Jerome and Camargo Foundations Appoint New President

 

Jerome Foundation (www.jeromefdn.org) and Camargo Foundation (www.camargofoundation.org) announce that Ben Cameron has been appointed President of both foundations, and will be working primarily in the US offices in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  Cameron is currently Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, in New York City, a role that he has held since 2006.  In that capacity, he has supervised grant programs focusing on organizations and artists in the theatre, contemporary dance, jazz, and presenting fields, as well as the ground-breaking Doris Duke Performing Artist Initiative that awards major grants to individual artists, dance companies, theatres, and presenters.  For more than eight years, he was Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for the American nonprofit professional theater community.

 

Cameron has also served as a Senior Program Officer at the Dayton Hudson Foundation and Manager of Community Relations at Target Stores.  He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Drama.

 

Cameron will begin his work as President of Jerome and Camargo Foundations on January 4, 2016.  He states, “Ever since my years in the Twin Cities in the 1990s, I have admired the extraordinary leadership of the Jerome Foundation, long one of the most important arts foundations in Minnesota and New York, and its incredible President, Cynthia Gehrig.  Her commitment to artists, her embrace of the Camargo Foundation, and her strategic abilities have been an inspiration.  Now, as artists face new challenges and opportunities in a changing world, this is a perfect moment to reflect and expand the impact Jerome and Camargo can have in the future.  I am deeply honored to be asked to follow in Cindy’s footsteps – as impossible a task as that might be – and look forward to returning to Minnesota.” 

 

Charlie Zelle, Chair of the Jerome and Camargo Boards of Directors and Trustees, states, “It is gratifying that a person of Ben Cameron’s distinction and experience will be taking the helm of the Jerome and Camargo Foundations.  His commitment to artists and his knowledge of national and international nonprofit organizations is a perfect fit.  We are thrilled and looking forward to welcoming him back to Minnesota.”