Lea Sutherlin joined the Regional Arts Commission in March 2021 as an administrative consultant. She is a native of Sacramento, California, and has more than 30 years of administrative experience, which began with her military service in the United States Army. She worked at Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU), St. Louis’ only Historically Black College/University (HBCU) for over 20 years in the Office of the President as executive assistant, director of internal operations and Board liaison.
While at Harris-Stowe, Lea’s love for the arts was evident by her volunteerism in developing plays and performances for student participation, along with assisting in coordinating other various forms of artistic expression on HSSU’s campus. She considers it great opportunity to bring her strong administrative and organizational skills in supporting the RAC team and the mission of the organization.
In her role as Executive Assistant and Commission Administrator, Lea is responsible for supporting Board Governance and Commission Administration, managing St. Louis City and County relationships regarding commission nominations and appointments, serves as the custodian of records and ensures RAC maintains Sunshine Law compliance. Lea also supports the President and CEO and staff, through coordination of internal and external outreach activities and efforts, and ensures that RAC is compliant with all applicable record-keeping legal requirements per the Records Retention policy.
Lea earned her bachelor’s degree from Harris-Stowe State University with a major in Business Administration, and a master’s in Human Resource Development from Indiana State University.