Erika Mallin was appointed by Governor Hochul to lead New York State Council on the Arts in January 2024. Previously she served as the Executive Director of the Arts Program at the Aspen Institute, a global policy non-profit where she convened some of the most iconic cultural leaders of our time. 

Prior to the Institute, she was the Executive Director of the New York City Tony Award® winning Signature Theatre Company, where she worked with both established and emerging playwrights and creatives. She also led Signature’s $70 million expansion and created one of the nation’s first subsidized ticket program to make theater affordable. During her tenure, the program served over 1 million people. Mallin has held positions at Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theatre Company, and at the New York City’s Mayor’s Office. 

Traci Lester is a nonprofit leader whose career has been devoted to supporting and uplifting diverse voices and communities across the country. She is the President and CEO of The Opportunity Agenda, a pioneer in using values-based communications, cultural engagement, and strategic collaborations to advance social justice. She has held other executive roles, including Executive Director of The Center for Fiction, a literary arts organization; Executive Director of National Dance Institute (NDI), an arts education organization; and Executive Director of Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, an early literacy and school readiness program. Most recently, she was a program consultant to the Hawthornden Foundation.

The mission of the New York State Council on the Arts is to foster and advance the full breadth of New York State’s arts, culture, and creativity for all. To support the ongoing recovery of the arts across New York State, the Council on the Arts will award $161 million in FY 2026, serving organizations and artists across all 10 state regions. The Council on the Arts further advances New York’s creative culture by convening leaders in the field and providing organizational and professional development opportunities and informational resources. Created by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1960 and continued with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Council is an agency that is part of the Executive Branch. For more information on NYSCA, please visit www.arts.ny.gov, and follow NYSCA’s Facebook page, on X, formerly known as Twitter, @NYSCArts and Instagram @NYSCouncilontheArts.

The mission of El Museo del Barrio is to present and preserve the art and culture of Puerto Ricans and all Latin Americans in the United States. Through its extensive collections, varied exhibitions and publications, bilingual public programs, educational activities, festivals and special events, El Museo educates its diverse public in the richness of Caribbean and Latin American arts and cultural history. By introducing young people to this cultural heritage, El Museo is creating the next generation of museum-goers, while satisfying the growing interest in Caribbean and Latin American art of a broad national and international audience.