The Country Music Association (CMA) has announced five staff promotions, assigning new roles across music education, audience marketing, business intelligence, brand partnerships and ticketing.
CMA Foundation leadership
Michelle Kirk has advanced from Senior Director to Executive Director of the CMA Foundation, the association’s philanthropic arm.
Kirk leads the foundation’s team and strategy, overseeing music education investments, programs, fundraising, partnerships and national impact.
She works with educators, community partners and the country music industry to expand students’ access to music.
Kirk joined CMA in 2012 as Strategic Partnerships Coordinator and later became Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships. She moved to WME in 2015 as a Brand Partnerships Agent.
She returned to CMA in 2019 as Director, Integrated Marketing, subsequently becoming Senior Director of Integrated Marketing before moving to the foundation as Senior Director.
Brittany Schaffer, CMA’s Incoming Chief Executive Officer, credited Kirk’s work with education partners and the country music industry with strengthening the foundation’s impact on students and teachers nationwide.
Kirk’s contact address is mkirk@cmaworld.com.
Lifecycle marketing
Sydnie Hickey has moved from Senior Manager, Email Marketing to Director, Lifecycle Marketing.
She will lead CMA’s lifecycle marketing strategy across email and SMS (short message service), using audience data, segmentation, automation and personalization to guide audience communications.
Her responsibilities include strategy, design and copy direction, with engagement plans supporting the CMA Awards, CMA Fest, CMA membership and the CMA Foundation.
The role focuses on audience growth, engagement, conversion and retention. Hickey will also continue working on ticket marketing, fan engagement and first-party data strategies.
Before joining CMA in 2022, she was Marketing Growth Manager at Grace Management Group. Her earlier experience includes venue marketing at Bon Secours Wellness Arena and the University of Rhode Island.
Catherine Frizzell, CMA Vice President, Marketing, credited Hickey with expanding lifecycle marketing across email, SMS, ticketing and fan engagement, and improving the association’s use of audience data.
Hickey’s contact address is shickey@cmaworld.com.
Business intelligence
Reuben Schwartz has advanced from Senior Manager, Business Intelligence to Director, Business Intelligence.
He will continue leading CMA’s data warehouse, CRM (customer relationship management) and dashboard work, including strategic direction for data infrastructure and standard operating procedures.
Schwartz will also lead the cross-departmental Data Architecture group to support decisions informed by data throughout the association.
He joined CMA in 2023 after serving as Manager of Business Strategy and Intelligence for the Nashville Predators. He previously held analyst roles at Finch Brands and MarketCast.
Michael Farris, CMA Vice President, Business Strategy and Insights, said Schwartz had developed the association’s data technology systems during his first two and a half years at CMA.
Farris also credited Schwartz with supporting departments’ use of data, building relationships across teams, managing vendors and developing colleagues.
Schwartz’s contact address is rschwartz@cmaworld.com.
Brand partnerships and ticketing
- Ansley Carlson has moved from Project Manager, Brand Partnerships to Account Executive, Brand Partnerships. Carlson’s contact address is acarlson@cmaworld.com.
- Katie Karl has advanced from Manager, Ticketing to Senior Manager, Ticketing. Karl’s contact address is kkarl@cmaworld.com.
