Management Consultants for the Arts Helps the Orlando Ballet Find New Leader
August 27, 2020 – Following a wide-ranging nationwide search, Stamford, Conn-based executive search firm Management Consultants for the Arts has assisted in the placement of Cheryl Collins as the new executive director of the Orlando Ballet.
Ms. Collins was selected from a competitive pool of eight candidates identified by the search firm. Her strong sense of integrity and solid judgment, success in building the organizations donor base over the last four years, along with her strong leadership during the interim period solidified the Orlando Ballet’s decision.
Jonathan Ledden. Orlando Ballet board president, said: “As search chair, i would like to thank the committee for its hard work in selecting the right candidate to lead Orlando Ballet: Board members Skip Kirst, Jennifer Socarras, Tim Kashani, along with Robert Hill, Phillip Broomhead and Katherine Fabian from the Orlando Ballet Staff. Cheryl has worked tirelessly to expand funding for the STEPS program which brings dance to disadvantaged schools and Boys & Girls Clubs. Under Charmaine Hunter’s leadership, this program has grown from serving seven locations in 2018 to 44 in 2020 with 718 graduates from a 10-week dance program.”
Ms. Collins joined Orlando Ballet in December 2016 as director of development after over 15 years with Orlando Health Foundation. She was instrumental in Orlando Ballet’s resurgence, growing contributed income 117 percent since 2016 and concurrently raising $13.5 million to build Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre. She also built a professional fund-raising effort in an organization that historically struggled with inconsistent leadership and a limited number of donors. Ms. Collins worked hand-in-hand with board leadership to cultivate and recruit a new board that is now 19 strong.
“My experience with Orlando Ballet has been a remarkable and creative journey,” said Ms. Collins. “The opportunity to lead validates having a vision and a great team. I’m grateful that the board has demonstrated such strong support for me and this organization.”
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Orlando Ballet produces year-round Main Stage productions featuring meticulous staging of timeless masterpieces and innovative contemporary world premieres, its annual The Nutcracker, performance lecture demonstrations, and enrichment programs. Orlando Ballet is also known for their training program, the Orlando Ballet School.
Serving Arts Organizations
Since 1983, Management Consultants for the Arts has been deeply involved with arts and cultural organizations of all types and sizes throughout the country, including theaters, museums, music and dance companies, performing arts centers, science centers, historical societies, colleges and universities, service organizations, public agencies, arts councils and foundations. The firm’s services include consultations in executive search for senior-level leadership, planning, organizational analysis, board and staff retreats, seminar & workshop development and facilitation.
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Gregory Kandel, the search firm’s founding partner, has spent many years in arts management, both in the field and as a consultant to dance companies, theaters, orchestras and other performing arts organizations. He has served a diverse group of clients throughout the cultural community and assisted a number of them as a National Endowment for the Arts advancement consultant. As a faculty member at Yale University and guest lecturer at other academic institutions, Mr. Kandel has emphasized the special roles that artists and managers must play collectively in running arts organizations, as well as the governance necessary to make their work successful on behalf of the arts organization.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
