The NASAA 2025 Executive Forum was a two-day event that strengthened state arts agency leadership teams and addressed critical issues and challenges facing our field. Discussion topics were developed with direct input from executive and deputy directors to ensure that sessions were timely and relevant to your roles.
Unless otherwise noted, all sessions occurred at the Embassy Suites Omaha.
| Tuesday, November 11 | |
| 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. |
New Executive Directors Roundtable This special preconference session is tailored to the needs of recent appointees. (By invitation only) |
| 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. | Executive Forum Opening Reception All forum attendees are invited to reconnect with colleagues and enjoy the cool grooves of a local jazz combo before heading out to dinner (on your own) in Omaha’s Old Market District. |
| Evening |
Dinner on your own |
| Wednesday, November 12 | |
| Morning |
Breakfast Fuel up for the day, or use this as informal networking time. Breakfast is included in your room fee. |
| 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Purpose + Power + Passion After initial welcomes, our opening session addresses the unique public purpose of state arts agencies, putting enduring questions in a current context. What is it that only state arts agencies can do? What powers do we hold, individually or collectively? And what helps us keep showing up for this work even during tough times? |
| 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch NASAA provides lunch on Wednesday and Thursday. No formal programming is planned, so you can continue your conversations with colleagues. |
| 1:15 –4:10 p.m. |
Peer Sessions Executive directors and deputies gather in their own groups to “talk shop” about current issues relevant to their leadership roles. Each group has the option to spend part of the afternoon in smaller affinity groups based on budget size, type of policy environment, etc. Each agenda includes issues that members have expressed a desire to discuss with their job-alike colleagues. Executive directors and deputies both plan to consider staffing and workplace dynamics. Deputies will cover a variety of additional management topics, including how new compliance requirements are affecting state arts agency grant making. Executive directors will discuss multiple aspects of today’s complex federal and state policy environments and how they affect agency authority, resources and relationships. |
| 4:15 – 5:00 p.m. |
Wednesday Wrap-Up We reunite to harvest reflections from peer sessions. |
| Evening | Dinner on your own |
| Thursday, November 13 | |
| Morning |
Breakfast (included in your room fee) |
| 9:00 – 9:20 a.m. | Reconvene We’ll gather briefly as a full group to set the stage for the day’s events. |
| 9:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | Topical Conversations This portion of the agenda offers the option to discuss specific topics relevant to strategic management, public policy, interagency partnerships and effective communications. Multiple topics are offered concurrently to provide participants with a range of choices. Issue areas are based on extensive state arts agency input. All sessions emphasize peer learning, illuminate a range of state arts agency experiences and generate creative solutions. |
| 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. |
Closing Session As we say farewell, we’ll harvest insights, flag key take-aways and celebrate connections that can fortify our work back home. |
| 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 2:45 – 5:00 p.m. |
Creative Excursions Enjoy an arts adventure! NASAA has arranged for tours of three world-class arts venues located in Omaha. Transportation will be provided. |
| Evening | Dinner on your own |
Thursday’s concurrent session topics were based on input harvested from executive directors and deputy directors during summer 2025. Sessions addressed an array of timely issues relating to strategic management, public policy, interagency partnerships and effective communications.
Scenario Planning for Uncertain Times
How can state arts agencies prepare for possible budget fluctuations as well as new developments in the policy realm? This session shared ways that state arts agencies are preparing for an unpredictable future.
Creative Adaptations to Resource Constraints
At what point does the old adage, “Do more with less,” become counterproductive? What about doing less with less? This session invited ideas for streamlining state arts agency operations and rightsizing responsibilities.
Beyond Grant Making
State arts agency budgets fall far short of the scale of support the arts sector needs. Considered from that angle, are grant investments the most impactful use of limited state arts agency resources? What nongrant services or strategic partnerships can state arts agencies offer that fulfill our public missions and meet the needs of communities?
Harnessing AI
How are state arts agencies using artificial intelligence (AI) for data analysis, grant making, documentation, virtual help desks or other functions? In what practical ways might AI assist agency staff? What cautions or concerns should inform your agency’s adoption of this technology?
Activating Change
As daunting as they may seem, times of upheaval can create opportunities for positive change. What old ways of doing business is it time to release? What new roles or opportunities may be emerging for state arts agencies or the arts in this moment?
Cultivating Advocacy Capacity
Not every state has an arts advocacy organization. What can citizen engagement look like in those states? How can state arts agencies foster greater advocacy capacity for the creative sector while still operating within their lobbying constraints?
The Case for the Arts in Limited Government
We’ve all heard the assertion that government should not fund the arts, or that the arts have no place within frugal state budgets. What messages and messengers are you finding to be most effective in responding to these challenges? Which arguments are working across the political spectrum, and which might backfire?
America 250
Many state arts agencies are supporting activities in 2026 to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. What’s your agency’s strategy for making the most of this occasion and telling the complex story of American democracy?
