Stephen Butler
Executive Director
Stephen Butler is a native of Onondaga County. He received his BA in Theatre from Oswego State University and relocated to New York City. During his years in NYC Stephen worked as the Director of Membership/Programs for the Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York, the Alliance of New York State Arts Councils and at several producing organizations including Manhattan Theatre Club, the Hudson Guild Theater, and Creative Alternatives of New York, a drama-therapy organization serving the greater metropolitan region. He was also an AEA stage manager. Stephen is a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship recipient in Strategic Planning. He returned to Syracuse and obtained a Masters of Arts in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He also serves as the Executive Director of CNY Arts, Inc.
Elizabeth Lane
Director of Programs
Elizabeth Lane is a native of Madison County and a graduate of Purchase College with a B.A. in Arts Management. Elizabeth first became familiar with CNY Arts (then the Cultural Resources Council) as a performer for seven years in The Adventures of Rudolph. Liz has served as the Decentralization and Grants Manager for CNY Arts since 2013. Prior to working at CNY Arts, Elizabeth gained experience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City Ballet, and the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, and locally at Syracuse City Ballet and the former Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.
Charlie Poag
Film Fund Program Officer
Charlie is originally from Asheville, North Carolina, and is a fifteen-year veteran from the U.S. Marine Corps. He started his military career as a Combat Videographer supporting military operations around the world, then later became a Communications Strategy and Operations Chief, specializing in information management and information operations. Charlie first came to Syracuse in 2008 to attend the Military Visual Journalism program at Syracuse University where he met his future wife, Cari, while she was completing graduate school at the time. After the military, Charlie, his wife, and their two children made DeWitt their home. He first came to CNY Arts on a fellowship program for communications then later became a program officer for the CNY Film Fund and CNY Short Film Competition.
