Since October of 2001, Margot H. Knight has been President & CEO of United Arts of Central Florida. She currently serves on the boards of both Orlando Inc. and Visit Orlando, as well as the executive board of myregion.org. In addition, Margot is part of the development committee of the SouthArts, serves on the advisory committees for both the school of Arts & Humanities and the school of Nonprofit Management at the University of Central Florida.

In 2004, the Girl Scouts of Citrus Council honored her with a Woman of Distinction award, and she received the Woman’s Achievement Award in Arts & Culture in 2006. In 2007 she received the prestigious national Michael Newton Award from Americans for the Arts (AFTA), and from 2007-2008, Margot chaired the United Arts Funds Council. She now serves on AFTA’s Private Sector Council.

Margot enjoyed a brief theatrical career before working in history and the arts. She was the oral historian for the Whitman County, WA Historical Society, director of the Oral History Office at Washington State University, and regional coordinator of the Washington Women’s Heritage Project. She was also the interim director of the Washington (State) Commission for the Humanities. As a consultant, she designed and raised funds for several oral history projects, including one on pioneering women journalists on behalf of the Washington Press Club Foundation.

She served as President & CEO of the United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County from 1998-2001 and Executive Director of the Idaho Commission on the Arts from 1990-1997. From 1985-1990, she was assistant director of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in Washington, D.C.

She has served on the leadership of the James Madison University Alumni Board, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, United Arts Funds Council, Western States Arts Federation, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and the Idaho Rural Partnership, which she chaired in 1996. In 1997, the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs honored her for her contributions to the Hispanic community.

Ms. Knight has a B.A. in Russian Studies and General Social Science, with minors in Theatre & Education from James Madison University, 1974.