ARTS & BUSINESS COUNCIL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
JOAN GUNZBERG TO STEP DOWN AFTER 19 YEARS
CHICAGO—The Arts & Business Council (A&BC) of Chicago has announced that Executive Director Joan Gunzberg will retire this coming summer.
“After 19 years, I’m leaving at a time when the organization has an especially strong staff and board working together to carry out our mission,” Gunzberg said. “I am looking forward to having time to pursue some personal interests, and I intend to remain connected to my colleagues in the arts through consulting and board activities. It’s been a joy to work with so many talented, committed and creative people from organizations, of all sizes and disciplines, over nearly two decades. ”
Gunzberg joined A&BC in 1989 as the executive director and has built the organization into a major community resource that develops leadership, arts/business partnerships, collaborative initiatives, staff and board training and exposure to best business practices. Established in 1985 as Business Volunteers for the Arts, A&BC has grown and expanded its programming significantly under Gunzberg’s leadership, including:
• Arts & Business Forums (1991): bringing hundreds of arts and business leaders together several times per year to hear from thought leaders and discuss topics of mutual interest
• Arts Marketing Program (1996): offering services and programs to help arts groups grow and diversify their audiences; Chicago’s program was so successful, it was adopted by the Arts & Business Council Inc. (national office) as the National Arts Marketing Project and has been replicated in 14 U.S. cities
• Business Essentials for the Arts (1998): Monthly workshops focusing on marketing governance and general management topics for non-profit arts staff and boards members, attracting over 500 participants each year.
• On BOARD® (1999): a training and placement program for business professionals interested in serving on the boards of arts organizations, it has provided 150 informed, enthusiastic leaders for Chicagoland arts boards. An extension of this service, Board Development Consulting, was launched in 2007 to provide training and coaching to arts boards.
• smARTscope® (2001): an online management assessment tool for arts organizations to galvanize board and staff members to work together as a team within a strategic framework.
• E-Commerce Incubator (2003): aiding arts groups to use Internet marketing to engage, expand and diversify their audiences
• IMPACT (2007): a multi-year initiative to increase diversity on the boards of Chicago’s largest cultural institutions
As a result of these efforts, A&BC has achieved status as one of the largest, most active and most accomplished chapters of the Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts.
A&BC has formed a search committee, headed by Immediate Past Board Chairman Paul Boulis, president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. “Joan has been a dynamic and accomplished leader during her tenure and leaves behind a legacy that is the envy of any capacity-building organization,” said Boulis. “It will be a challenge to find her successor. Fortunately, our search committee is composed of arts and business leaders from Chicago institutions with considerable experience with the organization, its clients and their needs. We have excellent support to conduct the search and are confident we will find able leadership to continue to build on the strengths of the organization.”
The Arts & Business Council of Chicago builds dynamic partnerships between the arts and business to strengthen the management capacity of arts organizations and facilitate business participation in the arts. Each year, A&BC programs reach 350 nonprofit arts organizations as well as dedicated business professionals, ensuring the long-term vitality of metropolitan Chicago and preserving its reputation as a great place to work and live. For more information, click on the job posting below.
###