Kirsten Poole

Kirsten Poole is the Director of Finance & Operations for the Washington Ballet.

With 25 years of small business and non-profit finance, operations, and business management experience, Kirsten brings her passion for the arts, events, and all things Washington DC to her role.

Prior to joining the Washington Ballet, Kirsten served for six years as the Director of Business Operations for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press where she led finance and operations during a period when the organization’s budget and staff grew three-fold.

Previously Kirsten served as Business Manager for The Global Biological Standards Institute and consulted with local small businesses, implementing systems for improved operations resulting in increased efficiency and profitability. Prior to those engagements, held the position of Business Manager at the National Cherry Blossom Festival, another beloved Washington DC non-profit organization, where she oversaw finance, provided support to the board of directors and managed the earned income programs through five Festival cycles, including the 2012 “Gift of Trees” celebration.

Early in her career Kirsten was chef/owner of Kirsten’s Café in Silver Spring, Maryland where her loyal following of scone and quiche-lovers convinced her to cater everything from baby showers to coming of age celebrations to commitment ceremonies. While no longer cooking or baking professionally she enjoys creating special occasion meals for friends and family and has been known to make wedding cakes for special friends and colleagues.

Kirsten is a graduate of Rice University and the Culinary Institute of America.  In her free time, she serves on the board of the Friends of Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site, a nonprofit organization in her native Delaware, and works on the restoration of an historic rowhouse in Baltimore where she will eventually live. Whenever possible she spends time with three adult children, Hunter, Eleanor (Ellie) and Henry.