PHILADELPHIA, PA – DataArts’ Board Chair, Rich Mintz, today announced the election of Caralyn Spector as the organization's Interim President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective October 9, 2017.

Spector, formerly Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), joined DataArts, the respected national resource for in-depth data about nonprofit arts, culture, and humanities organizations, as its Chief Operating Officer in July.  She will serve as the organization's interim leader while a national search, being conducted by Arts Consulting Group, is underway for a successor to outgoing President and CEO, Beth Tuttle.

“We’re very happy to have Caralyn’s skills and leadership. Working with a seasoned and dedicated team, we're confident she will provide continuity and maintain our momentum as the organization moves into the next phase of its development,” said Mintz. “She's already had a significant impact on our effectiveness since joining us as COO earlier this year, and I look forward to her bringing to bear her vision and experience in the Interim CEO role."

In her eight years at the NEA, Spector designed and implemented high-profile programs including the Blue Star Museum Program for military families, the inaugural year of the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge, and the NEA’s 50th anniversary convening, In Pursuit of the Creative Life: The Future of the Arts and Creativity in America. She was previously Program Director for the Columbia University Arts Initiative and holds a BA in Theater and English from Barnard College. She is a member of the 2017 class in the Executive Program in Arts and Culture, a program of National Arts Strategies and the University of Pennsylvania.

“It is tremendously exciting to be working with DataArts’ smart, dedicated, forward-thinking team, who have built an array of new products, processes, and opportunities for the field: from a brand new data-collection platform to an online educational curriculum to a workforce demographics survey tool,” Spector said. “We in the arts and culture sector need good data and better capacity to make use of it in order to strengthen and make change in our organizations and the communities that we serve. I’m honored to take on the role of interim CEO and look forward to the work ahead.”

About DataArts

DataArts’ mission is to empower the nonprofit arts and cultural sector with high-quality data and resources in order to strengthen its vitality, performance, and public impact. DataArts serves as an important catalyst for data-driven decision-making, resulting in stronger management for arts and cultural organizations, better informed funding policy for grant makers, and a rich information resource for advocates and researchers. Visit us at culturaldata.org.