Brooklyn Arts Council’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Jilian Cahan Gersten, who has served as Development & External Affairs Director at BAC for five years, is stepping into the role of Interim Executive Director as of September 1.
Ms. Gersten will work closely with the Board of Directors to lead the organization during this period of transition while the search is underway for BAC’s next Executive Director, conducted by Arts Consulting Group. This marks the launch of a transformational time for BAC that reflects our shared ambitions to both deepen and broaden our impact on Brooklyn’s vibrant arts and culture scene while nimbly responding to the evolving needs of the borough’s creative sector.
A life-long New Yorker and dedicated culture worker, Ms. Gersten’s prior experience includes various programming and fundraising roles at LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts, BRIC, the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, The After-School Corporation (now ExpandED Schools), Theatre for a New Audience, The New Victory Theater, and Ballet Tech. She is the current board chair of Ballet Tech; was a founding board member of Headlong Dance Theater in Philadelphia, PA; served for 12 years on the board of Danspace Project; and has been a panelist for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and New Jersey After 3. She is also a trained chef who, following a stint as an assistant instructor at the International Culinary Center and apprenticeships in the south of France, worked in the pastry kitchen at Bouley restaurant. Jilian received her Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors from Wesleyan University, where she majored in College of Letters, an interdisciplinary program combining literature, philosophy, and history. She resides in Park Slope, Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.
Given Ms. Gersten’s long and varied track record in the city’s arts and culture landscape as well as her successful ongoing tenure at Brooklyn Arts Council, we are confident that she will ably steward our organization through this pivotal transitional moment and set us up for a bright future.
Photo by Brigitte Lacombe