Announcement Article
Cherry Blossom Festival Announces New Leadership
Photo: Cherry Blossom officials Steve Jukes and Carolyn Crayton present Karen Lambert, center, with pink roses at the announcement of her appointment as the new President and CEO of the Cherry Blossom Festival and Executive Director of Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission.
Macon, GA – After a two-month executive search, Macon’s International Cherry Blossom Festival and Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission announced today that they have found their new executive leader. Effective October 5th, Karen Jordan Lambert will become President and CEO of the Festival and Executive Director of the Commission.
“We had several excellent candidates, but Karen Lambert was undoubtedly the very best,” said Steve Jukes, chair of the Festival’s Board of Directors. “She brings not only exceptional administrative and fundraising knowledge and experience, but also a thorough understanding of our community and a steadfast commitment to our goals that come from her lifelong affection for this city and its citizens.”
Macon Georgia’s International Cherry Blossom Festival has been a boost to the Central Georgia economy for the past 27 years. While the award-winning festival draws thousands of visitors from across the southeast and the nation to Macon, the Festival’s Board of Directors and Board of Trustees aspire to increase its draw of tourists from across the nation and maximize its economic benefit to the area.
“We wanted a dynamic and creative individual who could build on the Festival’s foundation of success while drawing broader support from the community and area businesses and achieving even higher attendance,” said Lee Robinson, Chair of the Cherry Blossom Festival 2010, “and that is what we have with Karen Lambert.”
At a press conference today, Festival Board Member and Founder Carolyn Crayton agreed with both Jukes’ and Robinson’s comments. “Karen has been extremely successful managing The Grand Opera House for a decade, bringing high-quality family programming and building strong community support for the performing arts. She knows how significant the success of these two civic organizations is to local businesses, the greater community and the families living and working here.”
Search Committee member Mark Stevens, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission, feels Lambert’s lifelong connection to Macon will deepen her commitment to the organizations and their goals. “She understands Macon and has a love for the community,” he said. “For her, the success of the Festival and the Commission will be more than a goal. It will represent her personal commitment to the businesses and families of Macon.”
For more than a decade, Lambert has been an administrator at The Grand Opera House, a performing arts center of Mercer University. As Executive Director, she has been responsible for developing ongoing financial support and growing audiences for the historic performing arts center in downtown Macon. Annually, she negotiates and books 60 shows and 85 performances. The opera house’s GrandKids Arts Education Program annually benefits 8,000 students from 92 schools in 16 counties and has served nearly 100,000 students over the past nine years.
Fundraising is one of her major responsibilities at Mercer. Lambert manages a $1.3 million operating budget, of which $225,000 is raised annually through program sponsorships and public and private grants and gifts. Working with local, state and federal foundations and agencies to achieve annual and long-range financial goals, she secured more than $885,000 for operations and special programs, including a $250,000 matching federal grant to complete the recent renovations to The Grand.
A Mercer University graduate, Lambert is active in the community and professional organizations. A member of the 1999 class of Leadership Macon, Lambert served on the Board of Directors of United Way from 2006 to 2009 and the Executive Committee, 2009. With memberships in the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, the Southern Arts Exchange and Macon Arts Alliance, she is a member of the Georgia Presenters Steering Committee of The Fox Theatre Institute.
“I have tremendous respect and admiration for the visionary leadership of these organizations,” said Lambert, a native Maconite. “I am honored to have this exceptional opportunity to serve my community through this leadership role. My goal is to enable the Festival and Commission to realize their full potential in serving Macon.”
The 2010 Festival is scheduled for March 19-28. Plans for the 10-day event are already underway. Information is available on the Cherry Blossom web site: www.cherryblossom.com.
The Oconee Institute, an affiliate of Myers McRae, provided consulting services for this executive search. More than 80 candidates from 15 states submitted applications for this leadership opportunity.
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