Stacie Sanders Evans

Arts for Learning Maryland

Stacie Sanders Evans, president and CEO of Arts for Learning Maryland, has led the organization from a $700,000 budget to $14 million — a period that included a recession and a global pandemic.

Under her leadership, Arts for Learning Maryland has become the largest arts-in-education partner in Maryland, serving students from early childhood through college and career readiness, including summer learning. Community outreach has grown by more than 600%, with particular focus on children in high-poverty areas. Evans restored the organization’s endowment, grew its cash reserve to the equivalent of 25% of its operating budget and completed a $3 million building capacity campaign. She reopened a community center in Northwest Baltimore that had been closed for years, now offering free afterschool and summer programs to children there. In the fall, Arts for Learning Maryland will open the Dream Academy, a Baltimore City charter school converting a public school into the first artist-integrated school in Maryland — the first charter operator approved in Baltimore City in a decade.

Earlier in her career, she led with what she called a color-blind approach — one she later recognized as harmful. “Strong leadership isn’t about neutrality — it’s about awareness, humility, and a commitment to creating environments where everyone’s experiences and voices are seen and valued,” she said. That realization led her to examine her own biases, participate in professional development programs focused on racial equity and bring training, coaching and technical assistance resources into the organization so managers and employees could understand how to lead in more equitable and inclusive ways.

Every other month, Evans spends 90 minutes with new employees throughout the year, helping them examine their own leadership and work practices, identify blind spots, biases and mindsets and address the ways those can hold them back from leading in ways that ensure Arts for Learning is a place where all people — especially those who have historically been marginalized — can be successful. Ten years ago, she partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies to create the Bloomberg Arts Internship in Baltimore, which provides college mentoring and first-time internships at cultural institutions to 50 rising high school seniors each year.

In her 50th year, Evans hiked the Salankay Pass in Peru at 15,000 feet of elevation, covering 50 miles over five days with her husband and children.

This is an honoree profile from The Daily Record’s Top 100 Women awards. Information for this profile was sourced from the honoree’s application for the award. The honoree profiles were written using an artificial intelligence program and supported by honoree nominations, applications and letters of recommendation. Each profile was reviewed, fact-checked and edited for accuracy by The Daily Record’s editorial staff.