ArtsEmerson announced that Deborah Smith will serve as its new senior development officer. She comes to ArtsEmerson after serving at both CitiGroup and State Street.
“Ms. Smith is a socially-conscious business leader with a lifelong interest in both the arts and education,” said ArtsEmerson Executive Director David Howse. “I am thrilled that she will bring her energy and passion to ArtsEmerson as our new Senior Development Officer.”
Working within the Financial Services industry for most of her career, Smith has held a variety of executive positions, principally within the Investment Servicing space at Citigroup and State Street where she served institutional clients. She also served briefly as State Street’s first Chief Knowledge Officer establishing and leading its Knowledge Management and Thought Leadership initiatives.
“I’m excited to join ArtsEmerson,” Smith said. “I look forward to helping both ArtsEmerson and HowlRound do their best work. I’m delighted to join a team so committed to both artistic excellence and strengthening conversation about socially challenging topics as race, equity, and privilege.”
Throughout her career, Smith has served on a number of nonprofit and community Boards of Directors, both nationally and local to Boston. Ms. Smith is a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs. From the Philadelphia suburbs, she resides in Boston.
ArtsEmerson is Boston’s leading presenter of contemporary world theatre and is the professional presenting and producing organization of the Office of the Arts at Emerson College. Founded in 2010, the year the US Census confirmed there was no single cultural majority in Boston, ArtsEmerson committed to building a cultural institution that reflects the diversity of our city by engaging all communities through stories that reveal and deepen connections to each other. By cultivating diversity in the art and in the audience, ArtsEmerson ignites public conversation around the most vexing societal challenges as a catalyst for overcoming them. ArtsEmerson is committed to welcoming everyone into its landmark venues, located in Boston’s downtown Theatre District, for a diverse program of contemporary theatre, film, and music from around the city and around the world.
