TCLF Introduces New COO
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is delighted to introduce its new chief operating officer (COO), Lina Cortas, who brings more than 25 years’ experience in both the private and non-profit sectors. At TCLF, her primary charge will be to ensure that the organization’s Strategic Plan, Strategic Communications Plan, and Strategic Development Plan are completed and implemented. She will be responsible for overseeing internal operations, finances, revenue development, external relations, and increasing the visibility of TCLF’s programs, among other duties.
“We are pleased to welcome Lina, who has a broad array of interests and tremendous professional credentials, to TCLF,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s president and CEO. “As we prepare to launch our new website, mount an exhibition about Lawrence Halprin, and develop the next three-to-five years of programming, we will be very fortunate to have such a seasoned and respected professional as part of the team," he added.
Cortas has served as COO, finance director, and development director with responsibilities for operations, governance, strategic planning, organizational development, fundraising, finance, grant management, human resources, and strengthening relationships among stakeholders. For the past six years, she has worked as an independent consultant with local, national, and international organizations in areas ranging from health care to affordable housing, microlending, and agroforestry. She has directed and implemented fundraising efforts and strategies, reached out to individual donors, organized outreach and fundraising events, developed and standardized messages used in fundraising and grant seeking, and developed organizational, program, and project budgets.
Between 2000 and 2009, Cortas served as the director of finance, and later as COO, of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, where she built a solid financial and operations infrastructure during a period of dynamic growth and change: membership increased by 100 percent; staff doubled to 15; and the budget increased from $3.3 million to a high of $5.3 million, enabling growth in all programs and establishing sustainable income streams. From 1997 to 2000, Cortas was the business manager at Tudor Place Historic House and Garden. She has served as treasurer on several non-profit boards and also owned and operated Opus in Green, a landscape design/build firm where she worked as a horticulturist with landscape architects and designers. She holds a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the American University of Beirut and a master’s degree in entomology from Penn State University. She currently volunteers with Casey Trees and Restore Mass Ave, planting and caring for trees in Washington, D.C.
