THE COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION RECOGNIZES GROWTH
WITH STRATEGIC PROMOTIONS
The Country Music Association has announced recent promotions, further enhancing the vital roles across multiple teams and departments.
Michelle Kirk has been promoted to Executive Director, CMA Foundation, advancing from her previous role as Senior Director, CMA Foundation. In this role, Kirk leads CMA’s philanthropic arm and its team, setting the CMA Foundation’s strategy and overseeing its investments in music education, programs, fundraising, partnerships and national impact. She works with educators, community partners and the Country Music industry to expand opportunities for students to experience the power of music. Kirk first joined CMA in 2012 as Strategic Partnerships Coordinator, moving her way up to Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships before transitioning her career to become a Brand Partnerships Agent at WME in 2015. She rejoined CMA in 2019 as Director, Integrated Marketing and served as the Senior Director of Integrated Marketing prior to joining the CMA Foundation team as Senior Director.
“Michelle has spent her career building relationships that move this industry, and she brings that same instinct to the CMA Foundation every day,” says Brittany Schaffer, CMA Incoming Chief Executive Officer. “Her work with the music education community and the Country Music industry has strengthened the CMA Foundation’s impact for students, teachers and education partners across the country. Michelle leads with heart and a clear strategic vision, and I’m thrilled to see her step into this role.”
Sydnie Hickey has been promoted to Director, Lifecycle Marketing, advancing from her previous role as Senior Manager, Email Marketing. In her new role, Hickey will lead CMA’s lifecycle marketing strategy across email and SMS, using audience data, segmentation, automation and personalization to build stronger connections throughout the audience journey. She will oversee strategy, design and copy direction while developing engagement strategies that support key initiatives including the CMA Awards, CMA Fest, CMA membership and the CMA Foundation, with a focus on driving audience growth, engagement, conversion and retention. Hickey will also continue to play a key role in CMA’s ticket marketing, fan engagement and first-party data strategies. Before joining CMA in 2022, Hickey served as Marketing Growth Manager at Grace Management Group, building on earlier experience in venue marketing at Bon Secours Wellness Arena and the University of Rhode Island.
“Sydnie has played an integral role in evolving how CMA connects with our audiences,” says Catherine Frizzell, CMA Vice President, Marketing. “From expanding our lifecycle marketing efforts across email, SMS, ticketing and fan engagement to helping us make smarter use of audience data to drive meaningful results. She has a unique ability to identify opportunities, build solutions collaboratively, and connect the work back to our broader business goals. I’m incredibly proud of Sydnie’s growth and excited to see her continue to expand her leadership and impact in this new role.”
Reuben Schwartz has been promoted to Director, Business Intelligence, advancing from his previous role as Senior Manager, Business Intelligence. As Director, Schwartz will continue to lead CMA’s data warehouse, CRM, and dashboard efforts, providing strategic direction for the organization’s data infrastructure and standard operating procedures. Alongside this role, he will lead the cross-departmental Data Architecture group driving data-backed decision making across the organization. Schwartz joined CMA in 2023 after serving as Manager of Business Strategy and Intelligence for the Nashville Predators, building on earlier analyst experience at Finch Brands and MarketCast.
“Reuben has become instrumental in how CMA collects, manages, and activates data across the organization,” says Michael Farris, CMA Vice President, Business Strategy and Insights. “In his first two and a half years at CMA, he’s evolved our entire data tech stack and championed how every department distills value from our data ecosystem. His ability to build trusted partnerships across every team, manage key vendor relationships, and develop the people around him has made him an indispensable leader.”
Additional CMA promotions include:
- Ansley Carlson has been promoted to Account Executive, Brand Partnerships, having previously served as Project Manager, Brand Partnerships.
- Katie Karl has been promoted to Senior Manager, Ticketing, having previously served as Manager, Ticketing.
About the Country Music Association
Founded in 1958, the Country Music Association is the first trade organization formed to promote a type of music. CMA created the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 to recognize artists and industry professionals with Country Music’s highest honor. Music industry professionals and companies across the U.S. and around the globe are members of CMA. The organization serves as an educational and professional resource for the industry and advances the growth of Country Music around the world. This is accomplished through CMA’s core initiatives: the CMA Awards, which annually recognize outstanding achievement in the industry; CMA Fest, which benefits the CMA Foundation and music education and is taped for a three-hour network television special, “CMA Fest”; and “CMA Country Christmas.” All of CMA’s television properties air on ABC.
