Emily K. Rafferty

Emily K. Rafferty, President Emerita of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), served for 40 years at the Museum as Chief of Institutional Advancement, Senior Vice President of External Affairs, and as President from 2005 to 2015. As President of The Met, she was the Museum’s Chief Administrative Officer, supervising a staff of 2,000 full- and part-time employees and volunteers. Ms. Rafferty’s global experience took her to some 50 countries on behalf of the Museum as she worked with government and private sector officials on initiatives involving funding, marketing, international art loans, legislative affairs, and cultural issues. Rafferty served also as a Board Member (2011-2017) and Chairwoman (2012-2016) of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and as a UNESCO Senior Adviser for Heritage Protection and Conservation (2015-2017). Rafferty has been Chairwoman of NYC & Company (the city’s official tourism and marketing organization) since 2008, is a Board Member of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum (2005-present) serving now as Vice Chairman, Board Member of PJT Partners (2015-present). Formerly an Advisory Board Member of the Bipartisan Congressional Commission for The American Museum of Women’s History in Washington, D.C. (May 2015-December 2016), she continues to serve as an Advisor to the Smithsonian for the advancement that project. As Principal of Emily K. Rafferty & Associates, she currently consults for several organizations, including Russell Reynolds Associates, serving as a Senior Advisor to the Firm in the Non-Profit Sector specifically in the Firm’s culture, philanthropy and Non-Profit Board Effectiveness Practice, and for The Shed, a performing arts center under construction at Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. Formerly a Member of the Advisory Committee for three years, she now serves on the Board of Carnegie Hall (October 2018-present). She is also a Board Member of Global Hope Coalitions, a Member of the Advisory Council of the American University of Beirut, a Member of the Advisory Board of The European Fine Arts Fair (TEFAF), and is a Member of the Economic Club and the Council on Foreign Relations. She also lectures widely on topics relating to non-profit and board management, fundraising and cultural heritage. The recipient of many awards and honors, Rafferty was named by Crain’s New York Business as one of New York City’s 100 most influential women from 2009 through 2013, and in Fall 2015 she was elected to its Hall of Fame. In 2012, she received New York University’s Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City, and in 2018, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. She has been a Member of Koç Holding Board of Directors since 2018.