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Mr. Hokama lives in Ashland and previously worked in technology and business operations executives, including ten years at the computer software company Adobe. He assumed his new position on Thursday.
Interim development director Camilla Long said OSF looks to Hokama for leadership.
“We are very pleased to have an interim executive who will help us establish some of these goals, perhaps address some of our internal issues, and get us on the right track. I’m excited, so personally I’m very excited,” she said.
“[Hokama] They can help us in many ways, including modernizing our financial operations. Develop more sustainable business models. Promote relationships with local businesses, audiences and donors. and strengthen fragile infrastructure,” said OSF President Diane Yu in a press release.
“OSF has grown to be one of the largest regional theaters in the country without implementing any systems or processes to support it,” Hokama said in a press release. “Like all businesses of our size, we need to stabilize it so that we can support our basic operations. The model needs to be improved.”
Former OSF Executive Director David Schmitz resigned in January and was replaced by Artistic Director Nataki Garrett. She was released from the role in April, and she left the company last month after four years.
The OSF announced on Thursday that its emergency fundraising campaign, “The Show Must Go On,” launched in April, was a success, raising more than $2.8 million.
However, the future of the 2023 and 2024 seasons is still uncertain. According to a press release, the OSF is now moving into a new phase of fundraising and is looking to raise an additional $7.3 million by October 31, “which will allow the OSF to finish the season on time. I can.”
Long said the money is part of the OSF’s regular annual fundraising and ticket sales goals and will also be used to continue the theater season.
“I wouldn’t say people should be so worried about us about 2023, but heading into 2024, we have a lot of work to do. We’re doing it. We’re doing it. We have a lot of work to do, and we are transitioning “on the right track,” she said.
The OSF announced in April that it was suspending plans for the 2024 season pending the results of an emergency fundraising campaign. According to a press release issued at the time, there was “a gap in OSF funding between May and July of this year.”
The company plans to announce additional specific funding targets for next season later this summer, after the nonprofit’s annual budget is completed.
“This campaign, ‘The Show Must Go On,’ has been a success to kick off this season, and the fundraising will continue,” Long said.
The OSF was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and never fully recovered. The 89-year-old theater is a major cultural attraction in southern Oregon, and in March 2020, when the reality of the pandemic became apparent, the company closed production and reduced its staff to 400, about 80% of its total workforce. was fired.
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