Additional Staff Biographies
| Kristen Alvarez is a Campaign Manager for ArtsWave. Originally from Cincinnati, Kristen returned to the area in 2006 after spending several years working in the Non-Profit sector from San Francisco to Boston. Passionate about her community and inspired by the ArtsWave mission to enhance our community through the arts, Kristen is excited to contribute her skills to fulfilling this mission! Kristen holds a BA in Psychology & Women's Studies from the Ohio State University, an MS in Human Services with a Specialization in Community Services, and an MBA with a Marketing Specialization. Kristen is also a mentor to youth in her community, a Foreign Exchange Student Host Parent, and serves on the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBA's (NSHMBA) as the VP of Education. Kristen lives with her partner, Virginia, and their 4-legged kiddos in the Cedar Grove neighborhood of Price Hill. |
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| Rebecca Bromels joined ArtsWave as Director of Communications in 2011. Having moved to Cincinnati in 1999 to pursue a directing career, Rebecca discovered her love for arts administration during her twelve-year tenure at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, a professional non-profit theater in the heart of Downtown. A passionate advocate for arts education, she expanded the organization’s audience by creating the Shakespeare Summer Camp, Groundlings, and Shakespeare in the Park programs. As Managing Director for eight seasons, she worked to broaden Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s base of support and provide resources for its innovative productions of Shakespeare and the classics. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Texas Christian University. Rebecca was recognized as a Greater Cincinnati YWCA Rising Star in 2006 and Business Courier’s Forty Under 40 in 2005. |  |
| Michael Boberg is the Director of Shared Services for ArtWave. In that role, he has the fortunate opportunity to work with representatives from organizations spanning the entire arts and culture sector. Before joining ArtsWave, he served as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati and was Music Director and on-air host for WVXU-FM throughout the 1990s. Mike served as co-chair of the Civic Pride/Community Engagement working group for the Agenda 360 Regional Planning process and is a graduate of the inaugural class of C-Change. He currently volunteers as a character coach for first graders through the Winners Walk Tall® program and serves on the advisory board for WVQC-LP 95.7 FM, a new lower-power radio station operated by Media Bridges. Mike is a native Cincinnatian, holds a BA in Communications from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from Xavier University, and lives in Anderson Township. |  |
| Jason Dennison is ArtsWave’s Consultant for Arts Learning & Educational Partnerships. His responsibilities include coordinating both the large-scale Cincinnati Public Schools Arts Integration Project and the 2012 Get Smart About Art Festival. Before joining ArtsWave, Jason has spent the past 13 years working in the public, private and non-profit sectors dealing with education and issues surrounding the integration of innovative approaches to teaching and learning. He has also held leadership roles in two of the largest multidisciplinary museums in the country at Milwaukee Public Museum and Cincinnati Museum Center. He received a BS in Education from Wright State University and an MA in Educational Policy & Leadership from Marquette University. Jason grew up in Clermont County, but after 12 years of adventure-seeking around the country, returned to the Queen City where he currently resides in Covedale with his wife, two sons, two dogs and three fish, including a one-eyed shark named “Patch”. |
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| Jim Ellis is a member of the Artswave Campaign Team and also assists with other organizational projects. Originally from Cincinnati, Jim joined the Artswave staff in July 2011 after spending 28 years in the financial services industry ultimately as a Senior Vice President and Private Wealth Manager with Gradison UBS Financial Services. Jim is a dedicated supporter of the Cincinnati arts community and has served as an officer or board member on a number of arts oriented non-profits including The Children’s Theatre and Music Resource Center.
Jim holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Cincinnati. He and his wife Mindy have two sons, Sam and Mack and live in Indian Hill along with their adorable Labradoodle Willie. |
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| Heather Hallenberg, Vice President, Arts Services, is the founding director of ArtsWave’s Arts Services Office and oversees the administration of the Associate Members Allocation process, ArtsWave’s Grants Program, Business Volunteers for the Arts® and Business on Board®. Under her leadership, the Arts Services Office received the Irma Lazarus Award from the Ohio Arts Council in 2002. Heather has a graduate degree in art and architectural history and worked for state historic preservation agencies in Nevada, Missouri and North Carolina. In 1981 she moved to Cincinnati to assume the position of Curator of Education at the Taft Museum of Art. She was also Director of Volunteers at University Hospital where she organized the first hospital visitation program for chronic AIDS patients in the state of Ohio. |  |
| Teresa (Teri) Haught, is Chief Financial Officer at ArtsWave. She previously was the Vice President, Finance and Operations, a position she has held since 2005, following twelve years as the organization's Finance Director. Concurrent with her roles at the Fine Arts Fund, she also served as the Finance Director for the Taft Museum of Art for fourteen years. Before joining ArtsWave, she worked as an audit manager with KPMG and continues to maintain an active CPA license. She is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Cincinnati, a past ONE Award examiner, a 2007 and 2008 Business Courier CFO of the Year finalist, and currently serves on The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Finance Committee and in a number of leadership roles at her children's schools, including PTO president. Ms. Haught received her B.S. in Business Administration from Miami University, where she graduated magna cum laude. |  |
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Jenny Kessler is a Communications Associate at ArtsWave. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s top ranked Interior Design program in June of 2010, and is excited to join the ArtsWave team assisting with marketing, communications and graphic design work. She has previously interned with architecture firms and other nonprofits in the Cincinnati area since 2007. Though originally from Indiana, Jenny fell in love with Cincinnati and is very involved in promoting the positive developments in the city’s core. She has been a staff writer for UrbanCincy.com since September 2009, covering culture and development news, and has several development news stories published in both Soapbox Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Business Courier. She is commissioner of the Over-the-Rhine kickball league, and also participates in community theater, contributing to four shows with three different local theaters since 2007.
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| Mary McCullough-Hudson is President & CEO of ArtsWave,ArtsWave, a position she has held since 1994 following ten years as the director of the organization’s annual community arts campaign. During her 32-year tenure, the campaign has grown from $2.5 million to $11 million in 2011 (the largest such campaign in the country), becoming a substantial source of operating and project support for over 100 area arts organizations. Other notable organizational achievements with the ArtsWave include:
● The creation of the Arts Services office, providing arts organizations with capacity building programs focused on marketing, board development, fundraising and other administrative issues such as Business Volunteers for the Arts ®, Business on Board ® and the Virtual Arts Incubator; Mary has been a frequent consultant and presenter on united arts fundraising and community-focused communication and funding strategies throughout the country. In 2005 she was appointed to the national Board of Directors of Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. Local civic involvement includes Agenda 360 (a Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber-led regional action plan), the educational collaborative STRIVE, Women’s Capital Club and the Cincinnati Women’s Executive Forum. |
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| Beth McKinney, Vice President of Finance at ArtsWave, worked for the organization from 1987 through 1993 and rejoined ArtsWave in September 2002 after taking time off to spend with her children. She is responsible for the day-to-day accounting operations and financial reporting. After graduating from Miami University with a BS in Accounting, Beth spent seven years as an auditor in public accounting, first with Arthur Andersen & Co. and then becoming a manager at KPMG Peat Marwick. Her favorite audit client was GE Aircraft Engine. In addition to her support of ArtsWave, Beth has also volunteered with the Forest Hills school district and the Arthritis Foundation. |  |
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Jodi Perry is a Senior Campaign Manager for ArtsWave. During her tenure as a fundraiser Jodi has managed various business and professional divisions of the annual campaign and finds rallying a new corps of volunteers each year a unique and exciting challenge. Before joining the organization in 2002 she worked for Dan Pinger Public Relations. Jodi is a Cincinnati native and graduated from Xavier University in 1997 with a BA in English and Public Relations. She loves all types of music and finds satisfaction in working for a nonprofit organization that supports more than 150 arts groups throughout the region, from the "big guys" to the small community theaters. Jodi's family resides in Okeana, Ohio and she volunteers her time with her childrens' day care, Toys for Tots and Mother of Mercy High School. |
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| Jared Queen is a Campaign Manager at ArtsWave. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Business Marketing program with a minor in Spanish in June 2010. He is excited to join the Development team at ArtsWave where he will be working on the annual community campaign. He previously worked as Director of Communications for a local research institute.
Jared is a resident of Over-the-Rhine, also home to ArtsWave, where he enjoys exploring the many art galleries that have recently popped up in the neighborhood. Jared’s love for visual arts opened the door to a volunteer position as Marketing Director for Essex Studios in Walnut Hills. When he is not busy organizing the Art Walk events at Essex Studios he creates and manages websites for local nonprofit groups such as The Yearlings and Wood Hudson Cancer Research Laboratory. |
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| Jeff Taylor is currently the Associate Campaign Director, Major Gifts & Regional Initiatives. He has been raising money for the arts since 1994, when he joined the ArtsWave staff after serving as a District Director for the Boy Scouts of America. Jeff works in the areas of the annual campaign and planned giving, providing guidance to hundreds of volunteers each year. Since he joined the ArtsWave staff, Jeff has coordinated the entire fundraising effort in Northern Kentucky and was an active member of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, he has expanded ArtsWave's outreach into the areas of Butler and Warren Counties - working to identify new individuals and corporations willing to support the arts in our region.
Jeff is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council, Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, and is on the committee for the National Philanthropy Day event. He also recently completed a seven month Planned Giving on the Run training program for planned giving professionals. Jeff and his wife, Andrea, live in Madeira with their son Jake, where he volunteers his time as the scoutmaster for his son's Boy Scout Troop. |
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Margy Waller is a special advisor. She founded and has served as Executive Director of The Mobility Agenda, a think tank in Washington DC. Previously she was Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, with a joint appointment in the Economic Studies and Metropolitan Policy programs. Prior to Brookings, she was Senior Advisor on domestic policy in the Clinton-Gore White House. Before joining the Administration, Margy was Senior Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute. She also served as Director of Public Policy at United Way of America, Director of Policy Development at Public/Private Ventures in Philadelphia, and congressional fellow in the office of U.S. Representative Eric Fingerhut (D-OH). Margy was named one of the nation's 25 most "powerful and influential" nonprofit arts leaders, Top Ten Tweeter by SoapboxMedia, and a Rising Civic Star by Cincy Magazine. She was appointed by Ohio Governor Ted Stickland to the Board of Trustees of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and serves as a member of Council 360, leading the Quality Place Priority Focus team on arts & culture. She is also a member of the United Way Future Direction Task Force. She received her BS in communication studies at Northwestern University and a law degree from The Ohio State University
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| Lisa Wolter is Vice President, Development & Campaignt at ArtsWave. In her role she is engaged in all aspects of the campaign from strategic planning to the execution of new campaign initiatives. She was also a Campaign Manager for 12 years and has seen the ArtsWave campaign grow to become the largest united arts fund in the country. Lisa provides leadership and fund raising support to hundreds of volunteers throughout the tri-state, to organize and execute effective workplace campaigns, direct mail appeals, and secure corporate funding. Lisa studied Art History as an undergraduate at Michigan State University and as a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has worked at several museums including the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Taft Museum of Art and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Lisa is a member of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s WE Lead Class III and has served on several nonprofit committees including Enjoy the Arts/START, Happen Inc. and the Business Volunteers for the Arts. Lisa and her husband Adam live in Milford and have two children, Max and Greta. |  |