Press Releases

Arts and Education Council Announces the Arts Leadership and Management Academy

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Arts and Education Council is pleased to announce the pilot year of the Arts Leadership and Management Academy (ALMA), a program in collaboration with the Nonprofit Services Center and generously funded by Wells Fargo Advisors.  The goal of the academy is to enhance St. Louis arts and cultural organizations through participation in a strengths-based approach to capacity building and leadership. The focus is on providing training and support for arts and cultural organizations through a series of affordable management workshops that increase skill level and effectiveness.  The workshops offer a variety of topics from Financial Leadership, to Diversifying Your Funding Strategies to Building an Effective Nonprofit Board.  Each workshop is taught by a leading expert in the field.  Workshops are open to any person working in any capacity within an arts organization.  

The Academy will also be home to the Executive Director’s Roundtable, a professionally-led program targeted to executive directors of arts and cultural organizations.  The focus of the roundtable program is to support executive directors with peer exchanges and resource sharing through professionally-facilitated peer learning. Research has proven this “peer learning cluster” is a low-cost method of offering training and technical assistance to nonprofits that could not afford the full services of a capacity building consultant. 

“A&E is committed to modeling a collaborative approach to grant making, fundraising, and capacity building,” said Cynthia A. Prost, president of the Arts and Education Council.   “As the only privately funded arts umbrella organization whose geographic reach extends to 16 counties, we are uniquely qualified to support expanded professional development opportunities specific to arts and culture nonprofits.  In addition, AEC has strong connections to the St. Louis business community and can leverage these connections and expertise to create robust speaker panels, networking opportunities, and other professional development opportunities for arts and culture sector leaders.”

Interested participants should visit www.keeparthappening.org/what/alma and www.nonprofitservices.org for complete information and to register. 

“Nonprofit Services Center is excited about this new collaboration with A&E.  Strengthening nonprofit leadership and building a community of learning organizations not only enhances the great work of the arts community, but strengthens the nonprofit sector as a whole,” says Deborah Cooper, president Nonprofit Services Center.

Arts and Education Council – Since 1963, the Arts and Education Council has raised more than $100 million in private funding for the arts – an important task that directly affects the quality of life of our 16-county, bi-state region. With those funds, the Council annually assists nearly 70 nonprofit arts and arts education organizations with grants. Additionally, the Council provides office, rehearsal and performance space for 18 arts nonprofit organizations in the Centene Center for Arts and Education, a unique arts incubator located in Grand Center. Visit www.KeepArtHappening.org or call 314.289.4000 for more information.

Nonprofit Services Center - NSC is a management support organization that strives to strengthen nonprofits in urban and rural Missouri and the Metro East by providing skill building, resources and networks to help them operate more effectively and efficiently.  Services provided by NSC are customized workshops, seminars, consulting services and leadership training.  Visit www.nonprofitservices.org or call 314.436.9580 for more information.