Jillian H. Poole
Arlington, Virginia

A Cash Donation in honor of Jillian H. Poole will be donated to The Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe.  The Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe is a non-profit organization founded in 1991. It provides assistance upon request and without compensation to selected arts and cultural institutions in Central and Eastern Europe to support their efforts to adjust to a free-market economy. For more information log on to www.fundforartsandculture.org.

• Nominator: Hugh Southern, friend and volunteer associate
• Category: Non Governmental Organization

Global Understanding

Poole believes that vibrant cultural institutions are crucial to the well-being of civil society and communities, and her efforts have nurtured these institutions in Eastern Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union. Her efforts have nurtured, and, in many cases, saved art communities and organizations in these countries.

In 1991, Poole founded The Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe (The Fund), a non-profit international foundation which provides assistance to international arts and cultural institutions to support their effort to adjust to the free-market economy.

• “Poole raised the necessary funds, found outstanding experts in all the arts fields and arranged often complex travel to many places with tact, skill and endless patience and made endless friends in many countries,” writes John C. Whitehead, chairman of World Trade Center Foundation, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and former chairman of the United Nations Association.

• Described by Blair A. Ruble, Director of the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center, “Jillian (Poole) is a force of nature.” 

Commitment & Impact

The Fund has served in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, Armenia, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mongolia, Republic of George, Serbia, Montenegro and the Baltic countries. Poole has worked extensively with their cultural institutions. Poole – an active teacher, mentor to the arts community, and manager of international field work – also serves The Fund as a volunteer. Becoming more than a foreign advisor, she is a trusted friend and welcomed colleague.

Background

An experienced art professional, fluent in three languages, Poole’s commitment as a leader and mentor are legendary. Poole is both the architect and the builder of the fundraising programs for the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and America’s National Cultural Center – including a multi-million dollar endowment from Japanese corporations. Prior to her two decades of service to the Kennedy Center, she held a similar position at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and was adjunct professor of Art Management for more than 16 years in the graduate school at American University in Washington, D.C. Currently, she is the CEO of The Fund and a consultant in institutional development and management. Poole authored several books such as “Managing for Money: A Handbook for International Cultural Institutions” (1991), which has been translated into seven languages.