Elena Forbes

Elena Forbes is an arts manager and fundraiser with specialized experience in managing seven-figure+ portfolios for arts, culture, and humanities nonprofits for over a decade. She is currently the Vice President of Advancement at the Workhouse Arts Center, a multidisciplinary community arts center located in Lorton, VA. In her role at the Workhouse, she oversees all institutional fundraising activities by building a robust and sustainable portfolio of support that encourages long-term mission impact for a growing organization. 
Prior to joining the Workhouse, she has held development positions with Joy of Motion Dance Center, The Ellington Fund, Folger Shakespeare Library, GALA Hispanic Theatre, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, and the DC Youth Orchestra Program. Elena’s passion remains firmly rooted in serving the breadth and depth of activity inherent to the arts, culture, and humanities sectors, and for exploring new ways to optimize strategic planning, evaluation, and infrastructure development processes for small- to mid-sized arts nonprofits.
She holds a MA in Arts Management from George Mason University (Class of 2016) and a BM in Instrumental Music Education from The Catholic University of America. Outside of her arts management life, she is a voracious reader, enjoys the eclectic culinary scene of the DMV region, and is a semi-competitive video gamer. 

Degrees

• MA, Arts Management, George Mason University
• BM, Instrumental Music Education, The Catholic University of America

Courses Taught

• Professional Development