Giles Li

As Director of Arts + Creativity at Barr, Giles Li leads the program’s strategies to amplify the power and possibilities of the arts to inspire and realize a just and thriving Massachusetts. Before his appointment as Director in 2025, Giles served as senior program officer for Arts + Creativity since 2020, with a particular focus on implementing two strategies within the portfolio: advancing the field’s capacity to adapt, take risks, and engage changing communities in new ways; and fostering opportunities to connect the arts to other disciplines and sectors.

Giles came to Barr following nearly fourteen years with the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), the last seven years as CEO. Under his leadership, BCNC led a community visioning process to develop and open the Pao Arts Center in 2017, a unique community-based arts and cultural facility leveraging the strengths of a diverse group of partners. Giles also led BCNC’s first-ever expansion outside of Boston, by opening an office in Quincy, MA in 2014. In addition, he oversaw a successful capital campaign that raised more than $3.5M in three years to fund expansion and innovation.

During his time leading BCNC, he was named the winner of the statewide 2017 Excellence in Leadership award from the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, and was also a member of the Barr Foundation Fellows Class of 2017. Giles is a published poet, spoken-word performance artist, and former cultural organizer; he holds a graduate degree in Public Affairs from UMass-Boston and is an alumnus of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice.