Bora Un
Consultant
Bora is a Chicago-based strategic consultant with 20 years of experience working across arts and culture, higher education, journalism and media, NGOs, and philanthropy. Prior to starting her own independent consultant practice, Bora held a number of advancement roles at the University of Chicago where she led cross-functional teams to design and execute enterprise-level engagement strategies and multiple campaign initiatives including the launch of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, The Keller Center - Harris School of Public Policy, and the Chicago Careers in Arts, Journalism and Media program. She also engaged civic and philanthropic leaders to develop the "Arts and Public Life" engagement campaign, bridging the University community with Chicago’s arts and creative ecosystem.
Most recently, Bora served as a fractional managing director for ART WORKS Projects, a Chicago and The Hague-based visual advocacy organization that advanced global justice. There she led a strategic repositioning campaign to expand the organization’s impact and global reach as an artists’ bridge and creative incubator, providing curatorial and exhibition support to a range of clients and partners including the Chicago Parks District Arts and Culture Unit, The Hague Humanity Hub, Photoville NYC, Movies that Matter Film Festival, Villa Albertine, and the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. She has been invited to speak on panels for international fairs and conferences including the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, the Chicago Cultural Alliance, Illinois Arts Council’s One State Conference, International Center for Photography, and Night of Ideas.
As a culturally competent strategic consultant, Bora has partnered with executive leadership, internal and external stakeholders, community leaders, and cultural workers on projects that produce lasting organizational change through enhanced fundraising and marketing strategies, exhibitions and program management, community building, and resilience planning. In addition, Bora has served as a participatory grantmaker for the MacArthur Foundation’s Culture, Equity, and the Arts initiative, as well as a review panelist for the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs CityArts Grant. Bora received her MA in Creative Writing from The Graduate School at Northwestern University and her BA in English, with a minor in Creative Writing from Wellesley College. She also holds a certificate in Behavioral Science from the Booth School of Business Executive Education program.