Stanford Thompson

Principal at Goldsmith Strategies

Stanford (he/him/his) is a leading voice in promoting cultural equity and advancing change for nonprofit organizations across the sector. He works closely with the boards and staff of arts and cultural organizations, educational institutions, institutional funders, and national service organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of programming and identify solutions to deepen and broaden their impact.

Stanford founded and led the internationally recognized music education organization Play On Philly, served as the founding board chair of El Sistema USA, and founded and currently serves as executive director of Equity Arc. In those roles, he has led complex strategic planning and organizational design projects that have helped implement new local and national ventures to equitably serve communities and artists. He has also been a collaborator with WolfBrown for a decade on strategic planning, program evaluation, and establishing new ventures with the support of national institutional funders.

Stanford holds a faculty position with the Global Leaders Institute; serves on the boards of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Astral Artists, and The Presser Foundation; and holds degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory.