National Arts Strategies

National Arts Strategies is a national 501(c)(3) public charity founded over 20 years ago by the Ford, Rockefeller, and Mellon Foundations to help strengthen communities of arts organizations and bring new approaches into our field. In our open enrollment, custom, and residential leadership development programs, arts executives explore the toughest challenges facing organizations today and learn from some of the top business school faculty in the United States.

Our programs have been presented to over 3,000 executives, board members, and staff from over 1,500 arts and cultural organizations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. We bring professionals together across the country and in local communities to help fuel the conversation among arts executives, board members, and funders. And we invest in leaders because we believe it is their vision and commitment that is at the heart of a vibrant, sustainable arts and culture community.

National Arts Strategies works with faculty from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management and other leading universities to deliver a full catalog of executive-level seminars and supporting technical assistance services. NAS seminars and consulting services create an interactive experience for "facilitated discovery" through teaching cases, exercises, and dynamic discussions. These programs challenge arts and cultural leaders to diagnose the root causes of challenges their organizations face, and to set strategies to overcome those obstacles and open new opportunities.