Michael Sticka
National Sawdust Board
Michael Sticka has led the GRAMMY Museum® since June 2018. He oversees the strategic direction of the Museum, including all financial and programmatic aspects, and its internationally known brand. Annually, the GRAMMY Museum produces more than 100 public programs & concerts, impacts over 31,000 students through its education programs, and curates 20 exhibitions. Sticka led the merger of the GRAMMY Foundation and GRAMMY Museum to create the GRAMMY Museum FoundationTM, successfully blending the programs and cultures of both organizations. After his first year leading the Museum, he accomplished double-digit year-over-year growth in earned revenue and established its first Development department to diversify contributed revenue. In 2019, he raised funding for, and oversaw, a multi-million- dollar renovation of the Museum and built the only gallery in California dedicated to Latin music. An advocate for inclusion, under his leadership the Museum became the first in the state of California to be named a Certified Autism Center® and adopted its first DEIA policy. Once COVID-19 hit, he led the Museum’s team to launch COLLECTION:liveTM, the official streaming service of the GRAMMY Museum, featuring more than 1,000 hours of artist programs and educational content, significantly scaling its brand and reach to music lovers worldwide.
He led community and industry stakeholders to collaboratively develop both of the Museum’s strategic plans, guiding attainable financial sustainability and the growth of its mission. With a focus on successful programmatic expansion, he formed a partnership with the City of New York to launch the East Coast presence of the Museum’s acclaimed Public Programs; and led the collaborative effort with the Recording Academy® to revamp the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®, among other key initiatives. In 2022, he recruited some of music’s biggest stars (Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa, Rosalía, and Shawn Mendes) to co-chair the Museum’s Campaign for Music Education, which surpassed its initial $5 million goal in less than 12 months.
Sticka's career in the arts began in Dayton, Ohio, as a theater box office associate and now spans more than 20 years. His artistic passion led him to co-found a regional theater company in Dayton that produced innovative plays and musicals using puppetry. In 2021, he was inducted in his high school Hall of Fame; and in 2023, he received Variety Magazine Hitmaker's first "Music Education & Advocacy Leadership Award." A true lover of the arts, music, theater, food, and golf, Sticka lives in L.A. with his husband, Brian, and their two dogs.