Adrienne Arsht is a national business leader and hands-on philanthropist whose background and experience allow her to apply business principles and savvy to numerous non-profit endeavors.

Adrienne Arsht is a respected national business leader and hands-on philanthropist whose background and experience allow her to apply business principles and savvy to her non-profit endeavors. 

A community-minded power broker, Arsht has taken a leading role promoting artistic, business and civic growth and development nationally and in the three cities among which she divides her time: Washington, D.C., New York and Miami.  In January of 2008, her commitment to the community and the arts took the form of a $30 million contribution to Miami’s Performing Arts Center.  With this contribution the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County secured its financial footing and ensured the quality cultural programming for future generations.  In January 2009, The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Arsht number 39 on its 2008 America’s 50 biggest donors list. In February 2009, Arsht co-funded a program called “Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative,” which provides free, confidential advice to struggling non-profit groups in the U.S.  Most recently, in October 2009, Arsht donated $5 million in support of musical theater programming at the Kennedy Center. Over the next ten years, The Adrienne Arsht Musical Theater Fund will provide support to produce and present a wide variety of musical theater productions at the Kennedy Center.    

Arsht is the daughter of the Honorable Roxana Cannon Arsht, the first female judge in the State of Delaware, and Samuel Arsht, a prominent Wilmington attorney. Upon graduation from Villanova Law School, Arsht was the 11th woman admitted to the Delaware bar – her mother having been the fifth.

She has built a legacy of using her past experiences to help the next generation of business leaders. 

Arsht began her career in law in Delaware in 1966. She joined the legal department of Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1969, becoming the youngest lawyer in her department and the first woman in the property, cargo and government relations departments, respectively.  After TWA, Arsht moved to Washington, DC in 1979 where she initially worked with a law firm, moving on to start her own title company before moving to Miami in 1996.

For more than 10 years, Arsht served as Chairman of the Board of TotalBank of Miami. Under her leadership, TotalBank grew from four locations to 14 locations with more than $1.4 billion in assets. The bank earned a solid reputation for highly personalized service and a strong commitment to the community. In November 2007, she sold the bank to Banco Popular Español, the third largest banking group in Spain. Arsht was named Chairman Emerita of TotalBank in January 2008.

Arsht serves on various national boards.  She is the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as a board member of the Metropolitan Opera, Best Buddies International and The Global Advisory Board of the Washington National Opera. She is a member of the Fine Arts Committee of the U.S. State Department and the Council on Foreign Relations and is also a fellow of The Aspen Institute.  In South Florida, she is Chairman of the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation, sits on the board of the University of Miami and Amigos For Kids and is a lifetime trustee of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. 

Over the years, Arsht has generously donated funds and resources to numerous organizations.  In 2004, Arsht became the first woman to join the Million Dollar Roundtable of United Way of Miami-Dade. In 2005, Arsht announced a $2 million gift to Goucher College, creating the Roxana Cannon Arsht Center for Ethics and Leadership, in honor of her late mother, a Goucher graduate. In October 2008, Arsht committed more than $6 million to the University of Miami. $3 million to support the university-wide Arsht Ethics Programs, $1 million to assist the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami and $2 million to support other University of Miami priorities.  In February 2009, Arsht announced a $750,000 contribution to Best Buddies International for the development of a Delaware chapter, specifically serving Hispanics and African-Americans with mental disabilities.

Arsht has received numerous awards and honors for her life-long contributions to both business and community.  Most recently, Arsht was presented with Casita Maria’s Gold Medal of Honor, The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis’ Buoniconti Fund Award and the Outstanding Philanthropist Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Greater Miami. Previous awards and honors include the South Florida Business Journal Ultimate CEO Award; induction into the Florida Council on Economic Education’s Business Hall of Fame; the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Finance for Florida; the Essie Silva Community Builder Award from the United Way; Dade Partners Exemplary Business Leader Award from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Serving the Arts and Shining Star Awards by the Arts & Business Council of Miami; and Woman Banker of the Year by the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

A graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Villanova Law School, Arsht is a member of the Delaware Bar. She was married to the late Myer Feldman, former counsel to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.