John Orr, Executive Director, Art-Reach

John Orr became Executive Director at Art-Reach in February 2015 and shortly thereafter, he completed ABC’s Designing Leadership program. Being new to the Executive Director role, John found Designing Leadership to be pivotal in providing a strong foundation from which to build. The first several months of his tenure were filled with unexpected challenges, including financial constraints that were limiting the organizations impact. Designing Leadership helped John consider new solutions to best position the organization. Now, two-years into the role, the hard work of the Art-Reach staff and leadership is paying off. With strong fiscal policy, Art-Reach has created stability within the budget, and the business model has grown to include disability advocacy, and the creation of innovative accessible programming. The financial turnaround has followed a period of extreme growth in programmatic impact, jumping more than 600% since John joined the organization, and has put Art-Reach on pace to serve more than 160,000 people this fiscal year.

May 23, 2017 marks the 32nd annual Arts + Business Council Awards Celebration, a major moment for milestones. Together with you, our “Partners in Imagination,” we’ll be honoring the exceptional leaders, innovators, partnerships and volunteers below, who work to make our region culturally vibrant and economically strong. To purchase ticket packages and individual tickets, please click here.