Catherine Morris

Catherine T. Morris is a proud mother, social entrepreneur, philanthropist, and visionary, who works at the intersection of culture, spatial justice and movement building. As a cultural strategist, Ms. Morris has spent the last 25+ years supporting and advocating for BIPOC artists and creatives, producing shows, developing opportunities and platforms as well as mobilizing and engaging local audiences to experience the arts from a Black perspective. 

Currently, she is the Director of Arts & Creativity at The Boston Foundation, where she leads the strategic thinking, evaluation and implementation around grantmaking  and the ways in which Foundation can best serve artists, communities and arts-supporters-at-large. 

Ms. Morris is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Fest, an nonprofit organization that has built a cultural movement of breaking down racial and social barriers to arts, music and culture for communities and artists of color across Greater Boston and beyond. Since 2015, BAMS Fest has employed, supported and presented 1,100+ local artists, provided 600+ jobs to creative entrepreneurs, activated (70+) public spaces and has attracted over (330,000+) attendees to their programs. 

Among many of Catherine’s many awards, honors and recognitions, she received the 2024 Arthur Fiedler Achievement Award for Bringing Arts to the Public, the 2022 Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art, and was named one of Boston Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. She has served as a thought leader on panels with institutions such as Berklee College of Music, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Emerson College, Longy School of Music, Northeastern University, Simmons University, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Esplanade Association, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Museum of Fine Arts.  

Catherine is a proud alumna of Temple University School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management in Philadelphia, PA, and has received her Masters of Science from Simmons University (Boston, MA).