A strategic thinker, focused on both relationship building and the bottom line, Halina Avery has long served nonprofits with arts and educational missions. As a professional opera singer for many years, navigating gig work, while separately and simultaneously serving as a trustee at the Durfee Foundation, Halina developed experience sitting on “either side of the table” in the nonprofit world. At decision making tables she advocates drawing upon diverse perspectives in the service of finding best solutions. She has seen especially, how artists and the arts offer insights to unearth and tackle problems and wants to see arts representatives involved in more decision making conversations, specifically in non-arts focused fields.
Most recently, Halina became a Founding Donor of Angel City Impact (the giving initiative of LA’s National Women’s Soccer League team, Angel City Football Club). In 2018, along with two brothers, she launched the Under the Sun Foundation and Candlewood Arts Festival. Halina sits on the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Music, is a founding member of Columbia Business School’s Women’s Circle and serves on the board of Opera on the Avalon, a woman founded and led company focused on developing new works both live and recorded.
Halina holds a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She resides in Santa Monica, CA with her wife, Kim, and their teen daughter.
