Nancy Warzer-Brady is an arts education leader and community engagement specialist whose work has spanned over three decades across dance, music, museums, humanities, and higher education. Throughout her career, she has focused on building bridges between people, cultures, and communities and expanding access to the arts as a pathway for creative expression, connection, and lifelong learning.

As Education and Community Engagement Director at Backhausdance since 2019, Nancy advances the organization’s vision of Dance Every Day for Every Body through the development and administration of inclusive dance education programs for children, youth, college students, educators, families, adults, and seniors. She cultivates strategic collaborations with schools, cities, colleges and higher education institutions, arts and cultural organizations, and community partners throughout Orange County and Southern California.

Originally from New York City, Nancy has held senior leadership positions with leading arts and educational organizations on the east and west coasts including the Bowers Museum, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the Orange County Performing Arts Center (now Segerstrom Center for the Arts), UC Irvine Extension (now Division of Continuing Education), the Council for the Advancement of Citizenship in Washington, D.C., the Capital Region Center Institute for Arts and Education and the Capital District Humanities Program at the University at Albany, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Nancy earned a B.A. in Art History from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and an M.S. in Education from the University at Albany, State University of New York. She pursued doctoral studies in the Philosophy of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she studied aesthetic education and was deeply influenced by philosopher and professor Maxine Greene.

A passionate advocate for the arts, Nancy believes dance and creativity are essential to education, vibrant communities, and human connection. She is dedicated to championing the power of the arts to enrich lives, nurture well-being, foster belonging, and inspire future generations of artists, educators, and all learners.