Lisa Hoffman joined the Alliance of Artists Communities as Executive Director in the summer of 2016. Lisa is the former Associate Director of the McColl Center of Art + Innovation, where she oversaw programs and strategic initiatives, community engagement, and the flagship Environmental Program at McColl Center. While at McColl Lisa was known for building cross-sector coalitions, where she facilitated artist-led collaborations with developers, across municipal agencies and cultural organizations. Lisa was the creative thought leader behind the Art + Ecology Campus at Brightwalk, a groundbreaking project that spurred economic development in Charlotte’s North End. Using the environment as the integrating context, Hoffman built a framework which highlighted the social and intellectual capacity of the current residents, increased civic engagement and improved environmental stewardship.
Prior to McColl Center, she served as Director of Charlotte Nature Museum, and held positions as a science educator and mentor with the District of Columbia and Prince George’s County Maryland Public Schools. Honored for her dedication in connecting children and families to the natural world, she is also committed to place-based education, the improvement of schools in marginalized communities and research in creative placemaking.
The recipient of Charlotte Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award, Lisa has served on the board of North Carolina Association of Environmental Education Centers, North Carolina Play Alliance, and regularly participates as a speaker at various community and national events including National Innovation Summit for Arts and Culture. She formerly served on boards for the Jazz Arts Initiative and Lakewood Trolley, and the Alliance of Artists Communities. Most recently she was appointed by President Obama to be a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board. Holding an MS degree in Biology and a BS degree in Botany from Howard University in Washington, DC, Hoffman is dedicated to social practice and the convergence of art and science as a vehicle to improve lives and effect systemic change.
Authored Content
Mar 22 2017 Blog Post Four Arts & Culture Organizers Speak Up on the Centrality of Equity in Their Work What can we do to foster and further amplify equitable ways of working, decision making, and engagement within the communities we serve? At the annual conference of the Alliance of Artists Communities and in subsequent conversations with arts administrators, cultural organizers, and residency program directors, I have been thinking about this question. Across The Rockefeller […]