Sarah

SARAH LYDING is president of The Music Man Foundation, a national, $85 million foundation dedicated to permanently changing the way music is used to improve education, health care and community wellbeing.
Named in honor of Meredith Willson, who wrote the Tony-winning musical “The Music Man,” the Foundation is unique among artist legacy foundations in that 100% of profits from licensing royalties go to the community.
Lyding has spent her entire career working in the arts, crediting her early exposure as a driving factor, and citing the value of the arts in building empathy for others and understanding of diverse cultures and viewpoints.
Under her leadership, the Foundation has awarded more than $22 million to 80 organizations. As president, Lyding led a reimagining of the Foundation’s mission, transitioning its support to organizations using music to achieve systemic change. Through that effort, she has established relationships with leading governmental, music, health and academic institutions including the World Health Organization, LA Phil, LA Opera, the NeuroArts Blueprint and UC San Francisco.
Lyding has been an evangelist for foundations to support arts advocacy, speaking to audiences across the country and leading the creation of the Foundation’s Strengthening the Sector grants. The grants support initiatives to increase public funding for the arts, advocate for arts education and pro-artists policies, and raise awareness about the impact of arts on health and wellbeing.
Previously she was the executive director and the first staff member for The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation. She managed a city-wide celebration for the production of Hana’s Suitcase at Seattle Children’s Theatre including partnerships with the Seattle Police Department, the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle, tribal groups, the playwright, and local schools to share the story of youth during the Holocaust.
Also at Biller Family Foundation, she led workforce development programs, launching BankWork$TM across multiple cities and kicking off CareerWork$ Medical. The programs now operate in more than a dozen cities across the country. Prior to that, she led fundraising efforts at the Pasadena Playhouse and Center Theatre Group. She grew fundraising by more than 30 percent her first year at Pasadena Playhouse.
Lyding served as a member of the Advisory Board for New Venture Fund’s Creativity in Teaching and Learning Fund and on the Steering Committees for the LA Arts Recovery Fund and the LA County Arts Ed Collective. She served for ten years on the Board of Directors of Boston Court Pasadena, including two years as board chair. She currently serves as treasurer of St. Bede School parent association board.