Kassie Hilgert is President and CEO of ArtsQuest, one of the largest nonprofit arts organizations in Pennsylvania. Founded in 1984, ArtsQuest is dedicated to providing unparalleled access to the arts, as well as using arts and culture as key tools for economic development in the region. Each year, it presents over 4,000 concerts, art and educational programs, with 45 percent of this programming available to the community for free. The organization’s flagship program is Musikfest, a 10-day music festival presented by ArtsQuest each August. With over 500 concerts and one million attendees, the event is one of the largest free music festivals in the country. ArtsQuest also presents Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem, a holiday market that attracts nearly 90,000 visitors annually to Bethlehem, helping to support the region’s popular Christmas tourism program. In 1998 ArtsQuest transformed a banana distribution warehouse into the Banana Factory community arts center, featuring 34 artists’ studios, three galleries, a glass studio and art classrooms. In 2011, it opened the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, a performing arts center offering concerts, independent films, dance, comedy and more. The SteelStacks campus also includes the Levitt Pavilion, which offers 50 free concerts annually; Air Products Town Square, which includes the Highmark Health Community Stage; the Bethlehem Visitor Center presented by St. Luke’s University Health Network; and PNC Plaza, home to Christkindlmarkt presented by Univest, Oktoberfest presented by Yuengling and Musikfest’s main concert stage. Hilgert has been with ArtsQuest since 2008, starting as the organization’s Vice President of Advancement before being promoted to Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advancement in 2010. In her role as Senior Vice President, she was responsible for overseeing ArtsQuest’s sponsorship, marketing, development, ticketing, public relations and volunteer departments. Hilgert’s accomplishments with ArtsQuest include playing a key role in helping to raise funds for the development of the $26-million ArtsQuest Center and ArtsQuest’s programming at the SteelStacks arts and cultural campus, the development of strategic partnerships with area nonprofits and leading the development of the organization’s Strategic Plan by meeting with members of ArtsQuest’s boards, volunteer leadership, staff and the community to help shape the nonprofit’s direction and goals for the coming years. In July 2014, following a national search, Hilgert was unanimously selected by the Board of Trustees to be the organization’s second President & CEO. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Hilgert has extensive experience in marketing, development, corporate communications and community relations. Prior to her arrival at ArtsQuest, she served as Manager of Community Relations and Philanthropy at Air Products and Chemicals. She has also worked at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, where she was the nonprofit’s marketing manager, and began her career at Medstar Television. Hilgert serves on several nonprofit boards and committees in the region including Boy Scouts of America’s Minsi Trails Council’s Executive Board of Trustees; as Chair on the Discover Lehigh Valley’s Executive Board of Trustees; the Board of Directors for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation; and, on the PNC Regional Advisory Board. Hilgert also serves on the Eastern PA Girl Scouts Take the Lead Nominating Committee. She has also served on the Good Shepherd Board of Trustees where she chaired the Marketing Committee and the Children’s Home of Easton’s Board of Trustees.

Laura Stedenfeld is an artist and landscape architect, trained at Parsons School of Design. She is the founder of Omnes, a multi-faceted design studio practicing in landscape architecture, urban design, planning, and art. With an affinity toward urban landscapes, Laura designed and built her first public park in New York City by the age of twenty-five. Her work focuses on relational public space and creating tangible, beautiful, and relevant places through collaborative design. She has led significant civic and institutional master plans, and has a breadth of design experience in built parks, plazas, streetscapes, and campuses. Her work in Allentown includes the Art & Nature Landscape Development Framework Plan, an urban design framework for downtown; five subsequent phases of the ArtsWalk; and the design of the Riverwalk along the Lehigh River. Laura was a founding member and leader at Land Collective, and holds fourteen years of experience with bespoke studios such as OLIN, Thomas Balsley Associates, and Ohlhausen DuBois.

Becky Bradley has more than 20 years of experience in city, regional, economic development, historic preservation and transportation planning, including significant implementation experience in small town revitalization, roadway redesign and trail construction. She has been the Executive Director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) since August 2013 and is leading a $2.2 billion regional transportation planning program, as well as balancing the needs of the Lehigh Valley’s rapidly growing population through the LVPC’s county planning responsibilities. The LVPC in 2019 is drafting the region’s first ever bicycle and pedestrian masterplan and FutureLV: The Regional Plan, which is designed to serve as a blueprint carrying the region to 2045 and beyond. Prior to joining the LVPC, Bradley was the Director of Planning, Codes and Development at the City of Easton, where she was instrumental in the more than $500 million revitalization of the community, including the addition of the Lehigh Valley’s first sculpture trail, the state’s first road diet and the opening of more than 60 restaurants and shops. She holds a Bachelor of Science, Historic Preservation degree from Southeast Missouri State University and a Master of City Planning degree from University of Pennsylvania.

Wendy Rowden is the President of non-profit Building for the Arts NY, Inc. (formerly 42nd Street Development Corp.). BFA presents vibrant arts initiatives to communities and neighborhoods in New York and other U.S. cities, elevating people and places to serve their greatest purpose. Its two signature projects, Theatre Row and Music and the Brain, nurture emerging artists, audiences, and youth with a focus on accessibility and inclusion. Wendy comes to BFA with more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. Prior to joining BFA, she led Jonathan Rose Companies’ Investments where she was responsible for all aspects of the firm’s investment management business. Prior to Jonathan Rose Companies, Wendy served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of The Rockefeller Group, the U.S. Subsidiary of Mitsubishi Estate Co. Wendy is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (Governing Trustee, Chair of 2017 Global Awards Jury, and immediate past Global Chair of the Women’s Leadership Initiative). She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, where she chairs the Finance Committee, and the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation. Wendy is a past president of WX (Women Executives in Real Estate) and was the 2016 WX Woman of the Year. She is a former member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Cushman & Wakefield and has taught real estate development at Columbia Business School. Wendy is the recipient of numerous other industry awards, including Bisnow’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Real Estate,” United Way’s “Women United in Philanthropy Award,” and Real Estate Weekly’s Top 100 Women in Real Estate.” She holds degrees from Brown University, University of Michigan, and New York University.

Since 2011, Jane Heft has served as City Center Investment Corp's vice president, director of project design and corporate branding, leading the company’s branding, building design and integration. She has designed integrated solutions for organizations from nonprofits to Fortune 100s. Earning an international CLIO and more than 100 design awards, Jane most recently designed the identities for Allentown’s new PPL Center and Miller Symphony Hall, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL team, Bethlehem’s Steel Stacks complex, the ArtsQuest brand and the Civic Theatre of Allentown. Jane has led the CCIC design team to numerous awards for Allentown’s redevelopment projects, ABC Excellence & Eagle Awards, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Awards for Best Land Development & Recreational Projects, and the 2017-2018 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Global Excellence Award. She began her design career in the fashion and entertainment industries. In the mid-90s, Jane joined the Donaldson Group, a Connecticut-based industrial and communications design firm. Jane's portfolio of clients includes 3M, Pitney Bowes, Kodak, Hasbro/Milton Bradley, The Hartford, Danskin, NeoStrata Corp. and Johnson & Johnson luxury cosmetics. Jane is Chair of the Allentown Arts Commission, Board Member of the Allentown Symphony Association, The Civic Theatre of Allentown, the Small-Scale & Impact Development Product Council of ULI Philadelphia, and Placemaking Leadership Council for Project for Public Spaces.