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Jane Chu

On March 15, the Colin Powell School hosted Jane Chu, former Chair of the National Endowment of the Arts, for our 9th Annual Sternberg Family Lecture. This year’s talk, entitled “Leadership in Ambiguity: A Celebration of Immigrant Stories,” offered insight into Chu’s background in multiple cultures, having been born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and raised in Arkadelphia, Arkansas as the daughter of Chinese immigrants.

“Hearing stories of individuals who have immigrated to the United States has helped me to reflect on the characteristics, the attributes, of the type of leadership that rises to the top during times of ambiguity,” said Chu. Through a presentation of her artwork, Chu visually outlined her family’s experience with immigration and connected the lessons learned to leadership today.

Chu combines her academic research and professional practice in the arts, philanthropy, and business administration. In 2014, she was appointed to serve as the eleventh chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, completing her term in June 2018. During her four-year tenure, Chu traveled to 50 U.S. states and four countries, 200 communities, and made more than 400 site visits to meet with artists and arts leaders, government and civic leaders, philanthropists and the general public.

The NEA awarded $430 million over those four years to support the arts in 16,000 communities covering 50 states, U.S. jurisdictions, and in every congressional district. Chu is now a Leader-inResidence at the Colin Powell School.

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