Former Editor in Chief and Senior Vice President of CNN Digital Worldwide Named Executive-in-Residence and Interim Executive Director
Honolulu, Jan. 5, 2023 – The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation announced today that Meredith Artley, a media veteran who has led global organizations through digital transformations, joins Honolulu’s Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design as its first-ever executive-in-residence and interim executive director. Effective immediately, Artley will take charge of the storied museum, reporting directly to Sam Gill, president and CEO of the New York-based Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which oversees all of Doris Duke’s charitable interests, including Shangri La.
“Consistent with Doris Duke’s vision and life, Shangri La brings together global art with Hawaiʻi’s unique setting and culture to create a singular place for personal and societal transformation,” said Sam Gill, president and CEO of Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. “I can’t think of a better person than digital media trailblazer Meredith Artley to help steward the transition to Shangri La’s next chapter. Guided by Meredith and our great team, Shangri La will deepen our engagement locally while broadening our reach globally.”
Endowed by Doris Duke, a lifelong philanthropist who built a home and lasting relationships in Hawaiʻi, the Shangri La Museum houses nearly 4,500 artworks, cultural resources and architectural designs purchased, commissioned or gifted to Duke during her extensive travels throughout North Africa and Western, Central, South and Southeast Asia.
Over the past 25 years, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which supports people and the planet for a more creative, equitable and sustainable future, has invested a combined $118 million in Shangri La and in grants to local projects and organizations benefiting Hawaiʻi and its residents.
Artley, whose career at CNN earned the network its recognition as the number one brand for news on the internet, will oversee Shangri La’s program and operations, including managing a team of 27 staff and helping to prepare the institution for a new era of global digital engagement.
“Shangri La integrates art, architecture, design and natural beauty like no other place in the world. I am honored to help advance the ways Shangri La educates and inspires those who experience it in person, digitally or anywhere the name Shangri La appears,” said Meredith Artley, executive-in-residence and interim executive director of Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design. “It’s an honor to be able to guide the world-class team at Shangri La in such vital work that creates joy, wonder and spreads knowledge.”
Prior to serving as editor in chief and senior vice president of CNN Digital Worldwide, Artley ran digital teams at The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and the Paris-based International Herald Tribune. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri and a fellow of the Sulzberger Executive Leadership program at Columbia University. She and her husband Naka Nathaniel, a civic engagement leader and an accomplished former journalist, reside in Waimea on Hawaiʻi Island with their teenage son.
Learn more about Shangri La and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation at ddcf.org and shangrilahawaii.org.
About the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, child well-being and medical research, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties. The foundation’s mission, grantmaking programs, museums and centers operate through several related philanthropies, including the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art and the Duke Farms Foundation. Together, the Doris Duke organizations support the well-being of people and the planet for a more creative, equitable and sustainable future.