Poise Foundation Appoints New Director of Development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Karris M. Jackson
Chief Operating Officer
(412) 281-4967 – Office
(412) 302-5130 – Mobile
kjackson@poisefdn.org

Image 1: Photo of Gray Montague; [Click image for larger view]

POISE FOUNDATION APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

PITTSBURGH, PA (PittsburghNewsWire.com) — POISE Foundation has hired Gray Montague as its new Director of Development. Montague will play an integral role in advancing the mission of POISE by developing donor strategies and increasing contributed revenue. He brings over 33 years of extensive development and nonprofit experience, which includes collaborating with boards, individuals, foundations, government agencies, corporations and nonprofit partners for performing arts and health and human service organizations. He will also be responsible launching new marketing and public relations strategies designed to amplify the brand, visibility and presence of POISE in the Pittsburgh Region and throughout the United States. His full biography is attached to this release.

Mark S. Lewis, President and CEO of POISE Foundation comments: “We are excited to add Gray to the POISE team. As the oldest standalone African American Community Foundation, we look forward to building an institution that will be a model of self-sufficiency for our community. To accomplish this, we must increase our reach and message within the Pittsburgh Region and beyond. Gray’s experience and presence brings the capacity we need to reach our goals and better serve our community.”

Montague states: “Over the last 40 years, POISE has shown itself to be an important innovator and leader. As a Community Foundation, it is wonderfully unique and I am thrilled to be working with our Board of Trustees, staff, donors and community partners to bring POISE to heightened levels of achievement.”

POISE Foundation was founded in 1980 by Bernard H. Jones, Sr., a prominent community and civic leader in Pittsburgh. It is one of the oldest Community Foundations in the United States established and managed by African Americans. The mission of POISE Foundation is to assist the Pittsburgh Region’s Black Community to achieve self-sustaining practices through strategic leadership, collective giving, grantmaking and advocacy.

For more information about POISE Foundation or to schedule interviews, please contact:

Karris M. Jackson
Chief Operating Office
POISE Foundation
kjackson@poisefdn.org
(412) 281-4967 – Office
(412) 302-5130 – Mobile
Two Gateway Center, Suite 1700
603 Stanwix Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

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Gray Montague – Biography

Gray Montague has been a nonprofit executive and fundraising professional for over 33 years. After earning a B.A. in Literature from the State University of New York at Purchase and studying Arts Administration at New York University, he started his career in the dance field and was both the Executive and Development Director for Parsons Dance in New York City, Ballet Arizona and the Pittsburgh Dance Council respectively. For the past 20 years, as an independent consultant, Gray has raised significant amounts of contributed revenue for mental health, addiction treatment and human services organizations throughout Western Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Gray has obtained major multi-year grants from distinguished grantmakers such as the Ford Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, the Flinn Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the Richard King Mellon Foundation and secured noteworthy sponsorships from Bank of America, Bank One, Morgan Stanley, Altria, Intel, PPG, Dial Corporation and PNC Bank, among others. He has served as a consultant to and panelist for many eminent companies and institutions such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Arizona Council on the Arts, The Phoenix Arts Council, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Life & Purpose Behavioral Health Services, New Beginnings Transitional Living Foundation, Spiral Sun Recovery Centers, Dance/USA, Dance Theatre of Harlem, MOMIX, Arizonans for Cultural Development, the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, The White Nights Foundation in New York and Saint Petersburg (Russia), The Bolshoi Foundation (Russia), the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Harkness Foundation, and the Shubert Foundation.

Gray has also enjoyed teaching as an adjunct instructor at Arizona State University and Pima Community College and has been a guest lecturer at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.), The Joyce Theater (New York, NY), University of Arizona, Stanford University, UCLA, Chicago University, University of Minnesota, The University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Point Park University, Teatro Olimpico (Rome, Italy), Danse/Aix-en-Provence (Aix-en-Provence, France), Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo, Japan), National Theater (Taiwan), Mariinsky Theater (Russia), the Andy Warhol Museum, Wave Hill, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Walker Arts Center, The Menil Collection, and the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, among other venues.