Executive Director Ra Joy to Depart Arts Alliance Illinois in January

The Board of Directors of Arts Alliance Illinois today announced that Ra Joy, who has served as the organization's executive director since 2007, will step down in January 2016. The Board will undertake a nationwide search to find a qualified individual to take over leadership of the nonprofit arts advocacy and service organization.

Joy will become the executive director of CHANGE Illinois (Coalition for Honest and New Government Ethics), a statewide public policy and political reform coalition.

"We are grateful to Ra for the many contributions he has made toward elevating the arts and arts education in Illinois," said Kassie Davis, Chair of the Arts Alliance Illinois Board of Directors. "His accomplishments leading the Alliance have been immense, and indeed have laid a strong foundation from which our organization can become an even more powerful advocate for the arts and creative expression in our state. While we are sorry to see him depart the Alliance, we know that we will continue to work with Ra in his new role, as our mission and the mission of CHANGE Illinois are sympathetic."

During his tenure as Executive Director of Arts Alliance Illinois, Joy ushered in a new era of transformational growth for the state's most important arts advocacy coalition. Under his leadership, the Alliance forged new partnerships with public agencies and officials and launched statewide and citywide initiatives to strengthen the role of the arts in people's lives, schools, and communities. Joy's advocacy was instrumental in the development of the City of Chicago's cultural plan in 2012 and the Illinois State Board of Education's recent efforts to update and modernize the Illinois Learning Standards for Fine Arts.

"It has been an incredible privilege for me to work with passionate people who invest in making Illinois an even better place to live, work and celebrate artistic expression," said Joy. "In my new role at CHANGE, I am excited about building on these relationships and collaborating with artists, cultural leaders, and creative activists to promote equity in our democracy and make government more responsive to the people of Illinois."

Arts Alliance Illinois will conduct a national search for a permanent successor. An email has been established to accept inquiries about the search, interest in the position and/or advancing names of individuals who may be qualified EDsearch@artsalliance.org

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