Arts school director will lead consulting group

The executive director of the Community School of the Arts, Andrea Stevenson, is stepping down to become the executive director of Charlotte's Lee Institute. 

Stevenson, who has led the school since 2007, said she looks forward to working with a variety of Charlotte groups in her new job. The Lee Institute is a nonprofit consulting group that advises nonprofits, community organizations and others on "how to become stronger and more effective," Stevenson said. 

"I love the opportunity to serve a wider range of organizations," Stevenson said. "As dearly as I love the arts, this seems like the logical next step." In volunteer work, she added, she has been involved with such issues as social justice, race and women's rights. 

Stevenson's "nonprofit expertise and enthusiasm along with her commitment to community will be invaluable as we continue our work across Charlotte and our region," said the institute's president, Cyndee Patterson, in a statement. 

Stevenson came to Charlotte after posts at cultural organizations including the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia; the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas; and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, also in Fort Worth. The Community School hopes to have an interim leader in place by the time Stevenson steps down Nov. 2, she said. She'll start at the Lee Institute on Nov. 26.