NYFA / Professional Development / Emerging Leaders Program

Emerging Leaders Program

Managers
Arts Administrators

The 14ft steel cylinder with a cut plastic bottle outer skin and a dome made from grommeted 3-ply masks, rotates on a circular track ring, atop a wood orange porticoed base.

Alexander Levi and Amanda Schachter
Image Credit: Andreas Symietz

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NYFA’s original leadership training, this year-long program helps manager-level arts administrators from NYC and the surrounding area navigate the field and optimize their contributions to it. Preparing them for future advancement, the program focuses on management, coaching, and influencing skills that are critical for their central roles. The 2024 Emerging Leaders program was made possible with funding from The Willem de Kooning Foundation.

Program Highlights

Opening Intensive

This five-day experience serves as a unique leadership retreat for participants to turn their focus towards their leadership practice and strategic career goals.

Peer-Learning Pods

Supported by program alumni who serve as Pod Advisors, participants gather virtually in bi-monthly pods to workshop leadership questions and provide peer support.

Virtual Workshops

Executive coaches lead bi-monthly workshops to cover the various skills manager-level leaders need to succeed.

Closing Intensive

Participants reconvene at the end of the year to mark their progress with their individual leadership goals, and chart their continuing career trajectory.

Alumni Lunch

Convened as a culminating event for the current cohort and kick-off for the next, alumni from all years are hosted annually to connect with each other.

Alumni Lunch

Manager-level administrators in full-time employment by 501(c)3 arts and cultural organizations, managing at least one person at their organization.
Commitment to attendance at all mandatory sessions.
Open to participants from the five boroughs of New York City and Tri-State area within commuting distance of New York City.

Application Requirements

For the application, we ask you to provide:

Organization information
A description of your current role and responsibilities
Why you are interested in applying to this program and goals relative to your leadership career path within the next 2-5 years
The impact you’d like this program to have for your organization, your role, or an institutional challenge you are facing
A narrative bio of your professional career
Contact details of your supervisor and confirmed permission to participate

How to Apply

Applications are currently closed.
Fill out the form below to be notified when the next cycle opens.

Notify me of program updates

For the previous cycle, applications opened in December 2023, closing mid-January, 2024. Notification was sent in early February 2024.

Questions? Contact the NYFA Learning team at [email protected] with “Emerging Leaders Program” in the subject line.

Selection Process

Applications are reviewed by Emerging Leaders Alumni and outside executive professionals in the arts.

Mandatory Program Dates

Attendance is mandatory for all sessions, so please check your calendar before applying.

Intro Meeting: Friday, February 23, 10:00 AM-12:30 PM ET
5-Day Intensive: Monday-Friday, March 4-8, 2024, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM ET
Virtual Workshops: Fridays 10:00 AM-1:00 PM; April 19, June 14, August 16, and October 18, 2024
Virtual Pod Meetings: Fridays 10:00 AM-11:30 AM ET; March 29, May 17, July 19, September 20, November 15 and January 17, 2025
In-Person Intensive: Thursday-Friday, December 12-13, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM ET
Reunion event: TBC week of February 24, 2025

How NYFA Supports Arts Leaders

Since 2013, NYFA Learning has supported the careers of arts administrators from over 300 arts and culture organizations in the New York City area and around the state by providing professional development that is tailored to the challenges of this vital profession.

NYFA believes that investing in cultural infrastructure improves the sustainability and success of arts organizations, and ultimately builds stronger connections between artists and administrators, which benefits the entire field. The programs particularly support administrators of color, and organizations which are BIPOC-led, community-based, or rural. Programs are application-based and offered free to participants who are selected by panels of expert colleagues in the field.

From Our Alumni

Connecting with an amazing cohort of peers as we together learn how to navigate arts leadership has been a transformative experience for me. I began this training program full of ambition to grow as a leader and I leave it with the tools to realize my goals. Next week I am interviewing for a museum Director position, which I believe would not have happened without the NYFA Emerging Leaders program.

– Anna Conlan

Neil C. Trager Director, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz Emerging Leaders Program 2020

The NYFA Emerging Leaders program is one-of-a-kind and a much-needed resource for arts administrators to learn about ourselves, connect with other like-minded professionals, and get motivated. Additionally, the cumulative network from years of the program creates an alternative resource outside of formal education programs that is more accessible.

– 2020 Emerging Leaders Participant

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