ICSCS Team
Paul Nagle
Executive Director
As Director of Cultural Policy for NYC Councilmember Alan Gerson (2002-2010), Paul crafted strategies to help preserve and revitalize the arts in Lower Manhattan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He convened a consortium of 30 downtown arts leaders, which met monthly for two years and developed Campuses & Corridors, a community-based strategic plan that guided the Councilmember’s policies and investments in Lower Manhattan’s cultural redevelopment.
Originally a playwright, Paul became Founding Executive Director of All Out Arts and Founding Executive Producer for its first five festivals, as well as the Managing Director and Interim Executive Director of the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center. He holds a B.A. in Arts Administration and an M.A. in Cultural Policy from New York University. He is a graduate of Coro Leadership XV.
Conferences, Panels & Publications 2006-2010
Guest Speaker – Arts & Neighborhood Economic Development (Foundation Center/Arts & Business Council of NYC, 2010); Guest Speaker - Faculty Resource Network Conference (NYU, 2009); Moderator - Community Board Congress on Small to Mid-sized Theaters (NYC, 2009); Participant – NYS Assembly Roundtable on Cultural Funding (NYC 2008); Presenter – Social Theory, Politics & the Arts Conference (Baltimore, 2008); Keynote Speaker - Poets House Board Retreat (Tarrytown, 2008); Panelist - Saving Our Cultural Capital (Fractured Atlas, NYC, 2008); Presenter - Social Theory Politics & the Arts Conference (NYC, 2007); Presenter – International Symposium on Arts in Society (NYC, 2007); Presenter – Global Creative Economy Summit (Philadelphia, 2006); Moderator - Keep the Arts in Williamsburg (2006/2007); Panelist - The Politics of Art (AFA Creative Conversations NYC, 2007); Steering Committee - Seaport Speaks (NYC, 2006); ”Room for Creativity: The Role of Affordable Artists’ Live/Work Space in the New Economy” (International Journal of Arts in Society, Australia, 2007): “Conversations with Paul Nagle” (Interview in NYFA Current magazine, 2007)
Nichole Martini
Associate Director
Nichole Martini is a trained strategic fundraiser and has a passion for strengthening the cultural and arts sector in the United States. For the last year, she has worked as the Associate Director with a start-up social justice project called The Declaration Initiative, where she has worked to make the United States a more equitable place.
Prior to her tenure there, she worked at Steinway & Sons as an Institutional Sales representative supporting development staff and faculty with their fundraising efforts surrounding the purchase of Steinway pianos. At NYU, Nichole conducted research about arts philanthropy and fundraising surrounding the performing arts and its current effectiveness. Through this journey, Nichole has discovered that the arts play an important role in changing society and deserve better support, an objective shared by the Culture Strategies Initiative.
Nichole holds a Masters of Science degree in Fundraising and Philanthropy from New York University and a Bachelors of Arts in Music from Furman University. She has served as president and vice president for the Fundraising Student Association at NYU where she co-designed and implemented a series of networking events called "Be Interesting" with New York City based non-profits.
As a singer and pianist, Nichole volunteers with several arts organizations in New York City; she plans to use her arts knowledge and training to contribute creative