AAGA Spring Speaker: Ben Cameron
By Sarah Ellison
On Thursday, May 29, the Drexel Arts Administration Graduate Student Association (AAGA) hosted Ben Cameron in a public presentation on Engaging the Next Generation of Leaders.
Cameron is the Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in New York City. He is also a former theater professional, and a frequent public speaker and arts activist.
In his talk, Cameron spoke about the need for emerging leaders to buy in to the organization’s goals for its future. Emerging leaders, he said, want to be more than just stewards of the organizations built by those before them.. They want to bring their own vision to the organization, and to help that organization change and grow.
He also spoke about burnout - a significant problem in the nonprofit world of too little funding, too few staff members, and too little time. One of his quotes on the subject stuck in my mind: “Burnout isn’t from hours on the clock. It’s from disconnect with core values.” The importance of core values was one point that Cameron kept returning to (those of us who have taken Professor Fitzgibbon’s classes have heard about this somewhere before...).
I will not go into too many details here. For those who missed the presentation - or those who just want to hear it again - the podcast is available online by clicking the link to the right.
Sarah Ellison is the Editor of Artsline, and a graduate student in Drexel’s Arts Administration program.