New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) has appointed Lisa Schroeder as its new chief financial officer and chief administrative officer. This position is a recent addition to the organization’s senior leadership team.
Schroeder comes to NJPAC after her tenure at Film at Lincoln Center, where she was the chief administrative officer. During her time there, she held several leadership positions since 2014. As vice president of finance and operations, Schroeder managed the COVID-19 reopening committee and was responsible for budgeting, financial reporting, and analysis.
“When I migrated from corporate finance to non-profit arts finance and management, I fell in love with all kinds of performing arts,” said Schroeder. “But what NJPAC is doing in Newark — through leading-edge work in arts education, arts in healthcare and real estate redevelopment — is not just supporting the arts, it’s harnessing the arts to have a transformative impact on a community. I want to be a part of that mission of changing lives, changing neighborhoods, for the better through the performing arts.”
In her new role at NJPAC, Schroeder will work with different departments to oversee finances and support strategic planning as well as social impact initiatives. Her responsibilities include helping guide projects such as the upcoming Cooperman Family Arts Education and Community Center—scheduled to open in 2027—and other developments like ArtSide residential real estate on campus and Lionsgate Newark film studio.
Over the last fifteen years, NJPAC has seen significant growth. Its budget increased from $25 million in 2011 to about $75 million currently. Nearly $8 million per season is dedicated to social impact programs.
“Part of Lisa’s brief will be to workshop ways we can seamlessly integrate our robust social impact spend into the Arts Center’s broader business model,” said John Schreiber, president and CEO of NJPAC. “The volume of free programming and low-cost community-focused initiatives that NJPAC presents and produces each season is financially challenging. Lisa’s unique skill set will help the Arts Center not only ensure that those programs are sustainable, but will amplify their impact in years to come.”
Schroeder grew up in Austin, Texas. She earned a degree in finance and accounting from the University of Texas at Austin before beginning her career in corporate finance. Later she worked as a financial consultant for nonprofit organizations in Telluride, Colorado, and New York City.
