Session: Empowering Growth: How Consulting Partnerships Drive Sustainability and Strategic Transformation in Small to Mid-Sized Arts Organizations

Monday, April 7

11 AM - 12:15 PM

Location: Ithaca Downtown Conference Center

About: 

This session highlights a pilot program supporting capacity building for small arts organizations and museums through short-term consulting partnerships. It explores how external expertise helped organizations navigate challenges like limited resources and staffing — offering strategic planning support, board engagement, and role refinement. Participants will share case studies showing how consultants facilitated crucial internal shifts, aligning staff and board members more effectively around vision and strategy. This model demonstrates the potential impact of investing in external partners to foster organizational resilience and progress, serving as a replicable approach for funders and a valuable example for other museums.

Presenters:

Anne Townsend, Principal, ART + Strategy

Anne Rehkopf Townsend is a New York-based fundraising strategy consultant with over two decades of expertise in nonprofit advancement. As founder of ART + Strategy, she has helped organizations secure millions in support through major gift strategies, board development, and capital campaigns. Anne is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and holds a BA in art history from Tulane University, currently pursuing a master’s in Museum Studies at the City University of New York.

Anna Conlan, Neil C. Trager Director, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz

Anna Conlan is the Neil C. Trager Director of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art SUNY New Paltz. She is an art historian with over 20 years of experience, including roles at The Royal Academy of Art in London and The Museum for African Art in New York. She curated exhibitions at The Dorsky Museum and contributed to the award-winning “Art After Stonewall: 1969-89.” Anna holds an MA in feminism and the visual arts from the University of Leeds and an MA in museum anthropology from Columbia University.

Christine Chen, Senior Consultant, La Piana Consulting

Christine Chen (MFA, MBA) is a Senior Consultant with La Piana Consulting, a national foundation and nonprofit consulting firm advancing leadership and management in the sector. Prior to her work supporting organizations through strategy, business planning, organizational development and merger processes, Christine served as Executive Director for STREB Inc. and American Repertory Ballet, and as Director of Strategic Programming at the 92nd Street Y, New York. She has also performed internationally as a dance/aerial/circus artist.

Maggie McKenna, Executive Director, Frederic Remington Art Museum

Maggie McKenna is Executive Director of the Frederic Remington Art Museum, overseeing strategic planning, community engagement, and fundraising. Previously, as Co-Executive Director of St. Lawrence County Arts Council, she launched the North Country Arts Festival and a new arts center. She holds an MBA from Clarkson University and a Bachelor’s in Violin Performance and Mathematics. She plays violin with the Orchestra of Northern New York and Carriage House Quartet. An active community leader, Maggie has served on several boards, and currently serves on the boards of the St Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce and ArtsNYS.

Chelsea Goding-Doty, Senior Program Officer, Leadership Initiatives, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)

Chelsea Goding-Doty is a CertifiedProfessional Co-Active Coach, Nonprofit Lifecycles Consultant, arts administrator, and producer. Chelsea is currently the Senior Program Officer of Leadership Initiatives at New York Foundation for the Arts. She previously held Director roles working with Kaneza Schaal, Gallim, S Factor New York, and New York City Center Education. In 2010, she co-founded Harlem Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary performing and visual arts festival that was presented annually in Harlem, NY.