Curator of Public Programs, Obama Presidential Center, Director

About the Obama Foundation

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. Our mission is to inspire those people to take action, empower them to change their world for the better, and connect them so they can achieve more together than they can alone.

We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together. 

That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where—together—they made their home. 

But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity.

As President Obama has said, “we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” So join us. 

For more information, please visit www.obama.org.

Purpose of the Role

The Curator of Public Programs, Obama Presidential Center (OPC) is responsible for advancing program concepts within the Foundation’s early OPC Programming Strategy; building and managing a team of Program Managers; supporting the development of external program partnerships; and overseeing the implementation of programs that will take place across select spaces on the OPC campus, including in the auditorium, media suite, program rooms, library, fruit and vegetable garden, and other public outdoor spaces. The Curator of Public Programs will report to the Director of Programming (Strategy) and work closely with the Museum Director, to hire, train, and oversee a team of program managers experienced in the areas of arts and social practice (visual, music/performing, media arts), democracy and civic culture, gardening and cooking, and large-scale public and cultural programs to translate the OPC Programming Strategy into a suite of meaningful engagements and public offerings, with a focus on local residents. The program plans will integrate with and amplify the existing programming operated globally and in the United States by the Foundation, such as the Foundation’s flagship annual Democracy Forum

Core Job Responsibilities

• Manage the implementation of the OPC Programming Strategy, maintaining alignment with the Obama Foundation’s overarching strategic priorities with meaningful connection to the museum experience, and testing and refining programs as we move from strategy to implementation.
• Work closely with other programming teams and External Affairs to further flagship programs that will become signature OPC programs, such as the annual Democracy Forum.
• Contribute to annual strategic programming plans and data-driven goal-setting, inclusive of programs connected to arts and social practice, democracy and leadership, gardening and cooking, and large-scale public programs.
• Manage and cultivate key ongoing program partnerships, in close collaboration with the VP of Partnerships, ensuring that pre-opening community programming is connected to the overall programmatic plans for the Center once open.
• Coordinate with the OPC Operations and Implementation teams and Program Operations team to ensure all program designs and implementation plans align with Foundation policies and processes.
• Contribute to OPC programming development and fundraising activities, including potential donor meetings, executive preparation, and materials creation.
• Create and manage the budget for select OPC programming. Gradually hire and train members of the OPC programming team, and oversee select activities leading up to opening and beyond.
• Support the Director of Programming (Strategy) as needed.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Lead planning  and oversee implementation of select preview programs in advance of the opening of the Center (in late 2025) and ongoing programs that will operate across key spaces in 2026 and beyond, both at the OPC and throughout the city of Chicago, inclusive of youth and adult programming, large-scale festivals, seasonal community-focused events, and special outdoor experiences. Program planning will include programmatic goals, outcomes, partnership development, budgeting, resourcing, communications and marketing plans, audience development, measurement and evaluation, reporting, an