LEADERSHIP

Kara Medoff Barnett has deep experience leading companies through times of rapid change. She has built new capabilities for organizations in financial services and live entertainment and guided heritage brands through digital transformation and geographic expansion. In October 2023, Kara joined General Atlantic—a leading global growth equity investor—as Managing Director and Head of the General Atlantic Foundation. Previously, Kara served as a Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at First Republic Bank and founding Managing Director of the First Republic Foundation. In these roles, she rallied First Republic’s people and resources to strengthen exemplary nonprofit organizations providing opportunity in housing, education, and the arts. From 2016-2021, Kara led American Ballet Theatre (ABT) as Executive Director, advancing innovation and inclusion at America’s National Ballet Company and stewarding an 80-year-old performing arts institution through the pandemic with no layoffs. Earlier in her career, Kara was a senior executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts through its $1.2B redevelopment, leading new ventures including convening and advisory services for international cultural, civic and corporate leaders. She is a Tony Award winner, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a 2015 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. She serves on the Global Council of American Ballet Theatre and the Advisory Council of Chelsea Factory, and she is the mother of three intellectually curious, independent and compassionate daughters. Born and raised in North Carolina, Kara attended Duke University on a Trinity Scholarship and received her MBA from Harvard Business School.