Ruth Mercado-Zizzo

Vice President, Programs and Equity

Ruth C. Mercado-Zizzo is the Vice President of Programs and Equity. In this role, she facilitates ensuring overall internal and organizational programmatic efforts incorporate an explicit and specific focus on advancing racial equity, including building an inclusive and equitable organizational culture and community. She is also responsible for overseeing the Racial Equity Seed Fund, the Bloomberg Arts Internship program, and all aspects of BPS Arts Expansion. She previously worked at the Boch Center, where, as Director of Education, she oversaw the long-term planning and evaluation of all education programs and managed partnerships with cultural institutions and community organizations across the city. Ruth also worked for People’s Light and Theatre in both education and administration. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from Arizona State University, where she was honored with the Herberger College of Fine Arts Research and Creative Activity Award, and is a graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She has served as Treasurer and board member of TYA/USA and as a grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. She is an alum of the National Guild’s Community Arts Education Leadership Institute and National Arts Strategies/University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy. Ruth was the Operations Director for Createquity, an online think tank that synthesized research pertaining to the arts.