Aug 2027
Orientation Week
Sep 2027
Courses Begin
Apr 2028
Patagonia Summit
Jun 2028
Europe Summit
Aug 2028
Courses Complete
Oct 2028
MBAs Granted
Dec 2028
Graduation Week
Tuition for the 12-month MBA is $12,600 USD, equivalent to $140 per course credit.
The MBA is kept financially accessible through an automatic $10,000 USD Fellowship Bursary awarded to every accepted participant, reducing the full program cost from $22,600 USD to $12,600 USD.
Flights are an additional expense for those electing to travel for an Innovation Summit. However, international travel is optional and not required to meet graduation requirements.
“The Global Arts MBA fuses creative practice with real business acumen and impact”
MICHAEL BOBBITT
Opera America
President
2025 Global Arts MBA
“The journey deepened my leadership and strengthened my organization”
JESSICA TUFTE
City College of NY
Analytics Director
2020 Global Arts MBA
“Collaboration and innovation flourished through our diverse, high-performing cohort”
NAGHAM WEHBE
Arts Consulting Group
President
2024 Global Arts MBA
“The Global Arts MBA sharpened my ability to lead bold creative change”
ANTONIO LOPES
Tremor Festival Azores
Co-Director
2024 Global Arts MBA
“The Innovation Summit opened new insights through industry exchange”
KATHERINE MAK
Hong Kong Government
Senior Manager
2024 Global Arts MBA
“The Global Arts MBA shaped my vision into action and strategic clarity”
NICOLE DE WEEVER
ASL Foundation St. Maarten
Founder
2024 Global Arts MBA
“The Innovation Summit was an inspiring forum to
colaborate in person”
KATE BATTENFELD
San Diego Conservatory
CEO
2024 Global Arts MBA
Industry-focused
Return to your organization with a well-honed action plan for prototyping solutions around a business challenge you currently face.
Learn how to lead reflectively and authentically by leveraging your innate talents while addressing areas for personal growth.
Deliver critical value at work with cutting-edge strategies and practical tactics designed to ensure strong outcomes.
Build high-performing teams that collaborate to develop innovative solutions, testable ideas, executable processes, and measurable results.
Overcome adversity by harnessing agile thought that responds dynamically to challenges in the face of uncertainty.
Acquire wide-ranging perspectives and a comprehensive framework to diagnose and remedy organizational challenges.
Apply proven methodologies that promote an effective working culture centered on collaboration, initiative, creativity, and accountability.
Drive key results and benchmarks to successfully enroll internal and external stakeholders.
Develop capacities that differentiate and connect your organization’s vision to clear outcomes.
Supercharge innovation within your organization by cultivating an opportunity-oriented entrepreneurial mindset.
Participant Profile
The Global Arts MBA provides creative leaders with an enhanced toolkit to drive accelerated career growth and sustainable impact. Cohort Members range from cultural managers, arts entrepreneurs, and industry executives to presenters, producers, curators, education leaders, career artists, and more.
Nancy Usher
Associations
2021 Cohort
President
Fine Arts Deans
Herman Marigny
Museums
2025 Cohort
NMAAHC Director
The Smithsonian
Anna Hiemstra
Competitions
2019 Cohort
Concours Manager
Prinses Christina
Claudia Curiel
Policymakers
2021 Cohort
Minister of Culture
Mexico
Ivan Henares
Heritage
2023 Cohort
Secretary-General
UNESCO Philippines
Elizabeth Helgeson
Presenters
2026 Cohort
Director | Planning
NY Philharmonic
Toufic Maatouk
Funders
2021 Cohort
Deputy CEO
Abu Dhabi Arts
Atteqa Malik
Curators
2023 Cohort
Founding Chair
Karachi Biennale
Alberto Acquilino
Technologists
2022 Cohort
Neuroinformatics
Google
Hailey Sadler
Anthropologists
2026 Cohort
Explorer
National Geographic
Jessica Philips
Artists
2023 Cohort
Principal Clarinet
Metropolitan Opera
Elsje Kibler
Strategists
2026 Cohort
Vice President
LA Phil
Olivier Tarpaga
Educators
2026 Cohort
Senior Lecturer
Princeton University
57
Nations
The 2027 Cohort brings together a robust network of dynamic change-makers in the arts across six continents, connecting the best and the brightest.
Roles
Job Growth
By generating more value for their organizations, Cohort Members increase average income by 18% & 32% in the first and second years after the MBA.
32%
The MBA journey empowers creative industry professionals in multidimensional roles who seek social science-based, entrepreneurial, and operational tools for enhanced impact and leadership.
Participants learn to effectively navigate the evolving landscape of the cultural sector through the curriculum’s unique balance of foundational coursework, tailored substreams, immersive field assignments, applied learnings, case studies, reflective labs, and growth-oriented retreats — all curated by top academic institutions to foster practical skills and actionable insights.
The Arts Innovation MBA curriculum empowers creative industry professionals in multi-dimensional leadership roles with powerful social science, innovation, entrepreneurial, and operational tools for accelerated career impact. The curriculum readies participants for the complex challenges of an evolving cultural sector through its unique balance of foundational coursework, tailored substreams, immersive field studies, innovation summits, applied learnings, reflective labs, and growth-oriented retreats, all curated by top academic institutions to build practical skills and actionable insights.
Step 1
Global candidates register interest in applying by sharing key educational achievements, current professional roles, relevant background accomplishments, and future career objectives.
Step 2
TOP CANDIDATES
INVITED TO APPLY
The most highly qualified registrants are invited to apply based on merit. Registrants who are invited to apply receive detailed application instructions and info session dates.
Step 3
LIVE COMMITTEE
INTERVIEWS
The MBA Selection Committee & Advisory Council requests follow-up interviews with select candidates after receiving and evaluating their applications.
Step 4
GLI FELLOWSHIPS
AWARDED
80 MBA Fellowships are carefully awarded on a rolling basis as the deadline approaches to exceptional applicants from wide-ranging cultural backgrounds.
To register, candidates must meet the following requirements:
English Proficiency: Strong spoken, written, and comprehension skills.
Five-ten years of leadership experience in the creative sector.
Participants should also have flexibility for:
Attending live 2-hour seminars on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00-5:00 PM ET.
Attending a live seminar on Thursdays from 10:00AM-12:00 PM ET.
Optional live 2-hour seminars on Fridays from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM ET.
Asynchronous Participation: Available for those unable to attend live sessions
Qualified registrants are invited to submit the following materials:
Applicants are notified of their status on a rolling basis. While most receive a response within two weeks of submitting their application, processing may take up to four weeks during high-volume periods closer to the application deadline. As spaces in the program fill before the deadline, early submission is strongly encouraged.
Accepted MBA Fellows must submit a tuition deposit to secure their place in the Cohort. Enrollment is confirmed only upon receipt of this payment, which can be made via credit card, check, or wire transfer. All tuition payments are nonrefundable.
Prospectus
To register and download the prospectus, complete the form below.
The Admissions Team reviews submissions on a rolling basis and invites qualified candidates to apply.
Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) completed before the program start date.
In rare cases, The Global Arts MBA admits highly accomplished artists without a bachelor’s degree, based on at least a decade of elite-level professional experience.
Minimum Age: 21 by the program start date.
English Proficiency: Strong spoken, written, and comprehension skills.
Availability to attend live 2-hour seminars on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from either 9:00-11:00 AM ET or 3:00-5:00 PM ET.
Optional live 2-hour seminars on Fridays from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM ET.
Invitations to apply for The Global Arts MBA are extended following a screening of each registrant’s academic and professional experience. Additional background information may be requested to ensure a thorough assessment before an invitation is issued.
Yes. Cultural entrepreneurs, managers, administrators, educators, presenters, producers, and public officials working in the arts are encouraged to apply regardless of specific training in the arts.
In most cases, a bachelor’s degree is required. However, in exceptional circumstances, the Academic Admissions Board may grant a Special Degree Exemption to accomplished dancers, musicians, actors, filmmakers, and other career artists who began working professionally at a young age and have at least a decade of elite-level experience. This highly selective pathway acknowledges that many of the world’s most celebrated artists forgo formal education to pursue their craft at the highest levels. Exemptions are granted on a limited, case-by-case basis, reflecting The Global Leaders Institute’s commitment to recognizing and advancing the leadership potential of top creative professionals.
Data from The Global Arts MBA graduates indicates that Fellows typically dedicate 10–12 hours per week to their studies. The curriculum is intentionally designed with working arts professionals in mind, offering a structure that enhances – rather than disrupts – their ongoing professional commitments.
In fact, the Admissions Committee values full-time employment as a strength in an application, recognizing it as an opportunity for Fellows to directly apply program insights in real time, creating measurable value within their organizations and advancing their professional impact throughout the year.
This weekly commitment encompasses live seminars, collaborative team projects, and individual coursework. It does not, however, account for two key experiential components: an Industry Immersive, a flexible field assignment tailored to individual professional goals, and the Innovation Summit, an intensive, elective week-long experience with international faculty. Both components are designed to integrate seamlessly into a Fellow’s schedule, with options for remote or in-person participation and time requirements concentrated within specific, limited periods.
Fellowships announced: Rolling basis
Orientation: August 2027
Courses Begin: September 2027
Innovation Summit (elective): April & June 2028*
Graduation: October 2028
Tuition for the 12-month, 90 ECTS-credit MBA is $12,600 USD, equivalent to $140 per course credit.
The MBA is kept financially accessible through an automatic $10,000 USD Fellowship Bursary awarded to every accepted participant, reducing the full program cost from $22,600 USD to $12,600 USD.
If you are invited to The Global Arts MBA, your place in the Cohort is only confirmed upon receipt of your tuition payment.
The terms, timetables, and conditions of tuition payments are outlined in the acceptance package.
All tuition payments are non-refundable.
Yes. Admitted Fellows have the option to set up monthly financing by credit card, allowing tuition to be paid in installments over the duration of the Global Arts MBA.
The Global Arts MBA serves as a professional development resource for arts professionals, including managers, entrepreneurs, and leaders across the cultural sector. Many Cohort Members secure partial or full sponsorship from their home organizations, recognizing the tangible value they bring back to their workplaces throughout the program. GLI provides each Fellow’s sponsoring organization with regular progress updates to support this institutional backing, highlighting learning milestones and professional growth.
In addition to a fully accredited MBA in Arts Innovation diploma awarded on summative completion of The Global Arts MBA curriculum, as sub-components within the learning journey, Cohort Members receive a range of individual module certificates signed by curating institutions confirming mastery of a given unit’s critical concepts and learnings.
Questions?
admissions@globalleadersinstitute.org
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