Casey Summar

Casey Summar is the managing partner of the Law Firm for Non-Profits and a national arts consultant on strategy, planning, and board development. As an attorney for non-profit organizations, her practice focuses on the nuances of tax-exemption, non-profit corporation law, board member liability, and revenue generation, as well as providing a springboard for new nonprofits with our firm's nationally renowned QuickLaunch service.

Ms. Summar received her J.D. with honors from Vanderbilt University Law School and graduated magna cum laude from Belmont University with a BFA in Photography. Prior to relocating to Southern California, she founded the Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in 2005, which grew to become the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville for which she served as Executive Director for more than a decade. In that role, Ms. Summar advised the boards and staff of over 400 nonprofits at all stages of organizational lifecycle from formation to operations to transition.

Ms. Summar was recognized for her work at the Arts & Business Council as the 2016 Nonprofit CEO of the Year for Middle Tennessee. She was also named one of Nashville’s Top 40 under 40 in 2015 and a finalist for the Nashville Emerging Leader Awards in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Ms. Summar is an alumnus of Leadership Music and Leadership Santa Barbara. She is a contributing author to CEB’s “Advising California Nonprofit Corporations.” Ms. Summar serves as a trustee for The Colleges of Law of Santa Barbara and Ventura, and on the board of the MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation.