Leah Barish

In collaboration with Charcoalblue's leadership teams, Leah drives BD planning, strategy, and execution for Charcoalblue's theatre, acoustics and experience practices.

As Charcoalblue’s Associate Director for Business Development, I have the pleasure of working alongside our amazing BD and Marketing team to build strategies that introduce Charcoalblue to new people, projects, places, and opportunities all over the world. I come from the theatre industry where I was a fundraiser and producer for many years, wore many hats, and learned that developing authentic relationships was the common denominator in the work I was most proud of and most excited to do. I am passionate about weaving collaboration through everything we do–from producing exceptional proposals in partnership with our brilliant team, to brokering alliances to chase exciting new work.

What Excites You Most About Your Work

I love that no two days are the same at Charcoalblue.

A Place That Shaped or Inspires You

I live in Oak Park, Illinois, the first suburb to the west of Chicago; a village, technically; Illinois’ first municipal arboretum (and the fourth in the country); where Frank Lloyd Wright lived, worked, and built over 20 houses; where you can walk or bike to a commercial district from nearly every residence; where you see people you know everywhere you go; where we have not one but three world-class bakeries.

Cultural Value You Most Identify With

I think Charcoalblue’s creative ethos and approach to project work permeates everything we do at Charcoalblue–from how our People team think about training and developing our team’s talent, to how our Operations team takes care of our studios, at the heart of everything we do is the improvisational spirit of joy and imagination.