The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County (CAFC) recently named Stamford resident Douglas Laustsen executive director to help guide the nonprofit forward by providing strategic and operational leadership during a period of both new opportunities and ongoing challenges for the arts and culture sector.
“Douglas’ creativity, commitment to community, and experience make him exceptionally qualified to lead the Cultural Alliance at this critical time,” said CAFC board President Cheryl Williams. “We are confident that his vision and leadership will strengthen the organization and advance arts and culture in Fairfield County.”
Established in 2008, CAFC is a network of artists, arts, and cultural organizations, and creative businesses in coastal Fairfield County, and serves as a designated regional service organization of the Connecticut Office of the Arts. The nonprofit serves a 15-town region, including Bridgeport, Darien, Easton, Greenwich, Fairfield, Monroe, New Canaan, Norwalk, Shelton, Stamford, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport, and Wilton.
The CAFC Board of Directors also announced the addition of new board members, including Whitney Isola of Stamford, Jen Wastrom and Pam Robey of Redding and Ann Lydecker of Darien.
“One of my first goals is to make sure everyone in lower Fairfield County knows that the Cultural Alliance is the go-to source for information about arts and culture in their community,” Laustsen said. “Additionally, we are going to create opportunities for connection and learning, not just among the members, but also with local business and civic leaders.”
A big part of his professional work has been to find ways to connect organizations, artists, and communities, Laustsen said. “Building partnerships that are additive for everyone involved brings me a lot of joy. I’m also a huge fan of cultural and civic spaces, and I’m excited to advocate not just for how great they are, but their importance in our society.”
Laustsen has experience with nonprofit and creative organizations and is a seasoned arts administrator whose career has focused on using the arts to build stronger and more engaged communities. As an artist and musician, Laustsen has completed several projects that involve community engagement, audience interaction, and music technology.
Most recently, he served as the director of operations for INTEMPO, a nationally recognized creative youth development organization that provides music education to children in Stamford. Currently, he serves as treasurer on the board of El Sistema USA, a national network of organizations committed to providing high quality music education for every child.
As executive director of CAFC, Laustsen is looking forward to working closely with artists.
“I’m thinking about my role with local artists as a pollinator and advocate,” he said. “As I travel the community, I want to find ideas in one place that could also thrive in another. I am also going to be their biggest fan and speak up for them whenever possible.”
He said he is excited to advocate for and support the work being done by the arts and culture sector in Fairfield County. Also, Lausten will support CAFC’s mission to provide marketing, capacity building, professional development, and advocacy services for its members.
“I want to make sure people acknowledge and celebrate the great cultural offerings in our region,” he said. “The Gold Coast is an incredible place to live for a lot of reasons. Among them are our arts and culture, but it’s not mentioned often enough.”
