Christen Boone is the President & Chief Strategy Officer with the Boone Group and is deeply committed to building stronger and more vibrant communities. She is a community connector, social entrepreneur and a leader in nonprofit development and strategic philanthropy.

Christen served in leadership roles for some of the country’s most treasured cultural institutions and served for 7 years as the President & CEO for Fund for the Arts. She led the strategic evolution to a more inclusive and equitable organization, driving access and opportunity, and serving as a community catalyst. The Fund for the Arts is one of the country’s oldest and most successful local arts agencies driving collective impact, collaborative action and is the largest funder of the arts in Kentucky, providing more than 700 grants to local educational initiatives, arts institutions and community projects. Under her leadership, the Fund developed the Imagine 2020 cultural plan creating a shared vision and priorities for the arts and culture sector and its cross-sector partners in government, corporate and philanthropy.

As a fundraiser, Christen has raised nearly $350 million for regional nonprofit organizations including Actors Theatre of Louisville, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and Cincinnati’s Fine Arts Fund. As a community She served as Director of the Greater Louisville Project and founded the Boone Group, coaching and consulting in nonprofit and community development. Christen led the efforts to raise more than $120 million to build The Parklands of Floyds Fork, one of the nation’s largest new urban parks.
She serves as Chair of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, and on the Boards of Downtown Development Corporation and the Governors Scholars Program and Foundation.

She received the Michael Newton Award for Arts Leadership by Americans for the Arts and the Nonprofit Leader Award by Center for Nonprofit Excellence. She was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni from Bellarmine University, Top 100 Most Influential People by Insider Louisville, 40 Under 40 leader by Business First, Volunteer of the Year by SafePlace Services, and with the Dream Maker Award by Amped.