Tom Kaiden

Tom Kaiden joined the Cultural Alliance in 2001 and leads the Alliance’s continuing efforts to promote the positive awareness and value of arts and culture and deliver high-quality services and professional development to 411 member organizations from the Greater Philadelphia region.  Kaiden is the chief architect of Engage 2020, a four-year, $6 million marketing and civic engagement initiative focused on doubling cultural participation in Greater Philadelphia by 2020.  A successor to the Alliance’s successful Campaign for Culture collaborative marketing initiative, which was widely viewed as a national model, Engage 2020 places new emphasis on the application of research to guide consumer engagement strategies, cultural product development, and communications.  Kaiden has presented on collaborative cultural marketing at numerous national and regional forums, including the National Arts Marketing Project Conference, Grantmakers in the Arts, Wallace Foundation Excellence Awards, Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, National Performing Arts Conference (jointly convened by the American Symphony Orchestra League, Opera America, Chorus America, and Dance USA), League of Regional Theatres (LORT) Conference, InTix Conference, National Jewish Museums Conference, Pennsylvania Museums Conference, Association of Performing Arts Service Organizations (APASO) Conference, and League of Historic American Theatres Conference.  He has also provided counsel and support for similar efforts in San Jose, Detroit, Phoenix, Baltimore, Boston, and New Orleans. 

Prior to joining the Cultural Alliance, Kaiden served as the executive director of the Stowe (Vermont) Area Association, a member-based tourism marketing corporation and Chamber of Commerce.  During his nine year tenure, he expanded Stowe's market share from 6.5% to 9.0% and increased the membership base by 50%. He also launched the "Stowe First" community marketing campaign, introduced the town-wide “Stowe Quality Initiative” and turned around the organization's finances and internal operations. Previously, Kaiden served as the Director of Planning and New Business Development for S&S Worldwide, a catalog marketing firm serving health care and education institutions. He began his marketing career in product management with the Travel Related Services Division of American Express.  Kaiden was a member of the 2007 core class of Leadership Philadelphia.  He holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut.