Earlier this month, two new staff joined The Kresge Foundation. Kara Elliott-Ortega, who was previously chief of arts and culture for the city of Boston, is the Arts & Culture Program’s newest senior program officer. Victoria Shubelyak, who was most recently a finance operations intern at General Motors, has taken on a new role with the Investment team as risk & operations investment analyst.

In her prior role, Elliott-Ortega oversaw grantmaking, support for creative workers, public art, cultural real estate development and cross-sector place-based creative strategies. Rooted in community organizing and the belief that cultural investment is a requirement for realizing equitable futures, Kara serves in various arts advocacy and cultural organizing roles around the country.

“As a cultural planner, I have seen the power of integrating the arts into local government,” Elliott-Ortega said. “I’m excited to apply that experience at The Kresge Foundation and to learn from and support place-based creative strategies around the country.”

Elliott-Ortega is originally from Providence, Rhode Island, and spent a decade in Chicago, where she graduated with degrees in English literature and human rights from the University of Chicago. She also holds a Master in City Planning degree with a focus on urban design and the role of design thinking in federal climate resilience policy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Shubelyak is a recent graduate of Wayne State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration, dual majoring in finance and global supply chain management. While at General Motors, she was involved with the global product development of electric vehicle batteries and finance operations. She also held internships with Huntington and Cummins Inc.

“I chose Kresge because it allows me to combine my passion for finance with meaningful impact,” Shubelyak said. “Philanthropy drew me in because it’s about creating lasting change, and I’m excited to contribute to initiatives that improve lives while growing professionally.”

Victoria also completed coursework at Wayne State University, where she helped manage a student-managed investment fund established by Kresge to teach students portfolio management, stock selection and portfolio evaluation.