Tony F. Sias

Tony F. Sias is the President & CEO at Karamu House. Prior to that, they served as the Director of the Department of Arts Education for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District from January 2006 to December 2015. In that role, Tony led and coached the arts education team of administrators, teachers and consultants in best practices for arts education and integration, effective leadership, strategic planning and maximizing community resources. Tony was also responsible for district-wide visual and performing arts programming, including budgeting, operations, strategic planning, program execution and evaluation, stakeholder relationships, branding, marketing, fundraising, staff development and performance appraisal for district wide and arts specialty school programming.

During their time with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Tony accomplished a great deal in terms of supporting and promoting arts education. Tony garnered over $1million of support from the Human Fund foundation for arts education programming, developed and maintained financial oversight and management of a $2 million budget, produced and implemented the 2008-2013 Department of Arts Education strategic plan A Premier Future: Unifying Students, Teachers and the Community for Success In and Through the Arts, and produced and co-directed the All-City Musical in partnership with the Great Lakes Theater, Playhouse Square Center and The Musical Theater Project. Additionally, they produced the All-City Arts Rock Your World with STEAM Family Festival in partnership with The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Great Lakes Science Center, which showcased over 2,000 students’ academic and arts achievements.

Tony also made significant contributions in terms of curriculum development for the All-City Arts program, a project

Tony F. Sias earned a BS in Dramatic Art from Jackson State University. Tony then went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Theatre/Acting from Ohio University. Most recently, they completed the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program at Harvard Business School.

Some direct reports include Aseelah Shareef - VP & COO, Rockell S. Churby Llanos - Administrative Manager, and Prophet Seay - Interim Technical Director.