of a national Emerging Leaders Network facilitated by Americans for the Arts.

For more information about ELNYA, past events, and getting involved please visit www.elnya.org.

Sponsors

	New York State Council on the Arts
	New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

The most recent Arts & Business Council of New York electronic newsletters can be found below. Please join our distribution list to receive future updates.