The Cincinnati Ballet Board of Trustees appointed Deborah S. Brant President and CEO of Cincinnati Ballet in March 2024. She had served as Interim President and CEO after assuming the role on an interim basis from Scott Altman in January 2024. For many years, Debbie has fostered a deep and meaningful relationship with Cincinnati Ballet and has been one of the organization’s biggest supporters. Debbie is the former chair of the Cincinnati Ballet Board of Trustees and The Cincinnati Ballet Foundation and led the capital campaign committee that secured funding to construct the 62,000 square foot, $32 million Cincinnati Ballet Margaret and Michael Valentine Center for Dance in Walnut Hills.
Ballet has been an important part of Debbie’s life since her childhood in Akron, Ohio. She started ballet lessons at age nine, beginning a life-long love of the artform. Debbie stopped dancing in high school before attending Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where she studied American Studies and Art History. She went on to create a successful fundraising career that included work in Washington, D.C. and New York City as a fundraiser and grants writer for The Kennedy Center | National Symphony Orchestra, as well as a fundraising consultant for New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Jacob’s Pillow, among others. Debbie moved to Cincinnati in 1998 where she continued as a fundraising consultant for Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Prospect House, and the Art Academy of Cincinnati. As much as Debbie loves the arts, she also values the Cincinnati community. Philanthropy is a family tradition, one Debbie learned from her parents and grandparents who were themselves dedicated volunteers. In addition to her tireless philanthropic work for Cincinnati Ballet, Debbie is also a former Board Chair of the Mayerson JCC, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, and Most Valuable Kids of Cincinnati, Inc. (MVK). Brant is a past recipient of The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Women of the Year Award, the 2021 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Cincinnati Chapter, And Volunteer of the Year Award from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.
