LitNYS Special Session: Wade in the Water
A Capacity Building Workshop to Navigate Challenging Times
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
10:00am-12:00pm (via zoom)
Free with Registration Required
Presented by LitNYS Colleague: Lisa Willis
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ABOUT LISA WILLIS
Lisa Willis is the Executive Director of Cave Canem, a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to cultivate the artistic and professional growth of Black poets.
A creative space maker with over 20 years of experience managing multi-disciplinary projects in both the non-profit and commercial arts, she has held diverse consulting and management roles in development, programming, and operations for numerous organizations and artistic projects, including New York Live Arts, home of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company.
Before transitioning to the nonprofit sector, Lisa was the founding administrative manager for Columbia Artist Music (CAMI Music), a leading international performing arts company specializing in artist management, touring, and global event production. During her time there, she established administrative protocols and oversaw logistics for prominent artists, including Lang Lang, Tan Dun, Savion Glover, American Ballet Theatre, and others involved in international film, diplomatic, and special events. Notably, she provided project management support for artists performing in the annual Nobel Prize Concert, the World Economic Forum opening performance in Davos, and coordinated details for the key musical transition in the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2007, she coordinated Lang Lang’s memorial performance for Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, commissioned and planned alongside the office of King Charles III, formerly known as The Prince of Wales. She also managed artist sponsorships for Adidas, AUDI, and Montblanc events, including the 2010 benefit for UNICEF at Carnegie Hall featuring Wyclef, Lang Lang, and artists of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.
Lisa’s prior experience in the arts directly informs her current work and advocacy in the Black literary landscape for the conditions that foster creativity and cultural preservation, of which she actively expands the research informing cultural and social progress. This includes her role as co-Principal Investigator on the Magnitude and Bond: A Field Study on Black Literary Arts Service Organizations, which examines the organizational needs, strategies, and models enabling Black literary organizations in the United States to thrive despite adverse socioeconomic conditions.