2026 Plenary Speaker
Nataki Garrett
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Nataki Garrett is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ladder Leadership Inc., a global leadership development organization that supports visionary leaders in articulating and realizing transformative visions grounded in liberatory and values-aligned practices. She previously served as Co-Artistic Director of One Nation/One Project, a national initiative advancing the intersection of arts, public health, and community wellbeing. In 2020, she co-founded the Professional Non-Profit Theater Coalition (PNTC), a national advocacy body that organized nonprofit theatres across the United States to secure access to the $15 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant—the largest federal investment in the cultural sector in U.S. history.
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A 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient and 2022 United States Artists Fellow, Garrett’s leadership and artistic contributions have been recognized across the field. She made history as the first Executive Artistic Director and the sixth Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), becoming the first woman to lead the $44 million institution. She also served as Acting Artistic Director of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) and as Associate Dean of the CalArts School of Theatre, where she led the undergraduate acting program.
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Garrett currently chairs the Board of Directors of Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and serves on the board of Another Round Another Rally. A widely respected voice in arts leadership, she is frequently featured across major media platforms for her expertise in cultural strategy, equity, and organizational transformation.