Kimberly Motes

Kimberly Motes was appointed the Executive Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater in July 2023 and joined the organization in October. Previously, she spent nearly eight years as the Managing Director for the Tony Award winning Children’s Theatre Company (CTC), the nation’s largest and most acclaimed theatre dedicated to multi-generational audiences. She led all business aspects and revenue areas of the theatre as well as education, equity, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and board management. During her tenure, CTC produced 46 plays/musicals for the stage including 15 commissioned new works and six co-productions/transfers, increased contributed income, completed a $25 million capital campaign, and achieved the highest ticket sales in its history all during unprecedented and challenging times for CTC. Motes has held several leadership roles in the arts and higher education in Minnesota including Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement at the University of St. Thomas, Vice President of Institutional Advancement for the College of Saint Benedict, Managing Director at Theater Latté Da, and Executive Director at the Cowles Center for Music and the Performing Arts. Motes spent 13 years in Washington, DC where she was the Director of Development at Arena Stage. She also led adult arts education programming and a ballet training program with legendary ballerina Suzanne Farrell at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She has served on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Minnesota State Arts Board and spoken at many conferences. She earned her BA in music from the College of Saint Benedict. She served the Minneapolis community as a volunteer on several boards including the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable Board of Directors (chair of membership committee), the Meet Minneapolis Board of Directors, Theater Latte Da Board of Directors, the Minneapolis Downtown Council, the Minneapolis Downtown Neighborhood Association (chair and vice chair), and was a member of the Women Presidents Organization. She continues to facilitate a biweekly Zoom meeting for executive leaders of large producing theatres which she initiated at the start of the pandemic through Theatre Communications Group.