Amy Wheeler

SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Amy Wheeler is a dynamic leader with 25+ years of experience in the arts nonprofit sector. Amy is known for innovating mission-centric programs and events that inspire charitable giving, creating robust new revenue streams, and bringing boards and staff into strategic alignment. With curiosity, empathy and a sense of play, Amy enjoys supporting organizations through challenging transitions. She is deeply committed to the work of equity and inclusion, creating intentional space and opportunities for people who have historically been marginalized.

Amy served as Executive Director of Hedgebrook for 13 years, the premiere nonprofit artist residency supporting female-identified writers based on Whidbey Island, WA. Under her leadership, Hedgebrook evolved from a private foundation to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a national board, global alumnae community, and influential advisory council chaired by Gloria Steinem. Hedgebrook was recognized by the Seattle Mayor’s Office for Innovation in the Arts, and by the Humanitas Foundation in Los Angeles for supporting women in film and television.

A lifelong theatre artist, Amy is a nationally produced and published playwright with an MFA from the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts. As writing teacher, Amy has mentored hundreds of writers, collaborated with women who are incarcerated and young people who are living at risk. In 2022 she founded Play Club, a book club for theatre goers and students that’s quickly grown to a national membership.
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A fun fact: Amy’s first ventures into nonprofit work began in Development in New York: at the New York Philharmonic, where she got to see Leonard Bernstein conduct; and the Paul Taylor Dance Company, where she’d slip across the hall to watch Paul choreograph new dances.

AMY'S RESUME >