Matt Brogan, A Nonprofit Leader, Named Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America

Matt Brogan, a nonprofit leader with more than 25 years of experience of working with nonprofit organizations and foundations, has been named Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America (PSA). Matt succeeds longtime Executive Director, Alice Quinn. Matt, a resident of New York City, will start in his new position on November 25.

Matt has had a long-standing commitment to poetry and the arts and an exceptional record of non-profit leadership at Seattle Arts & Lectures, The Academy of American Poets, and Nextbook.

For the past decade, Matt has worked as an independent consultant and producer, helping foundations, nonprofit organizations, and individual artists develop new strategies, design and produce compelling programs, and enhance their fundraising and operations.

“As the Poetry Society of America enters its 110th year, we are excited to work with Matt to advance the PSA's mission to ‘build a larger and more diverse audience for poetry, to encourage a deeper appreciation of the vitality and breadth of poetry in the cultural conversation, and to support poets’ at all stages of their creative development,” says Allison Binns, President of the Board of the Directors. 

Before becoming a consultant, Matt spent 15 years as a leader of nonprofit literary organizations including Seattle Arts & Lectures, as Executive Director, and the Academy of American Poets and Nextbook, as a Program Director. 

In these roles, Matt has helped conceive and produce a wide range of literary programs, including National Poetry Month, an annual poetry series in Seattle, the Academy of American Poets website, festivals in Los Angeles, Boston, and New York, and international poetry exchanges, among others.

He is also a writer and has published poems in many literary journals.

“I have long admired the Poetry Society’s pioneering work around poetry and public space, and I am excited to build on the legacy of Alice Quinn, who has been one of the great champions of poets for a generation,” says Matt. “I believe poetry has an essential role to play in public life, both in animating the places where we gather and in invigorating public discourse.