Growth at the city's indie cinema: Two is better than one
Tacoma, WA – Several months ago we started our search to fill the newly created position of Assistant Executive Director for The Grand Cinema’s full-time staff team. Our applicant pool offered many exceptional candidates, and the skills of our top two runners were so impressive and distinct that we decided to hire them both – two is better than one, right?
We are happy to introduce Katy Evans and Wade Neal as our new Assistant Executive Directors. Their cumulative work will support and further The Grand’s mission to engage the community with film art. Specifically, these roles will allow for an expansion of efforts to better serve our membership base (now nearly 6,500 strong), and also to pursue strategic development plans and focused grant writing that will enable the theater to explore expanding its educational programs and breadth of community events. Katy and Wade will also help manage and oversee staff development and the day-to-day work of facility operations.
Both of our new staff are well established in the Tacoma community through their diverse experiences in the arts and local business. Katy is a Tacoma-area advocate and leader whose passion is encouraging cultural engagement among all citizens; Wade has lived in Tacoma for most of his life and holds deep ties to the film and music community, as well as to law and business circles.
Katy began her career in nonprofit leadership and fund development at the Museum of Glass where she managed first visitor services and then the grants management program. Since first moving to Tacoma in 1998, Katy has worked, volunteered, and collaborated with many local organizations and developments including Spaceworks Tacoma, Campus MLK, Tacoma Cash Mob, Exit 133, Shunpike Arts Leadership Lab, Hilltop Artists, Fulcrum Gallery, University of Puget Sound, Greater Metro Parks Foundation, W.W. Seymour Conservatory Foundation, and others. She is also the founder and managing editor of the local online arts and culture magazine Post Defiance, and most recently worked coordinating grants and annual giving at Metro Parks Tacoma.
Wade graduated from high school in Tacoma and has earned postsecondary accreditations from several local educational institutions. He comes to The Grand Cinema from the legal profession where he practiced law as a business, intellectual property and entertainment attorney. Along with a deep passion for film, and a decade of experience within the arts as a musician, Wade has a strong dedication to nonprofit causes. He currently serves as a Director on the Tacoma Community College Foundation Board and has provided legal and business assistance to many startups, visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians. Most significantly, Wade has a nuanced understanding of The Grand’s mission and operations through his time serving as a member of the cinema’s Board of Directors.
We are excited to welcome these two passionate and talented professionals to our newly expanded staff team, and we ask you to also welcome them to their new roles at the city’s only non-profit, indie theater.
More information about this history and mission of The Grand is available online at www.GrandCinema.com. The Grand’s Box Office is located at 606 S. Fawcett Ave, Tacoma 98402.