Aviva Kapust is a national leader at the intersection of art and culture, community development, and social justice. As Co-Executive Director of The Culture & Community Power Fund, she oversees a $14 million national funders collaborative and lab that aims to create a new paradigm for conceptualizing, implementing, and valuing place-based social change. The fund invests in building communities’ power to envision, lead, and protect the progress they seek.
Aviva Kapust served for a decade as the Executive Director of The Village of Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia, a 37-year-old organization rooted in a highly disinvested neighborhood. Her leadership led to the resurgence of The Village as a hub for social innovation and cultural production, and a vital anchor for youth and families affected by systemic oppression.
Aviva revitalized the organization, engaging thousands of youth and returning citizens in initiatives spanning creative workforce development, community revitalization, and social justice advocacy. Moreover, she raised and strategically deployed over $10 million in capital investments, significantly enhancing The Village’s arts campus and operational infrastructure, and ensuring its enduring impact.
Aviva’s career also includes roles as an art director and creative director at leading advertising agencies in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and as an adjunct professor at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication.
In 2022, Aviva was selected for the prestigious Civic Scholar’s program at the Chicago Booth School of Business and its Rustandy Center for Social Innovation. She served as a Rubinger Fellow with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and received accolades from the Arts and Business Council of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Yerba Buena Center For The Arts, Philadelphia Associations of Community Development Corporations, and the Social Innovations Journal.
Aviva is set to receive her MBA from the Chicago Booth School of Business in 2024 and holds a BFA from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford. She resides in Mt. Airy with her partner Felix and daughter Zena, supported by a community of powerful, compassionate, and creative friends and family.
