Accreditation:
OVERVIEW
The Global Leaders Institute prepares arts professionals to grow dynamic organizations that make a difference in the world. Through an innovative twelve-month Executive Graduate Certificate led in partnership with nine top universities and think tanks; a world-class faculty that includes Nobel laureates, Grammy winners, Polar Prize awardees, and TED presenters; and a network of institutional fieldwork hosts spanning 40+ nations — the program is offered annually to an executive Cohort of 70 arts leaders from around the globe.
ACADEMIC INFORMATION
For more information about the course offerings that build the GLI experience, as well as for information about academic procedures, Cohort Members click on the links below.
Academic Calendar Semester One
12-month MBA offered to a global Cohort of dynamic arts professionals.
The Global Leaders Program equips arts entrepreneurs to succeed in today’s complex world through its practical problem-based frameworks, tools, experiences, and methodologies curated by a unique blend of world-class academic institutions, faculty, practitioners, mentors, and coaches. The MBA journey empowers participants to effectively navigate the evolving landscape of the cultural sector with its unique balance of foundational coursework, tailored substreams, immersive field assignments, applied learnings, case studies, reflective labs, and growth-oriented retreats to foster practical skills and actionable insights.
The GLP’s MBA curriculum is tailored to the needs of arts professionals in multi-dimensional roles seeking social science-based, creative, entrepreneurial, and operational tools for enhanced impact and leadership. Cohort Members range from creative industry managers, entrepreneurs, and executives to concert presenters, producers, education leaders, teaching artists, and performers. The MBA’s practical problem-based methodology reflects the busy lives of arts professionals. Customizable substreams and individually tailored Field Assignments immersed within a diverse network of global partner organizations foster the realization of targeted professional goals.
Learning objectives for Cohort Members include cultivation of the following capacities
Cristina Vollmer Burelli, a Venezuelan-American social entrepreneur, is the founder and executive director of V5Initiative, a non-profit that leads and supports broad initiatives that promote better and more informed policy making and governance at the national and international level. V5 Initiative promotes and empowers the involvement of individuals, NGO’s and the private sector in matters of public policy through the dissemination of information that will raise awareness and invite action. She matriculated at Queens’ College, Cambridge in 1981 and read for an MA in Social Anthropology.
Previously, as executive director of Alliance for the Family between 2002 and 2014, she successfully took a visionary idea – a K-12 story-based universal values curriculum “Aprendiendo a Querer” – and transformed it into a sustainable, robust curriculum in 3 languages (Spanish, English and Portuguese) as well as an English version for Africa, that has touched an estimated 500,000 children and teenagers in 16 countries, including Cuba where she managed a large scale, complex project involving tens of thousands of Cuban students and families in various provinces including Havana.
Before moving to the US in 2000, Cristina was living in her native country, Venezuela, where she was a trustee of the Alberto Vollmer Foundation, The British School and El Museo de los Niños, one of the largest and most admired children’s museums in Latin America. For the last 20 years, Cristina has been deeply involved in various non-profits in the US that are mainly focused on education and youth, serving on the board of directors of Cambridge in America, The Orchestra of the Americas, founding co-chair of the Global Leaders Program, Families of Character, National Fatherhood Initiative and the Washington Studies Group. The common thread in her work in all these organizations has been her passion for education and the promotion of universal values through different means including classical music.
For the past two years, Cristina has been focused on the humanitarian and environmental crisis in Venezuela. She is the international liaison for advocacy group www.SOSOrinoco.org
She has spoken and written on topics close to her heart such as the challenges and urgent needs for educating in democratic values and empowering the young by inspiring noble purpose through character and entrepreneurship, as well as the environmental devastation in Venezuela.
Toufic Maatouk, is one of the most compelling conductors of his generation. In the 2012 season, Maatouk began his tenure as Artistic Director of the Beirut Chants Festival in Lebanon. He is also Guest Conductor of the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013 and a Guest Conductor of the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra Orchestra since 2017. Maatouk was appointed Artistic Director and Choir Master of the Antonine University Choir, in August 2005 and Head of the vocal department in the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music since October 2015.
He holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from the Istituto Pontificio di Musica Sacra (Pims) in Rome where he conducted and published different studies on the Syro-Maronite chants. He is knighted by the President of the Italian Republic as “Cavaliere dell’Ordine Della Stella d’Italia” and been nominated by the Peace and Prosperity Trust (UK) as Artistic adviser to the Trust.
As a chief conductor, Toufic Maatouk has led the Antonine University choir for more than 14 years. He collaborated with several orchestras and festivals including Orchestra di San Carlo (Napoli), Orchestra Giovanile Mediterranea (Palermo), Orchestra Roma sinfonietta (Rome), New England symphonic ensemble (New York), Orchestra Los Angeles sinfonietta (Los Angeles), Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra (Russia), Kyiv symphony orchestra (Ukraine)… Al-Bustan International Festival, Baalbeck International Festival, Byblos International Festival (Lebanon), Festival d’île de France (Paris), Carnegie Hall (New York), Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (Roma), Teatro di San Carlo (Napoli), Académie de l’Opéra de Paris, Festival d’Aix en Provence (France), Romanian Radio (Bucharest), Al-Ain International music festival (UEA), Bahrain International Music Festival (Bahrain). He has been invited as a jury member to several prestigious competition as the Ottavio Ziino competition, Voce Verdiane international competition, and the Biennale des Cordes.
While he pursued his studies, Maatouk worked as a vocal coach and at the National Conservatory of Beirut (Lebanon), he was musical assistant conductor at Teatro di San Carlo (Napoli) for different productions. As Founder of the Opera Studio of the Antonine University and the Lebanese National Conservatory, he conducted different productions such as Donizetti’s Elisir d’amore, Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia, Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte.
He collaborates with different Orchestras such as the: Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra (Lebanon), Orchestra di San Carlo (Napoli), Orchestra Giovanile Mediterranea (Palermo), Orchestra Roma sinfonietta (Rome), New England symphonic ensemble (New York), Orchestra Los Angeles sinfonietta (Los Angeles), Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra (Russia), Kyiv symphony orchestra (Ukraine), Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra (Bucharest)… He collaborated with different world-renowned artists such: Maria Agresta, Jessica Pratt, Joyce El Khoury, Daniela Barcellona, Carmen Giannatasio, Laura Giordano, Maria Grazia Schiavo, Paolo Fanale, Giorgio Berrugi, Krzysztof Baczyk, Mirco Palazzi, Seong-Jin Cho, Dmitry Masleev, Eric Le Sage, Xavier De Maistres, Faycal Karaoui, Gabriele Ferro, Francesca Dego, Modigliani Quartet, Kodaly Quartet, Boris Andrianov, Alexander Ghindin, Caterina Di Tonno, Rosa Bove, Leonardo Cortellazzi, and others.
On the academic level, Maatouk published different articles and books in international musicology journals. On his list, are more than 13 recordings with the Antonine University chorus.
- Doctoral student at McGill University's Schulich School of Music
- Ten years' experience in arts marketing, development, digital content, and music production
- Professional Flutist/Piccoloist
- Cohort member of the 2018 Global Leaders Program
- Music educator at L'École FACE, Montreal
Professor Brydie-Leigh Bartleet is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the Creative Arts Research Institute, Griffith University (Australia). She is a dynamic research leader, award-winning educator, and arts sector advocate. Over the past 20 years, her work has advanced our understanding of the cultural, social, economic, and educational benefits of music and the arts in First Nations’ Communities, prisons, war affected cities, educational and industry contexts. Her research is known for its innovation, interdisciplinarity, and commitment to cross-sector partnerships, and has connected music research and practice with areas as diverse as social inequality, regional development, criminology and corrections, health equity, and human rights. She has worked on seven nationally competitive grants, seven research consultancies with leading arts and social sector organisations, and five prestigious fellowships (from the Australian Research Council, Fulbright Commission, Singapore International Foundation, University of Cambridge and Australian Academy of the Humanities) totalling well over $3 million. Professor Bartleet actively contributes to many sector initiatives and organisations in Australia and overseas. She is currently the President of the Social Impact of Music Making (SIMM) international research platform, a Belgium-based NGO (2021-2024), Associate Editor of the International Journal of Community Music, a Senior Research Fellow with the Laurier Centre for Music in the Community (LCMC) in Canada (2021-2024), and External Examiner for the MA Community Music at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick (2021-2025). In 2014 she was awarded the Australian University Teacher of the Year, and in 2022 she was a Fulbright Scholar at New York University Steinhardt (awarded 2020).
José Luis Falconi is the President of Cultural Agents, Inc. an NGO which promotes civic engagement and creativity through artistic education and an Assistant Professor of Art and Human Rights at the University of Connecticut. Prof. Falconi received his doctorate from Harvard University in 2010.
His latest academic publications include Portraits of an Invisible Country: The Photographs of Jorge Mario Múnera (2010), A Singular Plurality: The Works of Darío Escobar (2013), The Great Swindle: A project by Santiago Montoya (2014) and Ad Usum / To be used: The works of Pedro Reyes (2017) and Pre-texts International (2022).
Besides UCONN he has taught at Boston University and Bradeis University in the United States, and has been appointed Visiting Professor in the Department of Art History and Architecture of the University of Boston in the spring of 2016. In Latin America he has been “Bicentennial” Visiting Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Chile ( Santiago de Chile, 2012 and 2019), "International Professor" at the National University of Colombia (Bogotá, 2013) and Visiting Professor at the Universidad de Costa Rica (2018) and Universidad San Carlos in Guatemala.
Stanford Thompson is a musician and educator who serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Play On Philly and Founding Board Chairman of El Sistema USA and the National Instrumentalist Mentoring and Advancement Network. Recognized as a TED Fellow, Stanford believes that music education is a powerful tool for positive personal and community change. Mr. Thompson serves on the faculty of the Global Leaders Program and regularly presents at major universities and music conservatories about leadership, entrepreneurship and social justice. As a consultant, he has guided the development of dozens of music programs across the United States and collaborated with major orchestras, higher education institutions, and arts organizations to develop new strategies and initiatives that help provide equitable access to the arts. As a professional trumpeter, Stanford has performed as a soloist and member with major orchestras around the world and continues to perform throughout the Philadelphia region. Stanford is a native of Atlanta, GA, a graduate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program and holds degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory’s Sistema Fellows Program.
Chosen among Chile's 100-Young Leaders of 2012 (El Mercurio), Raul Vergara Montoya is an experienced program incubator and manager of cultural organizations. He is the Founder of arts & culture consulting firm Uniquepiece SpA, Co-founder and Director of International Programs at The Global Leaders Program (USA) and Advisor to the Cultural Corporation of Peñalolén in Chile. Prior to his interests in cultural management, Raul developed a career in orchestral music serving as the Associate Principal Percussionist of the Seoul Philharmonic in Korea, the Associate Principal Timpanist with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in China, member of The Spoleto Festival Orchestra USA and Substitute Percussionist with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Other engagements included performances with professional orchestras in the USA, Germany, Hong Kong, Macau, Mexico and Chile, performing at the world's most distinguished concert halls with renowned artists. With studies at the Curtis Institute of Music (BM) and Temple University (MMus) in Philadelphia, and postgraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University, Raul is particularly interested in developing a sustainable and collaborative business model that allows arts organizations and cultural agents to deliver projects that bring greater value and social impact resolving issues of social engagement, equity, accessibility and sustainability.