Nikki Kirk

Nikki Kirk is the Director of Community Investment at Indy Arts Council. Nikki has dedicated their career to arts leadership and management with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Nikki Kirk began their career as an Equity in Arts Leadership Program Manager at Americans for the Arts where they oversaw a leadership development portfolio for prospective, early, and mid-career arts leaders from backgrounds underrepresented in the arts and culture field. Nikki was also part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion thread of AFTA’s staff-led Learning Labs where they helped develop quarterly programs for staff development.

In 2019, Nikki Kirk became the School and Community Partnerships Associate at Center for Arts-Inspired Learning where they managed a creative arts center that hosted afterschool programming to support and engage students through the arts (K-5th). Nikki also developed and facilitated education projects and programming, both in schools, with community partners, and afterschool sites (PreK-12th).

In their current role as Director of Community Investment at Indy Arts Council, Nikki Kirk leads the organization’s grantmaking, outreach, and technical assistance programs that support the growth of vibrant arts communities across Central Indiana.

Nikki Kirk has a Master of Arts in Arts, Festival, and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University. Nikki also has a Graduate Course Work in Arts Administration from Boston University Metropolitan College. Nikki Kirk's Bachelor of Arts is in Political Linguistics, Spanish from Pitzer College. Nikki also studied abroad in Politics, German at Universität Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau. Nikki Kirk is certified from USF Corporate Training and Professional Education in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate. Nikki is also certified from CareerLearning in How to Fight the Racial Leadership Gap in Nonprofits. Nikki Kirk's certification from Coursera is in Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics. Finally, their certification from Case Western Reserve University is in Social Emotional Learning in Youth Programs.

Nikki Kirk reports to Ernest Disney-Britton, Vice President, Community Impact & Investment. They are on a team with and Zachary Patterson - Grants, Research, & Community Investment Coordinator.