BIO
Alyona Ushe has over twenty years of leadership experience in launching and growing distinctly different organizations for both nonprofit institutions and municipalities. She started her career in the arts by founding Classika-Synetic Theater in the Washington DC Metro area. There she produced over 100 original productions and organized the company’s participation at numerous festivals, including the International New York Fringe Festival, The Kennedy Center Prelude Festival, and the Shakespeare Festival in Washington, DC. She created and implemented extensive education outreach programs, which were praised on the floor of the US House of Representatives, and resulted in significant Federal Appropriation funding.
In South Florida, she was the President and CEO of Creative City Collaborative (CCC), where she grew the organizational budget from $250,000 to over three million in under five years. She founded a critically acclaimed Arts Garage where she presented over 500 performances by both regional and international artists and launched numerous signature series and educational and outreach initiatives. Under her leadership, CCC won highly competitive bids in Pompano Beach to revitalize, program, and operate a 3,000-seat dormant amphitheater, and to open a new $20 million cultural center and Bailey Contemporary Arts. She has also served as the Executive Director of the New Orleans Opera Association in Louisiana and BlackRock Center for the Arts in Maryland.