Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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left: A rehearsal for an upcoming production. right: Hodges on the balcony of the Boston Opera House lobby. "this is such a hard job. it takes a lot to support dance. you have to believe so strongly in the product." —meredith hodges "Harvard was academically demanding, but there were also high expectations for what you plan to do with yourself," she says, "how you were going to make your mark on the world. I began to think about how I could incorporate those things into my career." E r i n Sweat ma n, her room mate at Ha r va rd, remembers Hodges as having equal parts creativ- it y a nd sma r t s. "She had a bin under her bed for things she saved to use later," she says. "It would be Halloween, and she could pull out that bin and make a costume out of seven pieces of st ring and a sheet . T hat is so Ma x. She's able to put t hem together and make something amazing." After graduating in 2003, Hodges worked for the management consulting firm Bain & Company in Boston and New York for three years, a time she calls "fast-paced and ruthlessly quantitative" and a learning experience she continues to draw from on a daily basis. "I distilled complex information into a format that busy people can use to make decisions," she says, "and I learned how to thrive in an environ- ment of high expectations and high performance." L ook i ng for a not her oppor t u n it y to use her k now-how, Hodges cold- ca l led t he COO of t he Museum of Modern Art in 2005 and was hired to help t he inst it ut ion nav igate it s post - expa nsion membership strategy. That six-month project led to a full-time job as finance manager. "I was manag- ing a $150 million operating budget," she says, "and I was 24." Jan Postma, the museum's chief financial officer, says Hodges made herself invaluable from that very first project: "We're still using the benefits of Ma x's work to t his day. She's a n except iona l thinker and believes in the mission of the arts." For Hodges, building a sustainable arts organi- zation means throwing herself fully into the work. T hat wa s her m ission a f ter she lef t MoM A to become executive director of the young Brooklyn- based troupe Gallim Dance, serving from 2012 to 2014, an experience she describes as a "rewarding entrepreneurial venture. We happily experienced strong growth." Gallim had a budget of just $1 mil- l ion, but Boston Ba l let is a fa r bigger st age for Hodges, with a $34 million budget, 60 dancers, 720 staff members, and three locations. "I have a lot of fun bringing ruthlessly quantita- tive approaches on this side of the house," she says. "People's connections to ballet are so emotional DANCE CARD Meredith Hodges lists what she loves about the Hub. InspIratIon poInt: "the arnold arboretum in jamaica plain is a beautiful spot for an outdoor tromp, even if you're a city girl, like me." Culture hub: "boston attracts people from all over the world for its great arts, music, education, tech, and food culture. it's an intimate city with the feel of an international hub." InnovatIon CIty: "the Fogg Museum at harvard is pioneering digital conservation on rothko murals. the american repertory theater in cambridge has transformed the oberon theatre into a hot spot of new music and shakespearean disco. the future of artifcial intelligence in musical performance is being debated at Mit's Media lab. boston's intellect and invention is on full display in the art world." photography by Liza VoLL photography (rehearsaL) and visceral—mine is—but that doesn't mean you can't be very rigorous." A tour of her of f ice —a nondescr ipt space w it h dated office chairs and piles of files—reveals her work ethic. "Mikko Nissinen is the one with the strong aes- thetic in the partnership," Hodges says, referring to the ballet's beloved artistic director. "I asked for a white- board." Statistics may not be as thrilling as Boston Ballet's magical production of swan lake last year. But immersing herself in them will help meet fund- raising goals and fill seats at upcoming productions like edge of vision (April 30 – May 10) and thrill of contact (May 14 – 24), she says. "This is such a hard job," Hodges adds. "It takes a lot to support dance. You have to believe so strongly in the product." Her nerdy ent husia sm bubbles over, a nd Hodges—who lives in the South End and is engaged to marr y Tarik Bolat, vice president of corporate development at the Renewable Energy Trust, later this year—tries to put her work into simple terms, using her hands to demonstrate. "The lever is sensi- tive to the application of effort," she says, pushing her wrist down to force her hand up, as her g rin widens. "If I work hard, things get better." BC 58 bostoncommon-magazine.com PEOPLE View from the Top