Rachel Fink

Rachel L. Fink is the managing director of Cleveland Play House (CPH). A proud graduate of Cleveland Heights High School and Case Western Reserve University, Fink’s commitment to arts access, social justice and inclusive leadership was shaped by formative local arts experiences — and launched into action through an early internship at CPH. She later earned her M.F.A. in Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama (now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale) and has spent more than two decades leading transformative work in the American nonprofit theatre.

Fink spent 16 years at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where she founded and led the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, building it into a nationally recognized center for education and community engagement. Under her leadership, the School served thousands of youth and adults annually through theater training, youth leadership programs, teacher professional development, immersive experiences, and public events that positioned theater as a civic tool for learning and connection.

She went on to serve as managing director of Theatre Bay Area, one of the country’s largest regional performing arts service organizations, supporting over 300 theatre companies and 2,000 artists across the San Francisco Bay Area. She later joined Chicago’s Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company as executive director, where she helped guide the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing key operational shifts and civic partnerships during an unprecedented time for the field.

At CPH, Fink has championed operational stabilization, expanded community and civic partnerships, and fostered a revitalized internal culture, all while co-leading strategic and artistic planning alongside Artistic Director Michael Barakiva. Her work continues to position CPH as a vital civic and cultural anchor for the region.

She currently serves on the boards of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and CreativeOhio and is a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2026. A recognized national leader, she has co-led the Professional Association of Chicago Theatres, held fellowships with the Aspen Institute and University of Chicago, and was selected as the U.S. delegate for the British Council’s Cultural Leadership Programme, exploring international models of cultural policy and exchange. She has also been a member of artEquity’s national facilitator cohort. Together, these roles reflect a career grounded in both local impact and national leadership.