Gayle Ober
Outgoing President

Gayle Ober is the outgoing president of the George Family Foundation, where she has led all aspects of the Foundation’s grantmaking, investments and operations, including advising and assisting the trustees in meeting their grantmaking goals and serving as the Foundation’s first point of contact to the community. Ms. Ober has served in this role since February 2010 and will retire from the Foundation at the end of December 2021.

Ms. Ober serves the next generation of nonprofit leaders through mentoring and occasional speaking and instructional engagements at seminars and meetings across the U.S. From 2003 to 2017, Ms. Ober served as an instructor in the Arts & Cultural Leadership graduate program at the University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing Education. She is currently on the faculty of the True North Leadership program at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley, California.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Ober was the director of Classical Music Programming for American Public Media|Minnesota Public Radio (APM|MPR). Based in Minnesota, APM|MPR is one of the largest producers of classical music broadcast content and brings award-winning programs to more than 4.6 million people each week. Before joining APM|MPR, she served as the director of Arts, Culture and Entertainment for the City of Saint Paul in Mayor Randy Kelly’s administration. Ms. Ober was the executive director of the Dale Warland Singers from 2000 to 2005.

Ms. Ober serves the nonprofit community through her current and past service on a variety of boards and committees including the Mardag Foundation, Chorus America, Schubert Club, The Rose Ensemble, The Saint Paul Foundation, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera and others.

Ms. Ober holds a Master of Arts degree in nonprofit management from Hamline University in Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of Minnesota.

Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn