Kayla Boye
BA in Professional Writing & Editing, Certified Nonprofit Professional (Nonprofit Leadership Alliance): Youngstown State University
Area(s) of Interest: TV/Film, Performing Arts, Theatre, Nonprofit Work, Entrepreneurship, PR/Marketing
What are 1-2 of your most significant academic/extracurricular/work experiences? During the COVID-19 pandemic, I served as Executive Director and Development Director of The Youngstown Playhouse, leading the 100 year-old organization through comprehensive restructuring and strategic planning while completing a capital campaign and sustaining the entirety of the operating budget via contributed revenue sources and alternative programming. Throughout COVID-19, I wrote and produced CALL ME ELIZABETH, a one-woman show about the early life of Elizabeth Taylor. The play premiered live in the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival after premiering as a film via Broadway On Demand and continues to tour internationally following sold-out engagements at Off Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Presentations of the piece have been awarded grants by Illinois Arts Council and Arts Midwest.
What is your ideal job/role in about 10 years? Creative Professional
What led you to enroll in the MSLCE program at Northwestern? With 15 years of experience as a creative professional, I closely identify with the intent of the MSCLE program to connect creativity with entrepreneurial strategy, resulting in a fusion of perspectives that can spark exciting innovation and inspire fresh approaches to collaboration. The MSLCE program has the potential to ensure the sustainability of the creative industries: As evidenced in national and local headlines, the creative industries are at an existential inflection point. Within the coming months and years, our collective creative economy stands to be reshaped in a very different image than its current form. I seek to be a resource for our community at this critical juncture by identifying solutions informed by business models of other industries and voices of diverse perspectives. As consumer preferences and societal conditions are rapidly evolving, it is vital for leaders to continue learning, envisioning, and advancing the creative industries into the future.
If you could donate one million dollars, which cause/organization would you choose to support? The Entertainment Community Fund
If you had to describe yourself in three words, they would be… Empathetic, Strategic, Optimistic
Where are you from? Chicago, IL, USA