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Kathy Yarbrough is currently Executive Director for the Cultural Alliance of the Greater Birmingham Region. She was hired in March 2004 after a nationwide search conducted by Wolf, Keens & Company. Prior to this position, Ms. Yarbrough served as the Director of Development for the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra—the country’s 12th largest orchestra and Florida’s largest arts organization.
From 1995 until her departure in 2002, Ms. Yarbrough worked with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO), first as Director of Development and later as Executive Director. The ASO declared bankruptcy in 1993 and a new non-profit was established later that year with a mission of returning the orchestra to Alabama. Ms. Yarbrough was the first employee of the new organization and was hired as Director of Development to work with the Board of Directors in completing a $15 million campaign. To date, more than $16 million has been pledged or received and the orchestra performed its first concert on September 11, 1997—her two-year anniversary with the ASO.
Prior to her tenure with the ASO, Ms. Yarbrough was the Director of Development at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival for three years. During her tenure there, she oversaw an $11 million endowment campaign and an annual fund of $3 million.
Ms. Yarbrough directed the annual fund campaigns at California State University, Fullerton, and Mississippi State University. She ran both telefunding and direct mail campaigns and raised an average of $1 million each year.
During her eleven years in fundraising, Ms. Yarbrough has raised more than $40 million. She has conducted endowment campaigns with and without a fundraising consultant for two different performing arts organizations. She has written an NEA Challenge Grant which was funded, worked extensively on corporate sponsorships and has successfully employed all facets of annual fundraising—direct mail, telefunding, grant writing, peer-to-peer solicitations, special events, and planned giving.
Ms. Yarbrough graduated from Mississippi State University with a
B.S. in Marketing. Immediately after graduation, she joined the Bank
of America as a management trainee. Upon completion of the training
program, she was assigned to various branches as Operations Manager.
She ended her career with the bank as Administration Manager for
the Southern Central Cash Vault—a unit with 500 employees and
a budget of $12 million. In that capacity, she oversaw personnel
and benefits, audit, tracing and adjustments, customer service and
finance.
