Michael Barker (principal & CEO, Pursued by a Bear LLC) has more than 20 years’ experience leading mission-driven institutions. Since 2022, he has worked as an fractional executive, fundraiser, and management consultant with leading artistic institutions including Trinity Repertory Company, HERE Arts Center, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. He was the managing director of southern Connecticut’s regional theater, Westport Country Playhouse, for seven seasons. He previously served as the managing director of Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, California, general manager of Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, California, and managing director for the Los Angeles classical theater ensemble The Antaeus Company. Before moving to California, Barker was associate managing director at Yale Repertory Theatre and managing director of Yale Summer Cabaret, and produced the first annual Carlotta Festival of New Plays. He was Seattle Repertory Theatre’s 2008 Managing Director Fellow. Barker holds an MFA in theater management from Yale School of Drama and an MBA from Yale School of Management. At Yale, he was the recipient of the Daniel and Helene Sheehan Scholarship for theater management and a Kosciusko Scholarship for outstanding students of Polish descent. He served on the Yale School of Management Alumni Advisory Board, and is a current Yale Alumni Association delegate. He is a proud member of the inaugural class of artEquity diversity, equity and inclusion facilitators. He served for four years as an elected member of the Board of Finance in his family’s adopted hometown of Trumbull, Connecticut.