With over three decades of experience as an arts administrator, performer, higher education administrator, and author, I am a nationally recognized leader and sought-after speaker and advisor on best practices in arts administration and leadership.
My vision is to sustain the arts through robust inclusivity and diversity, superlative artistry, and innovative approaches to audience engagement and retention. My forthcoming book, Orchestrating Whiteness: Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, addresses the historical roots of systemic racism in classical music, and emerged from my experience performing and programming concerts, engaging donors, building audiences, and negotiating strategic community partnerships at four major American orchestras. I am a Chief Executive Global Fellow of National Arts Strategies, and a Dean’s Inclusive Teaching Fellow of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Houston.
As a leadership coach, I call upon my creative arts background to inspire and support leaders who envision meaningful personal and organizational impact and who seek to serve as change agents cultivating diverse and inclusive cultures.
My goal as a coach is to provide a powerful and safe space to encourage reflection, learning, and growth. I am an experienced and empathetic thought-partner; I provide unwavering support, guidance, and accountability as my clients progress toward their goals. Through honest conversation and respectful inquiry—and a dose of good humor—coaching provides an opportunity for my clients to gain new perspectives, embody their own, authentic leadership, and drive change. My client list includes small and large nonprofit organizations as well as individual employees, board members, artists, academics, and entrepreneurs—at every level of experience. In addition to leadership coaching, I provide expertise in strategic planning and execution, career planning and growth, social justice and equity, project/program development, resource acquisition, assessment, and accreditation.
I would love the opportunity to work with you!
“I can’t say enough good things about my experience working with Ayden as a leadership coach. Ayden is a lovely combination of no-nonsense clarity and compassionate, kind, and experienced counseling. I had an overall excellent experience at a very trying time during the COVID pandemic. Ayden was instrumental in helping me to gain perspective on the many challenges our company and I was facing. She became a partner in problem-solving under the trying conditions.”
– Christopher V. Edwards, Artistic Director, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Boston, MA
“Ayden was the perfect balance of focused listening, guidance, and encouragement. I knew I had two main areas I wanted to dive into, and she helped me to focus in on the most important parts of each. I can still remember a very clear ‘Aha!’ moment during one of our conversations about communication, control, and stress. It was a game changer! Ayden is thoughtful, knowledgeable, and generous with her time and I highly recommend coaching with her if you get the chance.”
-Anonymous, Celebrity Series of Boston
“My sessions with Ayden Adler were informative, enjoyable, validating, non-judgmental, and inspiring. Ayden provided the perfect balance of structured discussions and support while our discussions often organically pivoted during our sessions. I appreciated her warmth, extensive knowledge, generosity of spirit, all while staying organized and being extremely clear. I would encourage anyone working in the field of arts administration to take the opportunity to work with Ayden and learn how to become the best leader possible for their organization.”
–Lisabeth Miller, Founder and CEO, Harford Opera Theatre
