At the core of Dellinger’s work is a belief he returns to again and again: entrepreneurial thinking is not separate from arts leadership—it is inseparable from it. It is how vision becomes real and mission becomes actionable.

Entrepreneurship, in this context, is not about commerce alone. It is a way of seeing. It is the ability to identify possibility, articulate a “deepest why,” and mobilize people and resources in service of something meaningful. A strong vision asks: What future are we creating—and why does it matter?

But without an entrepreneurial approach, vision risks remaining aspirational. Entrepreneurial thinking is what activates vision. It requires: Awareness of context and opportunity; Willingness to take informed risks; Adaptability and iteration; Resourcefulness under constraint; A deep sense of agency. Mission then becomes the bridge between vision and action—but only when it is lived dynamically, not procedurally. 

In his work with students and emerging leaders and throughout his decades as an arts & cultural entrepreneur himself, Dellinger lives his belief that: being entrepreneurial is not just about starting something new. It is about owning your trajectory, navigating systems with intention, and aligning your work with purpose. Because ultimately, Vision without entrepreneurship is aspiration. Entrepreneurship without vision is activity. Together, they create impact. This is how we prepare the next generation—not just to manage the field, but to shape its future.

Dellinger’s arts entrepreneurism dates to his days working as an arts teacher and director for youth throughout the greater Washington, D.C. area during his undergraduate and graduate studies at American University. Having come from an underprivileged, single working mom background, his entrepreneurial spirit was born of necessity and determination to support himself through college and build a career in service to the arts and to the individuals and communities who would most benefit from them. 

Over the decades which followed, Dellinger exercised entrepreneurial spirit when he established the Martha Graham “2020Vision” campaign that would save the company from ruin, restore it to record national & international touring as well as record enrollment in the Graham School, establish a separate Trust and Foundation of the then individually-controlled Graham estate, and transfer the Graham archives to the Library of Congress. His entrepreneurial spirit ensured the survival and growth of Graham protege Elisa Monte’s company through the tumultuous events of 9/11. Ultimately Dellinger’s entrepreneurism took center stage when he created a professional training and producing institution in Austin which grew to over 3500 patrons and 650 students and nearly $1M in activity within its first four years.

A seasoned and reflective entrepreneurial spirit guided the development of the Arts & Entertainment Industries Management program which Dellinger continues to lead and teach within, and it is what continues to guide his vision-centric, mission-driven instruction of the next generation of entrepreneurial arts leaders. As the President of Carnegie Hall, Clive Gillinson shares with Todd and his students on their yearly New York Arts & Entertainment Networking series of 20 in-depth visits with top institutional leaders & institutions every spring (paraphrasing) 'one must always look 'round the corner - be inquisitive - and be driven by what is possible and necessary for others and for communities' to make things happen. This captures well the entrepreneurial spirit that Dellinger brings to the table in all that he does. 

A sampling of projects - many of which started as "what if?" and then were spun into successful manifestation thru entrepremeurial approach and process produced by Dellinger at various stages & with various institutions, appears below. Note - TexARTS itself was a "what if" and each project/activity produced seemed, originally, impossible. Arts leaders must walk the line between possibility and the impossible, affording those who doubt, a walk to what might seem a precipice yet through strategic research and analysis with a healthy dose of risk, imbue them with belief and vision then.... JUMP!

Arts & Entertainment Industries Management at Rider - Founder, Coordinator, Professor

Dellinger spent two decades as arts executive in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Austin before venturing into Academia fulltime in September, 2010 at the invitation of the Rider performing arts team, seeking to create a multi-faceted, industry-forward program there. The determination to leave behind the swiftly successful and burgeoning all arts academy and producing entity which he'd founded with long-time collaborator Robin Lewis in 2004-5 was not an easy one and yet, the Rider opportunity was an opportunity to build, once more - and to take what had been learned throughout his time as arts leader into the classroom to inform hundreds of aspiring arts and entertainment leaders who could effect real change on an industry always needing to reconsider its practices, its purpose, its very future survival in an ever-shifting arts & entertainment landscape. 

Entrepreneurial spirit once more kicked in, and the challenge of creating an undergraduate degree program which could help change the paradigm by integrating truly vision-centric, industry-forward approaches to arts & entertainment making, producing, fundraising, marketing, distribution in deeply meaningful, community and individual impact-rooted ways was worthy of the move. 

The Arts & Entertainment Industries Management program that Dellinger built at Rider University emerged not simply from curricular planning, but from vision — from a belief that the future of arts leadership would require entrepreneurial thinking, adaptive problem-solving, and an ability to continually reimagine how live arts and entertainment can remain vital within an ever-shifting cultural and economic landscape. From its inception, the program was designed to engage students not merely as future employees within the industry, but as innovators, builders, collaborators, and vision-forward leaders capable of creating new pathways where others may only see obstacles. Courses such as Arts Venue & Patron Services Management, Arts Touring & Production Management, Professional Development, and numerous experiential and project-based learning platforms challenge students to think entrepreneurially — developing ideas from mission and vision outward, integrating practical industry realities with creative strategy, adaptability, leadership, and audience-centered thinking in ways that mirror the demands of the contemporary arts and entertainment ecosystem.

TexARTS 2004-2010 (As Executive/Producing Director and Founder)

TexARTS at the time of our founding and during this period was dramatically different from the TexARTS which exists today, which is mostly community and youth theatre performing and educating on a considerably smaller scale. What is reflected below demonstrates our far more ambitious vision & mission for both community-centric and professional arts education and performance. Production budgets ranged from $2,500-$7,500 for youth productions to $50,000-80,000 for our professional “Off-Broadway” series productions in the 110-seat venue we built, to $250,000-$400,000 for our professional “Broadway” series productions at the 1500-seat historic Paramount Theatre downtown Austin.

Off Broadway series plays & musicals at our Lake Region theatre

Always, Patsy Cline (produced, directed)

I’ll Be Seeing You – A Christmas Musical (wrote, produced, directed, designed)

Golf... the Musical (produced, designed)

Nunsense (produced, designed)

The Glass Menagerie (produced)

Beyond the Spotlight – Robin Lewis and Broadway friends (produced)

Broadway series musicals at the historic Paramount Theatre, Austin

The Music Man grand concert starring Broadway’s Rebecca Luker & Jim Walton (produced, designed)

Carousel grand concert/fully staged, starring Patrick Cassidy (produced, designed)

Big River starring Broadway’s Lawrence Hamilton (produced, co-directed with Fran Dorn)

Damn Yankees starring Broadway’s Nicholas Rodriguez and Meg Gillentine (produced)

Events 

Shirley Jones at Riverbend, Broadway Legends series (produced)

City of Killeen 100th Anniversary Gala professional & youth performances (produced)

First Night Austin professional & youth performances (produced)

Long Center opening, featuring youth & young adult performances (produced)

New Years’ Eve Events(3) featuring professional & young adult performances (produced)

Teen and/or youth plays, musicals, ballets at our theatre unless otherwise noted

Fame (produced, directed)

CATS the musical (produced, directed, designed)

Grease (produced, directed, designed)

Fosse showcase (produced, designed)

Rising Stars showcases (produced)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (produced, directed, designed)

Annie (produced, directed, designed)

The Nutcracker (produced, designed)

Firebird (produced, designed)

Much Ado About Nothing (produced, directed, designed)

Schoolhouse Rock (produced, designed) (Long Center, Austin)

Shirley Jones in concert with our Academy performers (produced)

Opening of the Long Center with our teen and young adult performers (Long Center, Austin)

A Grand Night for Singing youth theatre/musical theatre showcase (Paramount, Austin)

A Noise Within Classical Repertory Theatre (2001-2004)

2 new Annual Gala fundraising events Events (produced) & generated well over $100K new income

2 Seasons of classic and classic American theatre, (produced) 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Hollywood Bowl, with the LAPhil and special guest Mickey Rooney (produced, tho did not complete as transitioned to Austin)

A Christmas Memory special event & fundraising gala featuring Ed Asner and Fred Savage

Elisa Monte Dance or Monte/Brown Dance (1999-2001)

Success navigating extreme crisis in wake of 9/11 (a new work - "Lost Objects" - went into rehearsal that morning and was to have premiered as a commissioning for the Atrium at WTC lunch series that January) and successfully coming out the other side of tragedy with careful yet steady growth and restored seasons. 

2 New York Season Galas (produced)

Several multi-week American Tours (produced)

Several multi-week International Tours (produced)

Martha Graham Dance Company (1996-1999/2000)

I became Managing(Executive) Director of the historic, world-renowned company and school at it’s lowest point in history, with the historic building in default and disrepair, the company nearly ended and the school nearly shuttered. Over three years I entirely transformed and saved the company, restoring New York seasons after a hiatus of five years, record American and International touring after nearly disappearing, and record enrollment in the school after nearly shutting down. I relocated the company headquarters as the building was sold and transformed, to include a multi-year, $0 per year lease with the new owner, within the new building built on site. I was instrumental in brokering the first Apple “Think Different” campaign which included Martha’s image, and in effectuating the safe transition of her archives to the Library of Congress, which also included a premiere of a new commission from Susan Stroman, “But Not for Me” and anniversary production of Graham’s “Appalachian Spring” with live orchestra at the Library of Congress Coolidge auditorium (where it first premiered). I also created the Martha Graham Foundation and Trust out of a muddled estate, which ultimately served to save the company from further ruin and produced a precedent-setting win for the beleaguered company and school to license and dance the historic works. 

3 New York Season Galas (produced)

3 New York Seasons at the Joyce (produced)

Multiple multi-week International Tours (produced) which reached institutional historical highs by year 3

Multiple multi-week American Tours (produced) which reached institutional historical highs by year 3

Appalachian Spring 50th Anniversary performance and world premiere of Susan Stroman’s “But not for Me” at the Library of Congress, Elizabeth Coolidge Hall (produced)

Appalachian Spring at the Paris Opera (licensed and advised production of, for the MG Trust)