Hilary Vartanian leads national & global strategic partnerships on behalf of Festival Napa Valley鈥� one of the top performing arts philanthropies in North America (The Arts for All Gala, now in its 18th year has raised more than $20mm raised for arts education) and a must-attend that draws more than 15,000 people annually to experience the best in global classical, jazz, dance and popular music hosted by prominent vintners in the Napa Valley.
A seasoned global media and development executive, she has held corporate executive management positions at Time Inc., Meredith, Hearst, Conde Nast and as the first female Vice President for Fortune Conferences, where she led development of the Fortune Global Forum,听Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, and other Fortune 500 CEO events.
In 2010, Hilary founded Meris Ventures, a New York-based management consultancy that develops strategic partnerships for arts organizations worldwide. Meris Ventures has worked with CBS, the Cannes, Hamptons, Toronto, Sundance and New York Film Festivals, SXSW, Sundance, the Van Gogh Museum, the Sino Americas Forum (in conjunction with the Interamerican Development Bank and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade), the Tony Awards, and the Spirit Awards among others.
In philanthropy, Hilary led development for two iconic film organizations, The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Gotham Film & Media Institute. Her "Spotlight on Women Filmmakers" multi-year partnership was featured in a 2013 HBO documentary. Hilary served as a production executive on feature films Hide Your Smiling Faces (World Premiere NYFF) and Write When You Get Work (World Premiere SXSW).
Hilary is a proud Forever Buff and holds a BA in English from the University of Colorado听Boulder.
Her son Alex Borinstein (Comm, MediaSt鈥�22) works for Kroenke Sports in marketing for the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets, and her stepfather taught at CU. She is the editor of Peace Prayers (HarperCollins). In 2023, she was named to the Advisory Board of the University of Colorado College of Media, Communication听and Information.