Cynthia Fuhrman Appointed Vice President, Executive Search at Tom O’Connor Consulting Group
Tom O’Connor, President of Tom O’Connor Consulting Group, LLC (“TOCG”), has announced that veteran arts leader Cynthia Fuhrman has been appointed Vice President, Executive Search following an extensive national search. Fuhrman, who is based in Portland, Oregon and is currently Managing Director of Portland Center Stage, will lead TOCG’s growing Executive Search practice, exclusively serving the national arts and culture sectors. She joins TOCG on March 21, 2022.
Tom O’Connor Consulting Group is a NYC-based consultancy that supports arts institutions and leaders with two parallel services: organizational strategy and executive search. Originally founded in 2015 with a focus on marketing and audience development, the firm has since expanded its services to include strategic planning and organizational development, and executive search engagements across all aspects of arts and culture administration. Fuhrman will lead the Executive Search team that includes Director of Search Operations & Community Jordan Sanford, in frequent collaboration with Senior Strategist Edie Demas. She will also be a valued thought partner to SVP Rani Haywood, who leads the firm’s Strategy and Consulting division.
Fuhrman has been the Managing Director of Portland Center Stage since 2017 following tenures as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Marketing and Public Relations. She was previously COO of eyescream interactive and held Marketing and Public Relations roles with Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Cynthia was part of the team that brought OSF to Portland, where they would eventually be established as Portland Center Stage. She serves on the Board of Theatre Communications Group, the Save Our Stages Steering Committee, and was a founding member of the national Professional Non-Profit Theatre Coalition, formed as the COVID pandemic descended to form a strong lobbying collective for support for the arts during the crisis and beyond.
“Cynthia’s experience in executive leadership, her longtime commitment to equity in the arts, and her national contributions to the advancement and resilience of our field make her the ideal person to join us and lead this division,” said O’Connor in a message to clients. “I have long admired Cynthia’s effectiveness, collegiality, and deep commitment to what the arts can do for and with communities–as well as her commitment to the community that exists among those who make their careers in the arts. She shares so many of our values and passions while bringing a wealth of new experiences and perspectives, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome her to our extraordinary team.”
“My belief in the impact of the arts and the unique role we play in deepening connections and impacting change is something I’ve carried throughout my career,” said Fuhrman. “Seeing how people have turned again and again to the arts to weather the isolation and frustrations of the pandemic, and how our sector responded in so many innovative ways to that need, inspired me anew to want to commit to strengthening our capacity to be both the solace providers and the change agents needed right now. Joining the Tom O’Connor Consulting Group gives me the chance to work with a fantastic group of strategists as we support our clients in their goals of building more equitable, responsive and sustainable organizations in service to their communities. I could not be more excited, and grateful for this moment of kismet.”
About Tom O’Connor Consulting Group
Tom O’Connor Consulting Group (TOCG) is a NYC-based consultancy that supports arts institutions and leaders with two parallel services: organizational strategy and executive search. Consulting specialties including marketing, strategy, assessment, and organizational development. Founded in 2015, TOCG is a fully remote company with team members spanning the country and the globe.
Select clients have included Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Carnegie Hall, Cincinnati Opera, Huntington Theatre Company, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, Next Chapter Podcasts, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and more.
About Cynthia Fuhrman
Cynthia Fuhrman has worked in arts administration for over 30 years, most recently as Managing Director at Portland Center Stage in Portland, Oregon, where she is based. Cynthia has served in staff leadership positions encompassing responsibilities in marketing, public relations, fundraising, finance, human resources, strategic planning, arts advocacy, and community engagement at several of the country’s largest theater companies, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Throughout her career she has served as an advisor and consultant to numerous other arts producing and service organizations (ranging from the Portland Area Theater Alliance to the Americans for the Arts) and has held board positions at Theater Communications Group (TCG), the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), Oregon’s Cultural Advocacy Coalition, and the national Professional Non-Profit Theatre Coalition. In two forays away from the arts world, Cynthia became COO at the launch of eyescream interactive, which within three years grew to be the largest digital advertising agency in the Northwest with a client base including Microsoft, Universal Studios, and Proctor & Gamble; and spent a year with the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development as Director of Communications, charged with the behavioral change challenge of converting the city’s residents to a new recycling program.
Cynthia has had the pleasure of presenting at numerous conferences and convenings over the years for TCG, the National Arts Marketing Project, and the Kennedy Center’s ASPIRE program, among others; and has been a guest lecturer in arts administration for the University of Portland, Willamette University, Oregon State University, and Portland State University. She was in the inaugural cohort of ArtEquity’s Facilitator Training Program and has served as a mentor in the LORT Equity committee’s professional development program. Cynthia attended the University of Oregon, Richmond College/the American University of London, and Southern Oregon University, and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Humanities.
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