February 17, 2017

CHICAGO—After more than 10 years with the Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC), Andrew Micheli will be stepping down as Executive Director on March 31, 2017 to return his focus to his artistic career.
 
“It’s been incredible serving so many arts organizations and seeing the work we do have such an effect on the vibrancy of the sector,” Micheli said.  “I’m proud of the successes of A&BC and excited to return to my art practice.”
 
A&BC is finishing up a banner year which includes the launch of ArtCore, a partnership with Chicago Cultural Alliance and Audience Architects that was recently awarded a 3-year, $300,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
 
Under Andrew’s leadership, program successes continue to top previous years’ goals: with nearly 50 capacity-building projects completed – that averages 85-95 consultants fully engaged on 25-30 Business Volunteer for the Arts projects each day; with 20 new board members trained and placed with arts organizations; with over 300 participants in our Lab series; and with a special project for the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation working directly with nearly 40 organizations on personalized Board Development projects. Additional programming was piloted delivering six unique training labs in two partner communities (Humboldt Park and Beverly).
 
“On behalf of the hundreds of arts organizations A&BC has served, I would like to thank Andrew for his over 10 years of service with A&BC,” said Joel Farran, Board Chair of A&BC.
 
A&BC’s Board of Directors has been working for the past few months on the transition process. The search for the new Executive Director is underway.
 
A&BC’s recently completed Strategic Plan secures the continuation of long-time programming in management and board training, placement and consulting services. A&BC’s new leadership will be focused on the strategic expansion in corporate partnerships designed to strengthen A&BC’s volunteer resources and provide new sources of earned revenue.
 
For information about programming, contact: Katie Kurcz at [email protected]
For information about the Executive Director transition, contact: Joel Farran, Board President at [email protected]