Prior to assuming this position in 2004, Myra Millinger was Associate Director of the Flinn Foundation, an Arizona philanthropy established in 1965. During her twenty-one years at the Flinn Foundation, she provided leadership in the development of initiatives in arts, education, and community health. She has also held a number of administrative positions in higher education, government, and private philanthropy, including three years on the staff of The Ford Foundation in New York and six years as a dean in the admissions office at Wesleyan University.
Ms. Millinger is a native of Massachusetts, and holds a degree in political science from the New School for Social Research. Prior to entering her university studies, she was a serious student of dance and drama, studying at the Boston Conservatory of Music, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Martha GrahamSchool, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Ms. Millinger is a member of Grantmakers in the Arts, where she served on the Board of Directors. In 1992 she joined the Board of National Arts Strategies in Washington, D.C. (formerly National Arts Stabilization), and in 2002 was appointed Chair of the Board. She has been actively involved in the activities of the Conference of Southwest Foundations, a regional consortium of over 200 member foundations in a seven-state area, and served as its president from 1999-2000. Locally, she served as a member of the Phoenix Commission on Excellence in Education, as a commissioner for the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, and on the board of the Educational Policy Fellowship Program. Ms. Millinger served two terms as president of Arizonans for Cultural Development, Arizona's statewide advocacy organization for the arts, and as president of the University Club of Phoenix. In 1995 she was the recipient of the Governor's Arts Award in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts of Arizona, and in 1999 she was recognized by The Business Journal as one of the ten most influential non-profit leaders in Phoenix. In 2004 she was the recipient of the Founder's Spirit Award of the Conference of Southwest Foundations in recognition of her many years of service to philanthropy in the Southwest.
