Suzan E. Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) and leadership coach, joins Cultural Catalysts as the first funder to appear on the show — and she wastes no time demystifying what a local arts agency actually does. From distributing the largest arts grant funding of any local agency in Maryland, to advocating with county legislators, to managing the complex ecosystem of individual donors, private foundations, state and federal dollars.

Suzan breaks down:

• How grant-making actually works, including the part most people miss: that funders also have to raise money, navigate politics, and work within real constraints
• The Montgomery County Cultural Plan, a years-long community-driven process built on seven modes of engagement, seven languages
• The guiding principle she carried from her childhood in the Caribbean: all of we is one

Find out more:

• Connect with Suzan:
  • LinkedIn
• Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County
  • Website
  • Facebook
• Open Sky Jazz
  • Website
  • Leadership Coaching
  • Email

Want to know more about the Impact Roadmap: The Art of Describing Your Impact? Get your copy today.

🔗 Connect with Alison:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

🌐 Find out more about McNeil Creative Enterprises.

Two-time Artios Award-winning casting director Erica A. Hart joins Cultural Catalysts to pull back the curtain on one of the most influential yet least visible roles in all of entertainment. She traces her path from growing up in Washington, DC, to stumbling into casting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts when a classmate needed someone to fill the last slot on a crew list, to spending seven years at ABC Primetime Casting and eventually going independent in 2020 with Hart Casting. She speaks candidly about the realities of entrepreneurship, the guilt of taking a vacation, and the emotional intelligence required to navigate rooms full of competing producers, directors, and studio execs — all trying to agree on one person out of hundreds, sometimes thousands of submissions.

Erica breaks down:

• How casting really works — describing herself as the "detective" of the industry, given a set of clues (the script and character breakdowns) and sent out to find the talent to bring a story to life.
• Why casting is fundamentally a buyer-and-seller relationship, and how the job shifts depending on budget and medium
• What she's actually looking for when she watches self-tapes: not someone trying to stand out, but someone grounded in a natural, truthful quality.
• How casting is a producer's job, and after 90-plus years, the Academy has finally started recognizing it as a category

Find out more:

• Connect with Erica:
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
• Hart Casting:
  • Website

Want to know more about the Impact Roadmap: The Art of Describing Your Impact? Get your copy today.

🔗 Connect with Alison:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

🌐 Find out more about McNeil Creative Enterprises.

Welcome back to Cultural Catalysts — the podcast that takes you behind the scenes with the people shaping culture. They are the creative visionaries working behind the scenes in arts and entertainment. The producers. The publicists. The dealmakers. The funders. The creative leaders. The people making things happen who don’t always get the spotlight. We’re back for Season 3 — and now, we’re on YouTube.

This season: what it really takes to build a career in the business of creativity.

Cultural Catalysts. Season 3.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe — and now, watch on YouTube.

Want to know more about the Impact Roadmap: The Art of Describing Your Impact? Get your copy today.

🔗 Connect with Alison:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

🌐 Find out more about McNeil Creative Enterprises.