Meet Our Team
Shelley Brown
Executive Director
Since 2015, Shelley Brown has managed the administration of Dumbarton Arts & Education. In her thirty years of arts administration in the Washington, DC area, she has worked for two other non-profit organizations: The Kennedy Center and Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc.
For 12 years until 2015, Shelley served as the Vice President for Programming and Artistic Director for Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc., where she oversaw the planning and implementation of Strathmore presentations in the Music Center (1800 seats) and the Mansion at Strathmore. Her producing credits include: Free to Sing: The Story of The Story of the First African American Opera Company; Washington Area Timeline Concert Series; Tribute to Ella Jenkins concert for the Strathmore/Smithsonian Folkways DVD; The Celebration of the Piano; The Guitar Festival; and the 2012 Celebration of the American Violin. In recent years, Shelley has led concert hall programming nationally by connecting innovative concerts, experts, and students in thematic programs that have captured national attention. Examples include Strathmore’s 2010 Interpreting Stravinsky and 2011 Ives Project, which were broadcast nationally by WFMT and XM Sirius. In 2012, she developed and produced Strathmore’s acclaimed Discover Ellington Festival. In 2014, Shelley produced The Appetite Festival. She joined Strathmore in 1998, first as the Rental Coordinator, then was promoted to Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs.
Prior to Strathmore, Shelley was at the Kennedy Center from August 1988 to December 1997. Shelley was Festival Manager at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she oversaw the implementation of expanded international festival programming, including the 1994 Australian Festival, 1992 German Festival, 1998 Israeli Festival, and annual Japanese events. She devised the initial program concepts for the nightly free Millennium Stage Series, which she launched and booked. Shelley was also responsible for the programming and management of the Open House Arts Festival, the Kennedy Center's largest outreach project, and the Holiday Celebration. She began her career as a press agent at the Kennedy Center. She holds a B.A. from Connecticut College and an M.B.A. from George Washington University.