Entrepreneurial American Leadership Award
For her extensive career in the preservation and promotion of local arts, culture, and heritage for our diverse American population.
As more com
munities are coming to realize, arts and culture play a vital role in their health and prosperity. Not only do they provide an important source of entertainment, creative outlet, and cultural exchange, arts and cultural programs have been proven to contribute to job creation, stabilize or revitalize distressed neighborhoods, improve the achievements of at-risk youth, promote racial understanding, and boost local economies. An arts activist for over 30 years, Juana Guzman has championed local arts, culture and heritage as a quality of life resources for our diverse American population. Since 1999, Guzman has served as the vice president of the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) located in Chicago. NMMA is the largest Latino arts institution in the United States and for more than two decades has been home to a line of educational exhibitions showcasing Mexico’s art, history, and Mexican communities in the U.S. Under Guzman’s visionary leadership, the museum offers an array of educational programs that cultivate appreciation and understanding of Mexican culture.
Before bringing her skill and passion for the arts to NMMA, Guzman served as the Director of Community Cultural Development for Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). During her 20-year tenure with DCA, Guzman was responsible for a multi-cultural effort that created awareness and enhanced economic opportunities for Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods through the creation of the Chicago Coalition of Community Cultural Centers, a partnership of 60 nonprofit arts organizations. In 1997, Guzman spearheaded the arduous task of coordinating nearly 25 cultural partners in a collaborative effort to take visitors into the neighborhoods of Chicago, home to a wealth of cultural traditions. Her hard work led to the creation of the award-winning Chicago Neighborhood Tours.
Between 2004 and 2008, Guzman served as a technical advisor and consultant for the Ford Foundation’s Shifting Sands Initiative, managed by Partners for Livable Communities. The initiative worked to reframe arts and cultural organizations as vital agents of community development through improving neighborhood identity, social mobility and economic growth. Guzman’s expertise has recently been put to work as a consultant for Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), which brought her on as a consultant in 2009. LINC is a national initiative aimed at improving the conditions for artists working in all disciplines. Guzman is also a co-founder and former chair of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Festival.
Throughout her career, Juana Guzman has devoted herself to the promotion and preservation of arts and culture within our communities. Her leadership has ensured a higher quality of life, social well-being and accessibility of the arts for all.