Redhouse Appoints New Executive Director

Redhouse has announced its new Executive Director, Franklin G. Fry, to lead the organization into its next stage of growth and opportunity. Fry will join Redhouse with over 30 years of nonprofit management and leadership experience, with expertise in fundraising, collaborative programming, strategic planning, sponsor and donor cultivation and community engagement.

For more than twelve years, Fry has been providing leadership to the American Heart Association as the Executive Director of their Greater Syracuse region, and more recently, the Northeast Pennsylvania region. During his time with the American Heart Association, Fry created, managed and fulfilled a $1.7 million annual budget, achieved 100% fiscal growth for the organization over seven years, and created and led diversity initiatives with the Syracuse City Schools and with local organizations supporting our Black community residents to advance heart health. With a focus on creating sustainable change, Fry led efforts to enact laws to raise the age to purchase tobacco products and to ensure all area students receive education on how to perform Hands-Only CPR. Fry also brings leadership and event production experience after working more than 30 years in New York City with amfAR the Foundation for AIDS Research, Stonewall 25: International March on the United Nations, and Heritage of Pride/NYC Pride.

Notably for Redhouse, Fry, a member of Actors Equity Association, also has 10 years of Stage Management experience, and he is looking forward to bringing his passion for the theater to this new role.

Fry shares, "Theater is not just performance art, it can provoke a thoughtful dialogue about how our community works and responds to current events and the world around us. When done well, it illuminates our circumstances and causes us to be connected to things greater than ourselves. Theater can be a place to hear the voices of those we haven't known to understand our mutual commonalities. This is especially important in terms of bringing theater to our area youth, giving them voices and empowering them to envision a future Central New York that is more representative of their own experiences."

Franklin joins Redhouse as Executive Director to lead the organization into its next phase of growth for both its leading theater experiences and its theater arts education programming. Fry will astutely manage all aspects of Redhouse, including but not limited to overall operations, annual budgets, financial progress, sponsor and donor relations, community engagement initiatives and strategic planning. Fry's passion for the theater will be an invaluable asset to Redhouse, as he is invested in building strong connections to both audiences and sponsors, and plans to ensure more people can be part of the Redhouse experience.

Franklin Fry will officially start at Redhouse on May 8, 2023. Fry lives in Skaneateles with Alberto Fry, his husband of nearly 25 years.