"I direct fundraising for the Annual Fund (from individual and institutional donors), including the solicitation of memberships, orchestrating direct mail, email and social media campaigns, and special events. Founded in 1844 as the Maryland Historical Society, the Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC) is the state's oldest continuously operating  nonprofit cultural institution. We have 350,000 objects, along with 7 million books, photographs, documents and manuscripts, including the earliest existing version of Francis Scott Key’s poem celebrating the victory over the British during the Battle of Baltimore. The poem set to music and became the Star-Spangled Banner, now the United States national anthem."

"I was recruited by the Baltimore-based Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Maryland’s leading classical theatre company, to be its new Director of Development, as the organization was emerging from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrating its twentieth anniversary. I am responsible for designing and implementing a comprehensive fundraising plan... incorporating annual giving, grant solicitation and management, special events, and capital initiatives. Ongoing duties include identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding major gifts from individual donors, foundations, government agencies, and corporate partners."
Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Theatre
(Photo from Theatre Consultants Collaborative,  Alan Gilbert Photography)

‏"I joined the Development team at Center Stage before the start of their $30 million capital campaign and subsequent renovation of the theater's historic downtown building. In charge of Annual Giving, I cultivated relationships with trustees and major donors through committee activities, direct solicitations and special events, and I directed efforts to increase smaller gifts through direct mail and online giving campaigns, in addition to assisting in coordinating and shepherding asks for the campaign. Recognized as the State Theater of Maryland, Baltimore Center Stage is the area's largest regional theater, with individual gifts totaling nearly $1 million each year during my tenure there."

‏"A native Baltimorean, I have attended many events and activities organized by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, so I was pleased to join the Board of Directors in early 2017. I contributed expertise to their marketing and development efforts and served as Board Chair from 2022 to 2023, orchestrating the quasi-government entity through its difficult post-pandemic period."

Brian D. Lyles photo from 2019 Light City and Baltimore Book Festival

‏"After years of providing multimedia assistance at the annual CityLit Festival, I joined the CityLit Board of Directors in 2013, and I served as Board Chair/President from 2017 to 2020. My experience in non-profit management was helpful in guiding the organization's transition from its founding executive director to a new director."

Author Kwame Alexander (seated with daughter) and volunteer Claudia Bismarck at CityLit Stage, 2015 Baltimore Book Festival.  Photo by Brian D. Lyles

"For several years I have been webmaster for Payal Parekh, a unique, New York-based art consultant who combines her knowledge and connections in the art world with her talents as a yoga instructor.  Kula Connect is the name of her series of highly curated special events that incorporate the tenets of yoga with artwork made by a contemporary artist, where art fused with meditation creates a collective transcendent experience."

Photo from Payal Arts International website

‏"When Dr. Gail Keller, a Baltimore-based school psychologist, was asked to deliver her first presentation at a national conference, a mutual friend suggested my services. She had begun to use yoga to develop mindfulness in elementary school students as part of her counseling at Waverly Elementary School in North Baltimore (shown here). The conference was interested in hearing how her techniques could be applied to anti-bullying programs. I helped Dr. Keller to develop her script, created slides and handouts, and coached her in the weeks leading up to the presentation. Part of the project has also included developing branding (logo, website and business cards) to assist in promoting her services to other educators... At the time we began working together, Dr. Keller had joined the staff of West Baltimore's Frederick Douglas High School, which is located near the epicenter of the 2015 civil unrest following the death of Freddie Gray."

Photo from Dr. Gail Keller's website

‏"I have worked closely with Trust for Museum Exhibitions founder Ann Van Devanter Townsend, assisting in writing, marketing and development strategies as she restructures her 22-year-old business. With a mission of fostering cultural exchange within and between nations to foster understanding, Ms. Townsend has established relationships with museums in 46 of the 50 United States and in 25 countries on five continents, developing 73 fine arts traveling exhibitions."

Photo of Ann Van Devanter Townsend by Brian D, Lyles

‏"Bharati Parekh was a neighbor and friend who also happened to be a very accomplished artist. I attended her first professional art show in 2005, where I was a photographer, and when she began to further cultivate her art career, I was asked to create a brand identity and a website for her... Ms. Parekh made many donations of art and sales proceeds to benefit charities, and I produced one of two sets of greeting cards featuring her art that benefited the GYN-Oncology Fund at Baltimore's Sinai Hospital... Sadly, in 2015, she lost her own multi-year struggle with ovarian cancer."

Photo of artwork by Bharati Parekh

‏"As a graduate of Gilman School with an interest and background in writing about architecture and historic preservation, I was pleased to volunteer time and talents to my alma mater's alumni magazine. Gilman's nearly century-old Carey Hall was undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion, and the two articles I authored documented the project. Over the years I have also contributed time to other alumni activities."

Cover of Gilman's Alumni Bulletin, Spring 2008

‏"While at the Museum of Industry, the Baltimore effort for Operation Sail 2000 asked me to join their marketing committee. It was a thrill to become a part of the international event, which celebrated the millennium by welcoming 30 tall ships and more than 1.5 million visitors to Baltimore, with an estimated economic impact of more than $100 million."

Photo by Brian D. Lyles of tall ship entering the Inner Harbor for OpSail 2000

"I was working at the Baltimore Museum of Industry when the American Association of Museums held its Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo in Baltimore in 2000. I was one of several managers and directors from local museums who participated in marketing the conference."

"When asked by a friend to become a freelance copywriter for the East Baltimore Bulletin, I welcomed the opportunity to assist in the revitalization and community-building effort begun by Johns Hopkins University. The area was part of an empowerment zone, and I wrote articles about some of the people, businesses and groups making a difference in the community."

Brian D. Lyles photo of the historic Billings Administrations Building at the John Hopkins Medical Campus

"I was asked by the Museum of Industry's Founding Director Dennis Zembala to become the institution's Development Officer. During my two years there, I oversaw the corporate membership program, developed a new annual report, supervised a brick campaign, assisted in presentations to the Maryland Legislature for bond bill funding, managed a new gala, hired a staff, and was promoted to Director of Marketing & Development."

From web, Baltimore Museum of Industry exterior

‏"Created in 1926, the Baltimore Engineer magazine was once the digest of record for engineering projects in the area. By the time I joined The Engineering Society the magazine was beginning to refocus to reflect the growing non-engineer / general business membership of the organization. Later I helped to fully redesign the magazine into a new publication, Quick's Professional Journal, named after Alfred E. Quick, the city water engineer who was instrumental in founding the club in 1905. The new publication covered its costs, and throughout my tenure as editor we maintained a series of monthly articles on local construction, engineering or renovation projects, in addition to club news and member profiles. Today, however, the publication has transitioned into a simple club newsletter."

Baltimore Engineer magazine cover designed by Brian Davis Lyles

‏"The Engineering Society of Baltimore is the association of engineers and other professionals that operates The Engineers Club. Located in the historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, the club is one of Baltimore’s leading catering and special event facilities. As Publications Manager, I edited a monthly publication and produced flyers and other promotions, and I assisted in the logistics of a new 501(c)(3) organization created for the preservation of the building, in addition to managing public relations, event planning and marketing efforts. I also served as liaison to several board committees. By the time I left, I had been named Marketing Director... The organization's annual Fire Ball and quarterly Networking Happy Hours were created during my time there, and movies like Major League II, 12 Monkeys, Species II and TV shows like Homicide: Life on the Streets filmed scenes."

‏Photo of Garrett-Jacobs Mansion staircase, designed by architect Stanford White (McKim, Mead & White, New York).

‏"I worked for Baltimore Magazine when it was part of Capital-Gazette Communications and a sister publication to the Washingtonian Magazine. I worked closely with the Circulation Manager to oversee all subscription and newsstand distribution and sales. Projects included managing 200,000-piece direct mail campaigns and trade advertising, and co-producing radio spots."

Web image of Baltimore Magazine covers

‏"I once considered teaching as a career, and every summer during my college years I was a counselor to elementary school students at one of the city-sponsored reading camps. The camp at Margaret Brent Elementary School (now Margaret Elementary/Middle School) in Charles Village was the city's only ESL (English as a Second Language) summer program, welcoming children from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and beyond... It was here where I fell in love with the Charles Village neighborhood and later lived across the street from the school for 10 years."

Photo by Brian D. Lyles of Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle School