Jenna Pollack

Jenna Pollack (she/her), MUPP, MA is a community-engaged researcher, dance professional, cultural organizer, urban planner, and educator. She specializes in progressive community economic development and cultural planning, and is committed to the integration of creative, communal, and civic infrastructure.

Between 2021 - 2023 she was a graduate research assistant for Dr. Stacey Sutton and for the UIC Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE), Community Researcher at Borderless Workshop for their ongoing Creative Grounds project, Researcher at Arts Alliance Illinois on their Illinois Creative Workforce Activation (ICWA) program, and the Summer Studio Manager for the UIC City Design Graduate Program for their community charrette module.

In her final years in Boston Jenna was an Arts Envoy to the U.S. Embassy in Colombia in collaboration with the University of Caldas, the Bessie Schonberg resident artist at The Yard on Martha's Vineyard, the Boston Center for the Arts Dancemaker Resident, a featured artist for the ICA Boston's First Friday series, co-editor of a documentary art film with support from the National Parks Service, and a finalist for the Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship for Choreography.

From 2017 - 2021 Jenna was an Assistant Professor of Dance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and a Visiting Lecturer at Salem State University. She was also an Adjunct for the Boston Ballet Trainees, Northern Essex Community College, and Dean College. She has worked as a dance educator for Lincoln Center Education, The New York City Department of Education, Together in Dance, Chinese Children’s Musical Theater Shenzhen, and the Arusha Arts Initiative in East Africa. From 2013 - 2022 she was on the Staff and U.S. Board of Directors for Springboard Danse Montréal.

Jenna and her creative teams have been commissioned by the Olin College of Engineering, New Movement Collaborative, Hubbard Street Professional Program, and The Reciprocity Collaborative. Individually, she has choreographed for Bridge Repertory Theater, InDance Barcelona, Theater Felina-Areal Mannheim, Urbanity Dance Company, Endicott College, Boston Moving Arts Productions, Brandeis University Theater Department, Salem State University Theater Department, Providence College Dance Department, and in NYC focused on immersive performance with The Center for Innovation in the Arts at Juilliard and Dau al Set Productions. Additionally, she was the Dramaturg and Rehearsal Director for The Davis Sisters' 2018-2019 season.

Jenna recently graduated from UIC with her second masters degree in Urban Planning and Policy, where she had a dual-concentration of economic development and community development. She also holds an Executive Certificate from University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice in Social Impact Strategy, an M.A. with Distinction in Choreography from the Institute of the Arts Barcelona/Liverpool John Moores University, a Certificate with Honors from Harvard Business School Online’s CORe program, and a B.F.A. in Dance Performance from The Juilliard School.