Hello BAAY community,
As you may know, our organization is in a period of transition and growth on many levels. BAAY’s Artistic Director Olivia Theilemann is phasing out of this role to focus more fully on her job as a teacher at Blaine High School. When she shared her decision with our team, the Board of Directors felt it was a good moment to reevaluate BAAY’s leadership structure.
We adopted a shared leadership model back in 2021 to bring BAAY out of the pandemic in an inherently collaborative way. But it is clear we are now in a different moment and, after much reflection and discussion as a board and staff, we decide to reestablish the position of Executive Director.
With that decision made, the Board then voted to elevate BAAY’s Operations Director, Juliette Machado, to the role of Executive Director. Juliette is no stranger to anyone in the BAAY community, having worked at BAAY for the past 10 years in a variety of roles – as EduArts Program Coordinator, Marketing Director, and, of course, most recently as Operations Director and one-half of the post-pandemic leadership team.
Given her deep understanding of BAAY’s history, how it operates, and its current hopes and dreams, we feel confident in Juliette’s ability to continue leading the organization in a manner that is sustainable, collaborative, and joyful, and we were very pleased she agreed to accept this new level of responsibility.
Thank you to our community for supporting the work that BAAY does. We look forward to this next chapter!
Dan Brady
BAAY Board President