Ben Cameron

Ben Cameron is the former Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in New York, and the current President of the Jerome Foundation. Dedicating his career to the accessibility of the arts Ben Cameron has first hand experience of the impact of creative grants and aims to bring awareness to the importance of live arts. As a speaker he offers over two decades of expertise and can inspire an audience from a creative background whilst educating others on the true value of the arts.

Spending a total of nine years as the Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has given Ben Cameron an unrivalled insight into the struggles of artists and arts organisations in the industry. During his time as the program director, Cameron was responsible for thirteen million dollars worth of grants and under his supervision, the foundation received the National Medal of the Arts from President Obama. Experienced across a range of arts including: theatre, presenting, modern and contemporary dance, Ben Cameron focused on three areas in order to ensure the grants were a success, these were commissioning, improving arts organisations and supporting national arts organisations.

As a leading authority in the funding of arts, Ben Cameron has held a number of other versatile roles in the industry. From acting as the Director of the National Endowment for the arts, to serving on the Tony Awards Nominating Committee for nine years, sitting as a panelist on the Live from the Metropolitan Opera Quiz, to being the Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group, his experience is vast and evident. A trusted front man of the arts industry, Ben Cameron is committed to raising funds and awareness for the creative outlets.

Currently, Cameron is the President of the Jerome Foundation, a role he took to in 2015. Ben Cameron’s belief in the advancement of investments into art at a local level is what drove him to the role and he has been ensuring the Minnesota based organisation focuses on this key principle. Determined to inspire and educate the next generation, Cameron is also a lecturer in Theatre Management and serves on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Council of Foundations. A former TEDx speaker, Ben Cameron offers a fascinating insight into the backbones of the arts in his keynote talks. Previous opportunities have seen him share a discussion on ‘Why the Live Arts Matter’ and he has also spoken at student events to inspire people to pursue their dreams and not be deterred by funding.