Andy Fife

Interim Senior Vice President

Seattle

800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 101-729
Seattle, WA 98104-3102
afife@ArtsConsulting.com
Tel (888) 234.4236 Ext. 233

Andy Fife (he/him/his) is an expert in strategy, leadership, and governance with 25 years of experience in founding and leading nonprofits and public programs in the arts and creative sector. Fife has an extensive background in executive leadership transitions and organizational design, finance, strategy, and governance, as well as in publishing, communications, and community relations.

Prior to joining ACG, Fife was the Owner and Principal Consultant of Fife Consulting, providing community engagement, interim management, executive search, strategic planning, leadership coaching, and assessment services to more than 45 nonprofits, government agencies, and small businesses specializing in the creative sector. In addition, Fife has extensive planning and policy experience, working as a Cultural Policy and Creative Industries Specialist for government and civic agencies in Seattle, King County, and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

“I have a real passion for boards, leadership, and decision making within cultural organizations. The future of democracy will eventually emerge at the very highest political levels, nationally and internationally throughout the globe. However, the actual mechanics of change and progress take place at a smaller and more local level, in the governance of beloved community organizations. How we choose to tell and shape and fund our shared stories and symbols is how we do everything else as well. I want to be there when it changes. I want to help. And I like working with others with the same impulses.”

“There is nothing better than working with a group of people with shared values to author a shared vision and use it to direct decisions on behalf of an organization and a community. There is a zone of collaboration and consensus that a group can enter, in which all the various voices combine together and a kind of harmony emerges. As a consultant, I don't necessarily prescribe to ‘right answers’ or ‘best practices.’ Instead, I look to help clients find that special harmony with their board, staff, programs, and/or community. Then I know they'll make the right decisions for them.”

As Publisher and CEO & President of City Arts Media in Seattle, Fife led the transformation of a free monthly print magazine into a digital media company and associated arts audience membership club. With City Arts, he worked with dozens of outside vendors, partners, and sponsors to produce 15 events and 12 print issues per year, delivering 50,000 copies per month to 950 locations throughout the Seattle area. Fife has also served as the Executive Director at Shunpike, one of Puget Sound's key regional arts service agencies, and as Interim Executive Director at The Vera Project, where he led the executive search process for the permanent director and temporarily managed finance, governance, and operations for the member-run all-ages music venue.

Fife has served as Advocacy Chair for the Washington State Arts Commission and as Board Chair and Treasurer for FEEST in Seattle. A Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional, Fife earned a bachelor of science in communications and performance studies from Northwestern University.

Fife's ACG client work includes:

Alaska State Council on the Arts
Artists Repertory Theatre
Austin Creative Alliance
City of Santa Monica
City Arts Media
Community Foundation of North Central Washington
Icicle Creek Center for the Arts
King County Creative
Northwest Film Forum
Oregon Ballet Theatre
Pratt Fine Arts Center
Seattle Office of Arts & Culture
Seattle Office of Film & Music
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
The Vera Project

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