Term expires February 15, 2024.
Erika Mallin was appointed Executive Director of The Aspen Institute Arts Program in July, 2018. Based in New York City, she leads the Institute’s programs to support and invigorate the role of arts and culture in public life through programs, strategic initiatives, and public and private convening. Most recently, she was previously Signature Theatre’s Executive Director for 10 years. Under her leadership, Signature became one of the country’s preeminent non-profit theatre companies. Mallin successfully led Signature’s expansion to the Frank Gehry-designed 75,000 square foot $70 million Pershing Square Signature Center. The Center is the city’s largest new theatre center built in nearly 50 years, and in 2014, Signature was the first New York City theatre company to win the Regional Theater Tony Award. Dedicated to making arts accessible to new and diverse audiences, Mallin piloted the City’s first-ever subsidized ticket program at Atlantic Theatre Company. At Signature she expanded the program, doubled the funding and analyzed the impact on attracting underserved audiences. To date, the program has served over one million people and has become a national model. Prior to her work in the arts, Mallin was a Special Assistant to the Mayor of the City of New York. During her tenure, she created the Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Program, which received the “Innovations in Government” Award by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Mallin sits on the Board of NYC & Co. She has guest lectured at Columbia, Yale, NYU, Pace, CUNY, Women in Real Estate, Urban Land Institute, and the American Institute of Architecture. She also advises and consults for national and international arts institutions. Mallin began her career as a journalist and received her M.A. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and B.A. from the University of Michigan.