Deborah Rutter discusses the historic and cultural value of The Kennedy Center with Lisa Brown Alexander

In this episode, Lisa sits down with Deborah Rutter, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, to discuss the historic and cultural value unique to the organization, how they continued to virtually serve their international communities through COVID-19, using the arts as a unifying force among the organization’s employee population and more!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How the organization’s wide variety of employees and personalities is what makes its culture particularly unique

• What the organization focused on when codifying its values as an artist-centric institution

• The strategic strides the organization is making to invite and welcome underrepresented artists and audiences 

• How the organization’s DEI book club fostered conversations that worked their way into high-level organizational discussions

 

About the Kennedy Center

As the nation’s cultural center, and a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, the Kennedy Center is a leader for the arts across America and around the world, reaching and connecting with artists, inspiring and educating communities. The organization welcomes all to create, experience, learn about, and engage with the arts. Learn more about the Kennedy Center on their website.

About Deborah

In an age marked by social and technological change, Deborah Rutter has emerged as one of the nation’s most adroit leaders in the arts, combining artistic daring with fiscal sustainability, inclusivity, and responsiveness to the needs of the community. Ms. Rutter began as President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on September 1, 2014, and serves as curator of the Kennedy presidential memorial, and artistic and administrative director to the world’s busiest performing arts center. Read more about Deborah.

About Lisa

Driven to serve the often-overlooked people management needs for the social impact sector, Lisa set out to build a market where one didn’t exist. She founded Nonprofit HR, the leading talent management firm in the country that works exclusively with the nonprofit sector. Read Lisa’s full bio.

About Switch

The Switch offers access to Nonprofit HR’s talent management knowledge presented by our expert consultants, media partners, and guests from across the social impact sector. For over 20 years, Nonprofit HR has produced content that illuminates critical, timely and insightful knowledge for leaders of social impact organizations. Insights from this podcast shine light on the full talent management lifecycle, from employee attraction to organizational culture, engagement, performance management and retention.