Who we are: CFT Leadership
Julie McCormick
Co-Executive Director ∙ Finance & Fundraising
Julie McCormick (she/her): Through her work as an arts administrator, dramaturg, and fundraiser, Julie supports new theatrical works and the people who make them. As a dramaturg, Julie has helped develop new work at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Crowded Fire Theater, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Just Theater New Play Lab, and Theatreworks, more. As a fundraiser, she has helped to raise and manage more than $6M to bring meaningful arts experiences to Bay Area audiences and students. In 2021, Julie participated in Intersection for the Arts’ first Nonprofit Arts Finance Program, which trained five local artists in the principles of financial management and bookkeeping. She holds a B.A. from Carleton College and is an alum of the Berkeley Rep Fellowship program. In addition to her work at Crowded Fire, Julie is proud to serve as Treasurer of the Playwrights Foundation Board and as a member of Theatre Bay Area’s Theatre Services Committee.
Julie first encountered Crowded Fire in 2013 when she served as an assistant dramaturg on [410]Gone by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig. She became a Resident Artist and joined the staff in 2021 as Associate Managing Director.
To reach Julie directly, email JulieM (at) crowdedfire.org
CFT Credits
Co-Executive Director: 2025 – Present
Leader of Finance and Fundraising: 2023 – 2024
Associate Managing Director: 2022-2023
Dramaturg: She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange (2014), 410[GONE] (Research Dramaturg, 2013), and the Matchbox Reading series (2015, 2016, 2019, 2023).
We are in a moment where we need to try new things as a company and as an industry, because the old playbooks are no longer working. I was drawn to this role because I deeply believe that Crowded Fire can bring the rigor, integrity, and experimentation its artmaking is known for to our business strategies. Over the past several years, we have reimagined a collaborative budgeting process and thought expansively about what defines a Crowded Fire supporter. I can’t wait to do more: explore alternative models for generating revenue, build financial literacy in our artist community, and move beyond transactional touch points to deep, mutually beneficial and inspiring relationships with our donors and audiences. It’s an uncertain time for arts organizations in this country, and uncertainty so often causes us to contract in fear. Let us instead lean into expansion and discovery. We have so much to learn from each other–from the legacy of changemakers and culture-bearers, from the artists shining in the Bay Area and our peers across the country.
