Deepa Gupta

Board Member

Deepa is experienced in non-profit and theatre development. She is currently a Program Officer at the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation, where she oversees all grants in arts and culture totaling $8 million annually. She reviews the artistic, organizational and governance of artistic and cultural organizations in Chicago during the course of her grant making. She also designs and implements programs to strengthen the arts and culture sector in the city of Chicago. Examples of grant programs designed include a short-term bridge loan program for small and medium sized arts groups, a fund to support international collaborations and exchanges between Chicago-based arts groups and those abroad, and a fund to support the capacity and organizational development of culturally specific arts organizations.

Previously, Deepa served as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, where she advised senior officers of public, private and charitable organizations including United Nations agencies, private health care companies in the United States, state governments, and the city of Chicago.

She currently serves on the Board of the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois and was recently nominated by President Obama to serve on the National Council on the Arts, the governing body that oversees federal spending for the arts through the National Endowment for the Arts.

Her degrees include an AB with honors in Public Policy and Biology from the University of Chicago, Masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Deepa lives in Chicago with her husband Pete, her son Calestous and daughter Elora.