Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

by Laura Callanan, Jane Wei-Skillern, Amy O'Callaghan


The case study describes the work of Deborah Cullinan during her tenure as executive director of Intersection for the Arts and in her new role as executive director of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). The case begins as Cullinan is conducting a strategic refresh of YBCA, and deciding how to navigate an array of opportunities and challenges. Some of the challenges include staff fatigue resulting from a constant push for innovation under her predecessor; skepticism that the focus on the community will diminish artistic excellence; questions about Cullinan's ability to manage a large institution; changes to the Yerba Buena Gardens complex that may affect YBCA's tenancy and 14 percent of its revenue; a fraught environment in which artists and community members are being priced out of San Francisco by the influx of tech companies and their highly-paid workers, potentially altering the character of the city forever.

Learning Objectives


Provide an example of a case study of a leader in the social entrepreneurship arena, who has taken a new leadership role at an organization that is poised to scale.

Details

Pub Date: Sep 14, 2014

Discipline: Social Enterprise

Subjects: Economies of scale, Nonprofit organizations, Leadership, Social issues, Corporate social responsibility, Growth strategy

Product #: B5822-PDF-ENG

Industry: Arts administration

Geography: United States, California, Silicon Valley

Length: 24 page(s)


Berkeley Haas Case Series
Berkeley Haas Case Series The Berkeley Haas Case Series is a collection of business case studies written by faculty members at the Haas School of Business. Cases are conceived, developed, written, and published throughout the year, on subjects ranging from entrepreneurship and strategy to finance and marketing. Each case includes a teaching note for use in the classroom.

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Berkeley Haas Case Series

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The aim of the Berkeley Haas Case Series is to incite business innovation by clarifying disruptive trends and questioning the status quo.

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