Olga Garay

Olga Garay is the Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), a position she assumed on August 1, 2007. Reporting directly to the Mayor of Los Angeles and managing a $36-million budget in FY 09-10, the executive director is DCA’s chief administrative officer. Since her appointment with the City, DCA has been awarded $9.8 Million in funding support from private and public entities. These funds are being used to re-grant to LA-based artists and arts organizations, increase DCA programs, and refurbish its theaters and art centers. Prior to joining the City, Olga was an independent producer and performing arts consultant who worked with organizations such as the Lincoln Center Festival, the National Performance Network, and El Museo del Barrio. As Program Director for the Arts for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (1998-2005), Olga was responsible for the planning, design, management, and evaluation of the Arts Program, one of the largest national arts funders in the United States. She developed several major programs, including the Leadership Presenting Institutions and Mid-Sized Presenting Organizations Program and a Theatre Initiative created in collaboration with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that awarded more than $34.5 million and resulted in the creation of the acclaimed Under the Radar Festival in NYC. A total of $145 million was awarded to arts organizations during Olga’s seven year tenure. In 2006 she received a “Bessie,” the New York Dance and Performance Award and was named the Cuban Artists’ Fund Distinguished Honoree. She received the 2003 “Fan Taylor Distinguished Service Award” for exemplary service to the field of professional presenting from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.