We see the world in different ways and strive to bring a multiplicity of perspectives to every project. WolfBrown is a cross-disciplinary team of full-time professional consultants with specialized skills and experience in program design, strategic planning, market research, evaluation, leadership development, pedagogy, and youth development. Read more about the current work of our team members, collaborators, fellows, Scholars-in-Residence, and interns.
Managing Principal
Alan Brown, Managing Principal of WolfBrown, is a leading researcher and management consultant in the arts and culture sector worldwide. His work focuses on understanding consumer demand for >>
Principal Researcher
Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf, Principal Researcher at WolfBrown, is one of the leading arts education researchers and evaluators in the United States. She holds a doctorate from Harvard >>
Principal
Dr. Thomas Wolf’s career spans over four decades and encompasses the fields of philanthropy, education, and the arts. He established the Cambridge office of WolfBrown in 1983 after >>
Principal
Joseph H. Kluger, a Principal of WolfBrown, has over 30 years of experience as an arts and culture executive and consultant in strategic planning, organizational collaboration, facilities development, >>
Principal and Director of Research for Youth & Families
Dr. Steven John Holochwost is Principal and Director of Research for Youth & Families at WolfBrown, where he works with programs designed to improve the lives of vulnerable children >>
Principal
Surale Phillips is a distinguished researcher who has guided countless organizations and agencies through research and consulting projects over the past 20 years. Her focus is applied research >>
Associate Principal
John Carnwath’s work at WolfBrown primarily focuses on arts funding, evaluation, and cultural policy. He recently developed a long-term plan to build capacity for evaluation and impact assessment among >>
Office Administrator and Bookkeeper
Claire Pavlik Purgus (part-time Office Administrator and Bookkeeper) is a multi-skilled, creative professional with 20+ years of experience in administration, program management, and communications in the nonprofit and higher education >>
Senior Consultant
Jane Culbert provides WolfBrown with expertise in comparative research and financial analysis. She earned her business acumen first-hand, managing the fiscal and related organizational strategies of three of Boston’s >>
Senior Consultant, Creative Opportunities
Kathleen Hill joined the Cambridge office of WolfBrown in 2021 to support clients in research, evaluation, and strategic planning efforts. She is a recent graduate from Carnegie Mellon >>
Director, Audience Research Program
Alan Kline has dedicated his career to helping arts and culture organizations better understand and build their audiences by reaching new visitors and deepening their relationship with current attendees. >>
Director of Communications and Field Learning
Annick Odom (she/her) joined WolfBrown in 2022. She oversees the firm’s various communications channels and supports field learning efforts to build the knowledge and capacity of arts leaders >>
Manager, Audience Research Program
Kacie Willis is a Detroit native with a BS in Music Recording Technology from Hampton University and MFA in Sound Design from Savannah College of Art and Design. >>
Associate for Research and Analysis
Abigale Franco is a researcher with a background in project development, data analysis, and community engagement. Previously, she worked in the startup and nonprofit worlds studying issues revolving >>
Office Manager
Rebbeca Eaddy oversees the day-to-day office management at WolfBrown. Prior to arriving at WolfBrown, she worked as the Vocal Music Teacher at John R. King Academic and Performing Arts Academy in >>
WolfBrown expands the effectiveness of its work on behalf of its clients by collaborating on a regular basis with researchers and consultants who bring special expertise and complementary perspectives. We are grateful to the following individuals for their substantive contributions to our work.
Salvador Acevedo, managing partner of Scansion, is a frequent collaborator with WolfBrown, most recently on a two-year portfolio evaluation of the California Arts Council’s grantmaking programs and processes. He has partnered with Alan Brown and John Carnwath on a range of other projects involving market research and planning work.
Salvador comments, “I am deeply interested in the commonalities that connect people and communities to their cultural identities. I apply these insights to develop strategies that are beyond multicultural—instead, they are truly intercultural. For over 20 years, I’ve been a consultant, executive, and researcher, helping to link the social capital of organizations with business opportunities for growth. Being bilingual and bicultural gives me the ability to more easily recognize the common ground for successful innovation solutions. Nothing beats that moment when I'm interviewing a person and their eyes light up because they have a brilliant answer to one of my questions. That moment usually drives the innovation process later on.”
Kate Anderson has served a Project Manager for the Philadelphia Lullaby Project and assisted with the REACH Lab since 2018. She assists with project evaluations, reports, and study proposals. Additionally, she has expanded and streamlined program manuals, data collection manuals, and assessment measures. She administer child assessments and code data in this role as well.
Henry Clapp joined the Cambridge office of WolfBrown in 2019 to support the research and evaluation projects of Dennie Palmer Wolf and Steven Holochwost. He most recently supported the firm as the Senior Associate for Research and Operations. He currently assists with a number of projects, specifically with data analysis and visualization.
Henry has held multiple positions working at the intersection of nonprofits, data, and the arts. Prior to joining WolfBrown, he was a data analyst at Blackbaud, where he worked on a fundraising performance analysis and a benchmarking product. He was also a research associate at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in Washington, DC, where he authored reports on state arts agency funding and operations.
Henry holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Economics from Swarthmore College. He is also an active choral singer in the Boston area, appearing regularly with the Choir of the Church of the Advent, the Boston Choral Ensemble, and Vox Futura.
Matthew Garcia joins WolfBrown to support the research and evaluation projects of Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf. Matthew is a Harvard senior studying Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Matthew is excited to apply his passions for research, advocacy, and music to projects at WolfBrown to help create a more inclusive and accessible arts field for all.
Hailed as an "Education Equalizer" by the TED Fellows, Matthew recently delivered a World-Stage TED talk on the power of virtual nonprofits to bring educational resources to underserved communities in arts and academia. He is a social innovator who has co-founded and serves on the Board of Directors for two 501(c)(3) nonprofits: Through the Staff and the Pre-College Research Institute. Through the Staff is a 325-staff member international nonprofit providing over $600,000 of free, virtual private lessons to underserved young musicians. The Pre-College Research Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the representation of BIPOC high school students in research.
Consultant, writer, and educator Allison Russo has dedicated her career to creating more ethical and effective arts learning spaces. She collaborates with WolfBrown as a music education expert to support the data collection and analysis of musical and social-emotional skill growth at the New Jersey Symphony with Dr. Steven Holochwost.
Allison has a BM from Ithaca College and an MM from Boston University, both in Music Education. As an elementary band teacher and nonprofit arts leader, Allison has designed and delivered music programming to thousands of students and teachers. She has presented at state and regional conferences, colleges, and public schools on topics including musically gifted education, trauma-informed care, and gender equity in jazz education.
Allison founded the arts education consultancy The Critical Good in 2021. She facilitates the creation of ground-up and equity-focused strategic plans for the arts departments of schools and nonprofits. She is also a graduate course facilitator for the Longy School of Music at Bard College and a freelance grant writer. She envisions a world where arts education is boundless, universally accessible, and joyful for all.
John Shibley has 35 years of experience leading complex organizational improvement efforts in a variety of industries, sectors, and settings. His practice focuses on the intersection of strategy, innovation, and organizational learning. He is a frequent collaborator with WolfBrown on a variety of research and consulting assignments that require systems thinking and innovative facilitation techniques.
For six years John was a lead consultant in the Doris Duke Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts, a year-long intervention to incubate strategic artistic innovations and deliver them to the public. He helped develop the program during his tenure as EmcArts’ Director of Organizational Learning.
Before working with nonprofit organizations, John enjoyed a 15-year career leading strategic organizational learning and Total Quality efforts in the for-profit sector. As the Manager of Training and Development at L.L.Bean, he helped engineer that company’s system wide change to Total Quality Management. He was the lead consultant for an eight-year project in strategic product development at Harley Davidson through the Center for Organizational Learning at the Sloan School of Management/MIT, one of the longest running projects of its kind in the world.
John was a founder of the Society for Organizational Learning and has published articles on systems dynamics, collaboration, and consulting practice. He enjoys mentoring emerging organizational development consultants.
Emma Terrell is an arts education researcher, evaluator, practitioner, and performer. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Rice University and a Master of Education from Harvard University. Emma’s work focuses on developing evaluation strategies to support the organization’s goals of improving culturally-sustaining educational experiences for children through the arts and storytelling. Emma has worked with various educational organizations within the arts, philanthropic, and entertainment industries, such as Carnegie Hall, the William Penn Foundation, and Mattel. She is thrilled to collaborate with WolfBrown, as she is drawn to the organization’s multifaceted approach to helping arts and cultural organizations create effective, relevant educational programs. In her free time, Emma teaches at the Community Music Center of Boston and the Cambridge Youth Gamelan Ensemble.
Stanford Thompson, a principal of Goldsmith Strategies, is a leading voice in arts education with a focus on promoting cultural equity and leading change for nonprofit organizations across the sector. He has collaborated with WolfBrown on strategic planning, program evaluation, and new venture development with the support of national institutional funders for a decade.
Stanford founded and led the internationally recognized Play On Philly organization. He served as the Founding Board Chairman of El Sistema USA and the National Instrumentalist Mentoring and Advancement Network. In those roles, he has led complex strategic planning and organizational design projects resulting in new ventures that better serve constituents. Additionally, he has helped dozens of nonprofit arts organizations evaluate the effectiveness of programming and identify solutions to deepen and broaden their impact. He works closely with the boards and staff of arts and cultural organizations, educational institutions, institutional funders, and national service organizations.
Stanford holds a faculty position with the Global Leaders Program. He serves on the boards of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, BalletX, and The Presser Foundation. He holds degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory.
WolfBrown is committed to cultivating young leaders in the arts research and evaluation fields through internships, fellowships, and Scholars-in-Residence. These voices have brought fresh, valuable perspective to different aspects of our work, including the design and implementation of our research.
Our work also involves the development of transparent processes that foster youth voice and participation through evidence gathering. We incorporate youth voices into the very design and implementation of our research, and we welcome inquiries from interested youth.
Marco Emilio Bruscoli is WolfBrown's Scholar-in-Residence, supporting new research activities and product development efforts for the opera, theatre, classical music, and presenting fields. His research has provided the foundation for a significant new focus on immersive experiences, positioning WolfBrown as a thought leader in this burgeoning new area of programming. Marco leads the writing for our specialty newsletter Immersed in the Future and is faculty on our series of seminars Making Sense of the Landscape of Immersive Experiences.
You can watch a recent presentation he gave in April 2023 about the past, present, and future of immersive experiences at the Blumenthal Performing Arts center.
Marco’s work with WolfBrown began in 2021 with an internship investigating digital, immersive, and virtual arts and entertainment projects. Prior to coming to WolfBrown, he completed a master’s degree in Performing Arts Management at Accademia Teatro alla Scala and Politecnico di Milano’s Graduate School of Business.
Haeun Moon is a student fellow. She conducts primary and secondary research in partnership with Carnegie Hall and the National Endowment for the Arts, studying the impact of the National Youth Orchestra programs.
Sumya Abida is a student fellow. She studies at the City University of New York. She has worked at City Lore Inc. offering administrative, management, coordinator, documentation support for arts education programming in NYC.
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