Joanna Furnans (she/her), is a dance artist, writer, and administrator. She is the current executive director of Chicago Dancemakers Forum and a Lecturer in Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago. She is a Candidate for CFP® Certification, holds a certificate in Financial Planning from DePaul University, a certificate in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations from Northwestern University, and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College with concentrations in Dance, Literature, and Philosophy. 

An advocate of artist worker rights, transparency, equity, and new sustainability models for artists and nonprofits, Joanna was an inaugural cohort member of Arts Alliance Illinois’ Liberation Learning Group, an advisory committee member for the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Art is Labor campaign, and a panelist for Grantmakers in the Arts “Beyond a Labor of Love: A Call to Action for Pay Equity and Transparency.” In her role as co-chair of the 2025 National Dance/USA conference, she paved the way for Chicago’s performers to receive W.A.G.E certified rates for conference performances, a first for the national conference. 

In her career as a dancer and dancemaker, she has performed in some of the most renowned theaters, festivals, and residencies for contemporary performance including: Jacob’s Pillow (MA), Fusebox Festival (TX), TBA Festival (OR), American Realness Festival (NY), the Chocolate Factory (NY), PS122 (NY), MANCC Forward Dialogues Laboratory (FL), Velocity (WA), Center for the Art of Performance (UCLA), a Schonberg Offshore Creation Residency at the Yard (MA), the Walker Art Center (MN), and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (IL). Her dance writing has been published in Performance Response Journal, See Chicago Dance, The Windy City Times, Gibney Journal, and the forthcoming anthology “Dancing on the Third Coast: Chicago Dance Histories” (University of Illinois Press).