Donna Walker-Kuhne is the founder of Walker International Communications Group (WICG), a boutique marketing, press and audience development consulting agency. Her team specializes in multicultural marketing, group sales, multicultural press and promotional events. They have over 75 years of experience executing successful marketing and audience development campaigns for Broadway productions and cultural arts organizations with sales over $22MM. Donna is acknowledged as the nation’s foremost expert in Audience Development by the Arts &Business Council and has devoted her professional career to increasing access to the arts.  Her company has developed a brand reputation among performing arts patrons of exposing them to high-quality productions and unique experiences in a way that exceeds audience members and clients’ expectations alike.the-power-of-building-audiences.

Donna Walker-Kuhne, one of the nation’s foremost experts in community engagement and audience development for arts and cultural organizations, has written a new book, Champions for the Arts: Successful Strategies for Engaging Dynamic Communities. While this book is targeted toward leaders of arts and cultural organizations, its lessons can be adapted and used by any nonprofit leader or business executive.

Walker-Kuhne begins by making a distinction between community engagement, which is focused on facilitating partnerships and engaging in a collaborative process with communities, and audience development, which is about creating promotional and sales opportunities. One is transactional – targeting a specific audience (or customer segment) for specific events (or products) in a specific place, while the other is transformational – meeting audiences (or customers) where they are and building a bridge that helps an organization (or business) foster a meaningful connection that extends well beyond its walls.

Both are necessary building blocks for an organization’s long-term sustainability, but community engagement takes time – it is centered around the lives, the needs, and the issues of the community rather than simply inviting a community into a space (or store or website). Walker-Kuhne notes that community engagement is complex and labor intensive requiring dedicated resources like time, funding, and a passionate staff who have solid listening skills, a commitment to engaging communities, and the ability to produce events and opportunities on a variety of levels, both large and small.

Currently her portfolio includes social justice initiatives and Equity Diversity Inclusion workshops. Her current clients include The Whitney Museum of Art, HARLEM WEEK, Harlem Stage and The Black Orchestral Network. She is currently Senior Advisor, Community Engagement at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center charged with developing and deepening relationships with targeted communities through partnerships and special events.