President & CEO
MONDAY, MARCH 29 | 10 AM
In this episode, Chad Whittington, CAPA's President & CEO, Dr. Frederic Bertley, COSI's President & CEO, and Janet Chen, ProMusica's CEO, discuss their careers in nonprofit leadership.
View the President & CEO's Resource Guide
About Chad Whittington: Chad Whittington started his professional career at CAPA in 1998. Chad worked in operations and in the Accounting Department as a financial analyst until he was promoted to Controller in 2000. Chad was promoted to the position of Chief Financial Officer at CAPA in 2010. In 2014 Chad was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for CAPA. Chad was named as the President & CEO for CAPA in August 2017 after filling the role on an interim basis since October 2016.
In addition to his responsibilities for CAPA, Chad also serves as the Managing/Executive Director to partner cultural organizations including the McCoy Center for the Arts and Drexel Theatre. Chad has been a Tony Voter and member of the Broadway League since 2018. Chad is an honors graduate of The Ohio State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Chad was chosen as a recipient of the Columbus Business First Forty Under Forty Award in 2014. Chad serves as the Chair of the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium, is a Trustee on the Big Brothers Big Sisters Foundation Board, and is a non-Board advisor on the Columbus Metropolitan Club Finance Committee. He is married to wife Melinda, and they are the proud parents of Violet. Chad enjoys recreational aviation and spending time with his family.
About Dr. Frederic Bertley: Dr. Frederic Bertley is a scientist, scholar, and evangelist for innovating thinking. As President and CEO of COSI, he is shepherding the leading science center to its next iteration in a legacy of success. Prior to being President of COSI, Bertley was the SVP for Science and Education at The Franklin Institute, where he oversaw a portfolio of initiatives supporting innovation in STEM learning, the partnership with Science Leadership Academy, The Color of Science, and programs such as the Benjamin Franklin Awards Program.
After graduating from McGill University where he studied Physiology, Mathematics and the History of Science, and earned a Ph.D. in Immunology, Bertley worked internationally in preventative medicine and basic vaccines in Haiti, The Sudan, and the Canadian Arctic. He continued this focus by joining a vaccine research group at Harvard Medical School focusing on the development of DNA vaccines for HIV/AIDS. Dr. Bertley's background also includes collaboration on educational and science projects in Egypt, Paraguay, Senegal and the Caribbean.
Dr. Bertley has been an invited speaker at distinguished institutions including The United Nations, The White House, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has received honors, including: Honorary Doctorate from Otterbein University, Dell Inc. Inspire 100 World Changers, Harvard Medical School Dean's Service Award, Philadelphia Business Journal's 40 Under 40, Philadelphia Business Journal Minority Business Leader of The Year, the George Washington Carver Award, The President's Award (Merck), Citation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, CEO of the Year, and two Mid-Atlantic, National Academy of Television and Science EMMYS™.
About Janet Chen: Born in America and raised in Taiwan, Janet Chen has led an active and diverse career as a performing musician, arts administrator, and music educator. She holds both a bachelor's degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and a master's degree in flute performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts— a joint program of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and National Arts Strategies. In 2019, Janet was named Chief Executive Officer of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, having previously led the organization as Executive Director since 2006. In 2018, she was one of ten members representing Columbus at the Young American Leaders Program at the Harvard Business School. She has been selected as one of Columbus Business First's "Forty Under 40," and one of "19 Non-Profit Innovators" by CityPulse Columbus. Janet has been featured in Columbus CEO Magazine, The Columbus Dispatch, and is a selected artist as part of Columbus, Ohio's "Art Makes Columbus" marketing campaign. Most recently, she was named a 2021 honoree by the Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD). In 2018 she was recognized as a YWCA Columbus Woman of Achievement and honored by Business First as one of the "Most Admired Executives in Central Ohio." Janet serves on the Board of the Columbus Music Commission and is a member of the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium.
Prior to joining ProMusica, Janet served as Assistant Principal Flute with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra in Taipei, Taiwan, and appeared as guest soloist several times performing Nielsen's Flute Concerto and Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp. Janet also spent two summers as a flute instructor at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan, where she coached and taught students who attended the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp.
