Christine Chen
Senior Consultant
Arts & Culture
Education/ Youth
Philanthropy
Social Justice
American Museum of Natural History
Ford Foundation
Grail Family Services
Lawyers for Creative Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts
New York Theatre Ballet
Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir
Powerhouse Arts
Red Hook Community Center
Women’s Law Project
Meet Christine,
one of our Senior Consultants.
Christine Chen (she/her) brings over 20 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector, 12 of which were spent in senior leadership positions. She has deep competencies in quantitative data analysis, business strategy and execution, and, above all, an adaptive, creative spirit and a thirst to tackle seemingly impossible challenges.
Christine is a professional dancer turned nonprofit executive turned consultant. With her unique background in sociology, arts, and nonprofit leadership, Christine approaches every project with deep empathy, humility and respect for the unique individuals and organizations working towards a more just and equitable world. She is energized by the possibility of exploring and creating positive impact, value, and joy.
Christine is the former executive director of two premier arts nonprofits — STREB Inc., which she led through the pandemic, and American Repertory Ballet, which she led through a major artistic director change and the 2009 recession. She also worked as the Director of Strategic Programming for the 92nd Street Y, New York.
She currently serves on Princeton University’s Lewis Arts Center Advisory Council and has served as a grants panelist for NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Learn more about Christine in this La Piana Consulting staff interview.
🎓 Education
- University of California, Davis ‒ M.B.A.
- Ohio State University ‒ M.F.A., Dance
- Princeton University ‒ B.A., Sociology; Certificates (minors) in
Gender & Sexuality Studies (formerly Women’s Studies) and Theater & Dance - BoardSource ‒ Certificate of Nonprofit Board Consulting
✏️ Select Publications
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- New Leader Toolkit
- Navigating Succession Planning
- After the Restructure: Leading Through the Human Side of Budget Cuts
- The Future of the Performing Arts Depends on Strategic Partnerships – in Stanford Social Innovation Review, September 2026
- Reflections on the Downfall of Benefits Data Trust
- Learnings from the SustainED Cohort Launch: Creating a Community to Build Power
- Interview with Rainforest Alliance Founder Daniel Katz and Digital Fundraising Manager Camila Flanagan
“The practitioner in me enjoys getting my hands dirty — experiencing and engaging viscerally with the complexity of the on-the-ground details — while the manager in me relishes a wider lens of context, systems, and strategy. These complementary facets have helped me compassionately lead organizations through major disruptions.”