The Writer's Center's Director, Charles Jensen, Elected to Emerging Leader Council

Photo: Shyree Mezick

The Writer’s Center is pleased to announce that its Director, Charles Jensen, has been elected to the Emerging Leader Council of Americans for the Arts. He will serve a three-year term beginning January 1, 2010.

As a member the Council—the sole member representing the literary arts—Jensen will be part of a team that helps steer the development of new initiatives and opportunities for arts professionals nationwide. He will represent Montgomery County and D.C. area arts professionals and their organizations on a national level, serving as a liaison. In Montgomery County alone, more than 400 arts organizations (and 1200 plus individual artists) will gain from his participation on the Emerging Leader Council.

"What Charles Jensen brings to the Council is an emerging leader serving as the director of an established organization," says Mitch Menchaca, Director of Local Arts Agency Services at Americans for the Arts, "and he is a working artist, he sees with the perspective of the artist and the arts manager."

Now in its 10th year, the Emerging Leader Council is a nationwide body that assists Americans for the Arts in the promotion and development of emerging arts professionals. Of the Council and its new members, Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, says: “The Emerging Leader Council serves an important role in helping Americans for the Arts carry out one of its primary goals of strengthening an informed leadership. These seven new council members have each excelled at leadership within their own communities, and we are thrilled to welcome these bright and accomplished individuals to the national council.”

What is the Emerging Leader Council?
The Emerging Leader Council (ELC) is an elected advisory body to Americans for the Arts and assists in developing programs and resources to promote the growth, development, and sustenance of emerging arts professionals nationwide. ELC members are provided with singular professional development opportunities to engage in the field on the national level; build new and dynamic relationships with colleagues; learn firsthand about new programs, resources, and tools from Americans for the Arts; design and implement programs for their peers; and be recognized on the Americans for the Arts website.

About Americans for the Arts:
With 45 years of service, Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. It is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts by fostering an environment in which the arts can thrive and contribute to the creation of more livable communities; generating more public- and private-sector resources for the arts and arts education; and building individual appreciation of the value of the arts.