Lisa Grove | Senior Arts Executive | San Francisco

Lisa Grove headshot

Hi, I’m Lisa Grove

I help cultural institutions design their future — strategically, financially, and structurally.

I’m a senior arts executive working at the intersection of mission and long-term civic impact. Across my career, I’ve led complex, multi-year initiatives that shape how institutions evolve — including major strategic transformations, capital projects, programmatic innovation, experiential master planning, content strategy, and organizational effectiveness.

I’m known for pairing big-picture vision with disciplined execution: translating ambition into clear plans, aligning diverse stakeholders around shared priorities, and helping boards and leadership teams make confident, well-timed decisions. My work focuses on institutional clarity — how authority is defined, how decisions are made, and how strategy survives contact with reality.

I’m especially interested in building institutions — and leadership practices — that are durable, relevant, and resilient over time. I believe cultural organizations thrive when imagination is matched with rigor, and when success is designed to be sustained, not just achieved.

Career Highlights

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Led strategy and programs across the de Young and Legion of Honor, two art museums with 1.5 million annual visitors and a collection spanning six millennia. Highlights include the Legion of Honor Centennial, whose campaign brought in more than 1,000 gifts of art, the reopening of the Arts of Indigenous Americas galleries, and a dramatic expansion of public access to the the museum’s online collection of art.

Obama Presidential Center, Chicago
One of the first senior leaders on this ambitious, high-profile civic project. Led strategic planning and wrote the experiential and programming plans for a 19-acre civic campus designed to move visitors from Hope to Action. Led the $100 million Inaugural Arts Plan, working directly with contemporary artists including Mark Bradford, Maya Lin, Julie Mehretu, Martin Puryear, and Theaster Gates to embed art throughout the buildings and landscape. Helped raise over $250 million and developed the “honoree naming” strategy that helped secure the gift naming the central Plaza for John Lewis.

Slavery & Freedom in Savannah, Telfair Museums
Led a multi-year initiative that reinterpreted the museum’s rare urban slave quarters through new scholarship, a national symposium, an award-winning publication. Launched a contemporary art series featuring installations exploring the legacy of slavery in America today.

Art and technology, from PULSE to Art + AI
Produced seven years of the PULSE Art & Technology Festival in Savannah, then helped develop the Art + AI Initiative at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, exploring the intersection between artists and technology.

Founding the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
A founding team member of this brand-new museum. Built operations and programming from scratch, raised $22 million, and launched one of the first museum podcasts in the country.

Professional Background

  • Chief Program and Strategy Officer & Chief of Staff, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (2023–2026)

  • Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Deputy Museum Director, Obama Presidential Center, Obama Foundation (2018–2023)

  • Director and CEO, Telfair Museums (2011–2018)

  • Inaugural Deputy Director, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2004–2011)

  • Senior Strategy Consultant, The Monitor Group (1996–2003)

Education

  • Marshall Scholar

  • MBA with Distinction, Imperial College Business School

  • MA, History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art

  • BA, American Studies, Stanford University (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa)

Let’s Connect!

I’m always glad to hear from colleagues, artists, and neighbors.