When Dennyse Sewell sat in upper division classes at the University of Nevada in the early 2000s, musicals and the performing arts in general were about the furthest thing from her mind. Afterall, the McQueen High product was a conservation biology major, learning about how to protect the earth's biodiversity and ecosystems from extinction.
While stage-worthy performances and environmental responsibility may not be found in the same textbooks, they are two large areas of interests for Sewell. When the northern Nevada native graduated from UNR in 2004, she began looking for jobs and the conservation biology opportunities were not flooding her options list. What did become a real option was an opening at Reno’s Pioneer Center for an administrative assistant.
“When I was a student at UNR, I had all kinds of jobs. Ticket seller at the Pioneer Center was one of the many gigs I was fortunate to have,” Sewell says. “After graduation, I did a little conservation research and that was not the right path for me. I had like a quarter-life crisis. There was an opening in the office at the Pioneer Center; and because I had been on staff, I had a champion advocate.
“The executive director was told to ‘give me a shot. If it doesn’t work out, no harm, no foul… I did all the front office administrative work. Despite having no obvious work experience in my background. It turned into my life’s passion.”
Administrative assistant was just the first stop on Sewell’s climb on the Pioneer Center’s professional ladder. In less than a year, she was promoted to events manager. A year later, Sewell hopped into the role of director of events for development and youth programs. Next came stops as managing director and executive director. It’s been 20 years since she took that administrative assistant job, and now, she’s reached the top. For the past 15 months, Sewell has overseen all operations at the Pioneer Center as its CEO.
“This is not where I imagined I’d find myself,” Sewell quips. “This has been the only office I’ve gone to every day for my entire career. The roles and responsibilities have evolved so much. It also means I’ve never gone to another job interview. That’s wild to reflect on.”
The Pioneer Center and its performing arts world has kept Sewell on her toes for two decades. Since she didn’t come from a background in the arts, she had a steep learning curve. That didn’t stop Sewell from soaking in every bit of knowledge she could along the way.
“One of the things about the nonprofit world, everyone wears a lot of hats,” the 43-year-old says. “Typically, non-profits are under-resourced and understaffed, no matter what kind. I’ve always had a passion. When you are surrounded by others and guided by a mission you all care about, the work you do every day encourages everyone to bring their best. Being surrounded by people who give 110 percent every day really encourages me. This career path has meant the learning has never stopped. There’s always an opportunity to try new things. I’ve never had a boring day in 20 years. I love that I’m able to thrive and grow in an industry where everyone is always growing.”
So, when you’ve climbed from the bottom to the top of your organization’s career ladder, what keeps you hungry to keep growing and trying to improve your organization? Sewell says that’s easy to answer, emphasizing she’s far from tapped out on ambition. Sewell believes the Pioneer Center has always been an organization of innovation and she wants to make sure it continues to be known for that.
“In my experience, leaders have not put themselves before the importance of the mission. Leadership has not been an ego or proprietary thing. That’s something I’ve wanted to model,” Sewell stresses. “This is not about me. It’s about the Pioneer Center, and really, it’s a bit bigger than that. It’s about the community.
“For me as CEO, the mission is to deepen or broaden the Pioneer’s impact and as long as I have the skills, ability and confidence of the board, I’m going to continue doing that. I feel like I’m brand new in this role and because the Pioneer is constantly evolving and doing new things, we should ask ‘what does the community want from a performing arts center?’”
The Center’s staff has a long list of what it believes can help the programming always be interesting, engaging, and challenging. Sewell’s leadership style promotes an environment where she and staff members collaborate to always ask what more can be done.
“I really want us to envision what the Pioneer Center can mean for the next 50 years,” Sewell says. “It’s been a staple in this community for 57 years. It was a wild, bold design at the time it was built and now everything has changed around the building. I want us to be equally bold—to ask what this block can mean for the next 50 years and what that can mean to others around the downtown area. Arts and culture can revitalize any urban core. We must use that momentum to push programming to other places in the community. Push it out to offer bold, collaborative programming all around the region.”