Giselle “Gigi” Antoni works to bring creative, artistic and cultural learning experiences to schools and communities throughout the City of Dallas. Her vision of systemic and equal educational opportunities for the Dallas Independent School District has helped to spark community partnerships that are changing the face of education in Dallas. Ms. Antoni has worked for more than twenty years in the arts education field as a performing artist, educator, community developer and arts administrator. Since 1995 she has served as President/CEO for Big Thought, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring, empowering and uniting children and communities through education, arts and culture partnerships. Antoni was a key driver in the implementation of Dallas ArtsPartners, a national model for public school arts integration developed with the Dallas Independent School District, the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs and more than 50 community cultural agencies. The success of Dallas ArtsPartners illuminated the possibilities for children in Dallas ISD, one of the largest and most socio-economically disadvantaged districts in the country. Antoni convened with grant makers, civic organizations, City of Dallas partners, corporate and individual donors to create the Dallas Arts Learning Initiative. Through this initiative children and families benefit from an extensive web of artistic and cultural providers to receive quality creative learning opportunities during school, outside of school time and in communities and neighborhoods. Ms. Antoni lectures nationally about the success of organizing and convening communities, designing and building programs, and developing systemic arts integration initiatives. She has served on numerous local, state and national committees, boards and juries, for such agencies as The Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Coming Up Taller Awards, and the National Endowment for the Arts.