Ing. Jana Dvořáková Ph.D., MBA

Biography

Jana Dvořáková (*20. 10. 1974) was born in České Budějovice. She graduated from a grammar school in Kaplice and in 2001 she obtained her Master’s degree in business and management from University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice.

In 2016 she finished her doctoral degree at the Economics Faculty of University of South Bohemia by defending her thesis ‘Current funding, accounting and management of one type of cultural institutions, their role, and ways forward’. The thesis compares the position of multi-ensemble regional theatres in the Czech Republic with similar types of theatres in EU countries, both from the perspective of business and management and in terms of their impact on society.

Between 1996 and 2002 she worked in an international financial services provider Chequepoint as head of the Český Krumlov offices. From 2002 she joined the South Bohemian Theatre as finance officer. She became deputy financial director in 2004 and financial director in 2012. In 2014 she was appointed deputy director for planning, transformation, and development of the National Theatre. In 2018 she became Director of National Theatre Drama, and later became Administrative Director.  Since 2021/22 season is on position of Administrative Director of the National Theatre.

In 2006 Jana Dvořáková organised the first convention of theatre financial managers of the Czech Republic which was held in Český Krumlov and continued in the following years. In 2011–2014 she held courses about financing of non-profit institutions and management of multi-ensemble theatres at the Philosophical and Pedagogical faculties of University of South Bohemia. Since 2016 she has been a lecturer at DAMU where she teaches financial management and project finance at the Arts Management Department.

In 2013 she joined the expert committee of the National Theatre set up to review a series of long-term processes in taxation, labor law and cost-revenue processes. As part of South Bohemian Theatre management, she contributed to important strategic decisions about the theatre’s future, such as the return of the revolving auditorium to the municipal property of České Budějovice, successful cooperations with Niederbayerische Stadt Theatre in Passauand with the International Music Festival Český Krumlov, a new dramaturgical vision for the Ballet of South Bohemian Theatre, etc.)

She co-founded the Endowment fund of the Ballet of South Bohemian Theatre (in 2009) and the Endowment fund of South Bohemian Theatre (in 2010), which not only support the theatre, but also aim to create collaborations between businesses, academia, and the arts. She was appointed member of the Board of Trustees of the South Bohemian Theatre Endowment Fund in 2017 and member of the Board of Trustees of the DAMU Endowment Fund in 2019.

Dvořáková collaborated with Prof. Jan Burian’s team on the strategy for transformation of the National Theatre into a non-profit holding company typical for theatres abroad (Vienna, Berlin, Graz and others). She worked tightly with a Vienna theatre holding that runs Staatsoper, Volks Oper, Burgtheater and the service centre Art for Art. She is working with representatives from ČVUT and DAMU to establish a new accredited academic programme in Stage Technology that would train students for the work of a tech designer in the arts – theatre, performance, and concerts. Recently she has worked on a digitalization strategy and environmental strategy for the National Theatre.