Redefining the Donor Proposition

Development directors and staff, executive directors, youth orchestra directors, trustees, volunteers, and anyone seeking to learn more about the evolving needs of arts donors.

• $15 for members
• $25 for non-members

Michael L. Mael
Founding Partner, Advisory Board for the Arts

Before starting ABA, Michael Mael held leadership roles in three Washington, DC area performing arts organizations. Most recently, he was Executive Director of the Washington Ballet.

He spent ten years with the Washington National Opera, becoming Executive Director in July 2011 upon its affiliation with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Highlights of his tenure included: production of WNO’s first Ring Cycle, five consecutive years of meeting or exceeding financial targets, development of innovative marketing and community engagement programs including Opera in the Outfield, and creation of a new commissioning program.

He worked for nearly five years for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) as Vice President of the BSO at Strathmore where he was responsible for launching and managing all activities related to the BSO’s second home at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD.

He was involved in assessment and planning projects for the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic and was the first Director of Government Affairs for the American Symphony Orchestra League. Michael received his AB from Brown University and his MBA from Stanford University.

Pope Ward
Chief Research Officer, Advisory Board for the Arts

Pope Ward is Chief Research Officer, responsible for delivering research and other services that best serve Member needs. Prior to joining Advisory Board for the Arts, Pope served in a variety of research and product roles at organizations whose purpose was to learn from the collective intelligence of groups to advance the objectives of member organizations. Most recently, he co-founded and led research at Allium Health, which uses machine learning to help care providers identify non-medical factors that impact individual patient health. Before that, he was Senior Vice President of Product at CorpU, a digital learning company that designs distance-learning experiences worthy of senior executive audiences. In the past, Pope served as a Senior Adviser to the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget, where he led performance and efficiency efforts spanning multiple federal agencies. For twenty years, Pope held a variety of research and line roles at The Advisory Board Company and Corporate Executive Board (CEB). Pope was Executive Director and Chief Research Officer of one of CEB’s four divisions and chaired the firm’s Chief Research Officer Council.