The Artemis Agency - H 2016
Ricky MiddlesworthA version of this story first appeared in the March 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Call it the supergroup of altruism.
Four veteran philanthropic advisors have joined forces to launch The Artemis Agency, a firm dedicated to providing support for the philanthropic strategies of individual, corporate and nonprofit clients. Each of the founders has deep connections and experience in Hollywood: Sarah Adolphson is coming from her post as executive director of the WME Foundation, and former CAA Foundation program director Michelynn Woodard most recently served as president of the foundations for Dr. Phil McGraw and his wife, Robin McGraw. Meanwhile, Geffen Playhouse chief development officer Regina Miller and Catherine Kimmel, lead West Coast consultant for Bono’s anti-poverty ONE Campaign, will continue to serve in those roles alongside their other Artemis duties.
Miller’s current clients from her RSM Consulting practice are signing with the new agency — named after the Greek goddess of the hunt — along with several of the founders’ other former clients and employers, including WME | IMG, ONE, Lady Gaga’s youth-empowerment-focused Born This Way Foundation, Geffen Playhouse and Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, as well as Al Gore’s The Climate Reality Project, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s faith-based Kershaw’s Challenge. Artemis will work with them on a comprehensive, long-term basis, a departure from how philanthropic consultants typically operate. “There are firms that specialize in campaigns, there are firms that specialize in fundraising, there are firms that specialize in programmatic strategy, but there are very few that do it all,” Adolphson tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I found in working with a lot of our clients at WME that there was a need to find that one-stop shop, and the expertise among the four of us covers all of those different areas.”
Artemis will help clients identify opportunities that match their passions and resources, and then develop creative and sustainable programs and strategies to leverage their considerable platforms. “It’s not just that immediate, ‘Congratulations, you raised a significant amount of money at this event’ — we want to be there the morning after to help clients determine how to spend that money wisely,” Adolphson says. “We’re here for you from soup to nuts.”
