Ian-Julian Williams is the Program Officer/Arts at Opportunity Fund, where he guides the foundation’s arts grantmaking strategy, administering flexible funding for artists and small to midsized arts organizations while advancing equity, artistic expression, and experimentation. Ian collaborates with members of the Opportunity Fund team to implement the foundation’s arts funding vision and build relationships by engaging artists, grant partners, and funders to strengthen Pittsburgh’s arts ecosystem.

Prior to joining Opportunity Fund, Ian served as a Theater and Musical Theater Specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts. In that role, he administered a national grant portfolio focused on expanding equitable access to federal funding. Ian also played a key role in distributing emergency general operating support during the COVID-19 pandemic through the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan.

In addition to grant administration, Ian contributed to national research, convenings, and interagency initiatives focused on the evolving needs of arts nonprofits. He co-led research design for publications examining post-pandemic challenges facing the theater field, supported arts learning and workforce development initiatives, and collaborated with federal partners to expand access to disaster preparedness and recovery resources for arts organizations.

Before federal service, Ian worked in nonprofit theater and local government in Los Angeles. At the Department of Cultural Affairs, he managed grant programs supporting community-led, site-specific cultural activity across all city council districts. As a member of Center Theatre Group’s artistic staff, he helped launch Block Party, a program focused on strengthening 99-seat theaters across the Los Angeles region through resource and knowledge sharing and by presenting their work at CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Ian’s grantmaking practice is also shaped by his experience as a theater maker. He has served as an associate producer with Playwrights’ Arena and Circle X Theatre Co., as a company management assistant on the national tour of “Hamilton,” and as a line producer for international work presented in collaboration with Poland’s Adam Mickiewicz Institute. He was also an associate artist, dramaturg, and reading committee member with the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

His selected directing credits include a site-responsive production of “Wolves” by Steve Yockey and “Heartless: A Concert,” an ensemble-generated, interdisciplinary, funk music mash-up of Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler.” He has served as assistant director on “Father Comes Home from the Wars…” by Suzan-Lori Parks and the world premiere of “Archduke” by Rajiv Joseph at Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum, as well as on multiple productions at Arena Stage under the mentorship of Molly Smith and Wendy C. Goldberg.

Ian holds an MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University and a BA in Sociology from Georgetown University.