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KellyAnn Nelson (she/her), Director of Development for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, has spent the last two decades engaging both supporters and participants as an artistic, administrative, and educational leader. Embodying diverse roles that have ranged from conductor to fundraiser and educator to entrepreneur, Nelson has a reputation for responding to the needs of each community she serves with creativity and big ideas.
With a passion for collaboration and a demand for accessibility, KellyAnn has garnered local and national recognition by building programs that feature responsive organizational structures, compelling experiences, and large bases of both participation and support. Nelson’s career started in the classroom as an educator in choral music (Lakeshore Public Schools, Princeton Day School) and vocal jazz (Western Michigan University) before moving into arts nonprofit leadership roles with Princeton Girlchoir and the Cincinnati Youth Choir. Named as one of Cincinnati’s most impactful women in the arts, KellyAnn then spent a decade as both the Managing Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Boychoir and the Founding Director of the Young Professionals Choral Collective (YPCC), a ground-breaking community chorus with over 1,200 engaged 21-45 year-old singers.
After moving with her family to Washington, DC in 2019, KellyAnn’s work focus shifted fully to fundraising, serving as Associate Director of Development at Chorus America and Director of Donor Engagement at The Field School. While she spends her days crafting engagement strategies, curating mission-aligned donor partnerships, and parenting rockstars Zaiya and Coleman, KellyAnn keeps one foot firmly planted in the artistic world as a member of Berkshire Choral International’s Board of Trustees and as an arts consultant alongside her husband Christopher Eanes, Executive Director of Cathedral Choral Society. KellyAnn enjoys frequent opportunities to exchange ideas as a guest speaker, presenter, and clinician in forums as diverse as national conferences, the World Choir Games, corporate board rooms, and the TedX stage.
