callahan (at) ForTheArts.org
Suzanne Callahan, CFRE, founded Callahan Consulting for the Arts, LLC in 1996, to help artists, arts organizations and funders realize their vision through a range of services that includes strategic planning, resource development, program evaluation, philanthropic counsel, and meeting facilitation. Among the company's clients served nationally are Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, Urban Bush Women, Chicago Community Trust, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Washington Performing Arts Society. Callahan served as Senior Specialist for the Dance Program at the National Endowment for the Arts for nine years, where she was responsible for annual funding programs, reviewing over 6,000 applications and providing technical assistance to artists and arts organizations. Also while at the NEA, she received a Distinguished Service Award for her leadership as Chair to the agency's AIDS Working Group and for her efforts to address the issues of AIDS and health insurance for artists.

She has served as panelist or site visitor for the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation's US-Mexico Fund for Culture, The Pew Charitable Trusts' Dance Advance Program, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. A Certified Fund Raising Executive based in Washington, DC, she has spoken and published for many national and local arts organizations and funders including Dance/USA, the National Performance Network, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers and the Association Foundation Group. A former dancer and dance teacher, Callahan holds a Master's Degree in Dance Education from George Washington University, where she was awarded a graduate teaching fellowship, Professional Certification in Fundraising from George Washington University, and a Bachelor's Degree in Social Policy from Northwestern University. She completed post-graduate study in program evaluation and research methods at George Washington University.

barbara (at) ForTheArts.org
Barbara Russo received her BA with honors in Dance and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She currently dances in New York with the Next Stage Project. Barbara has performed the works of Antony Tudor, Donald McKayle, Bill T. Jones, David Dorfman, Trinette Singleton, Bebe Miller, and David Parsons. She has taught at Steps on Broadway, Dance New Amsterdam, Dance Innovations, Newbury School, Columbus Preschool, and Early Years. Barbara is also a grant writer for the Next Stage Project.