Deana Haggag is a program officer in Arts and Culture at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.  Prior to joining the Foundation in May 2021, Ms. Haggag was the president and CEO of United States Artists (USA), a national arts funding organization based in Chicago.  During her tenure, USA saw unprecedented growth, expanding its fellowship award program, launching the Berresford Prize, and developing coalition efforts to advance support for individual artists most notably including Artist Relief, a $25 million emergency initiative to support artists facing dire financial circumstances due to COVID-19, and Disability Futures, an initiative aimed at increasing the visibility of disabled creative practitioners across disciplines and geography and elevating their voices individually and collectively.  Before joining USA in February 2017, she was the executive director of The Contemporary, a nomadic and non-collecting art museum in Baltimore for four years. 

In addition to her leadership roles, Ms. Haggag lectures extensively, consults on various art initiatives, contributes to cultural publications, and has taught at institutions such as Johns Hopkins University and Towson University.  She is on the board of The Underground Museum, as well as the artistic director's council of Prospect.5 and advisory council of Recess. 

She received her MFA in curatorial practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BA from Rutgers University in art history and philosophy.  Additionally, she completed the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program in 2020, Stanford Impact Program for Arts Leaders in 2018, and was a Salzburg Global Fellow for Young Cultural Innovators in 2015.  Among other honors, she was most recently named a 2020 YBCA 100 Honoree.