Laurie Branch

Chautauqua Institution has elected Laurie Branch as its new board chairwoman, replacing Candace L. Maxwell.

Branch serves as chair of the institution board’s budget and finance committee. She will begin her term on Oct. 1, which is when Maxwell will have completed three consecutive two-year terms as chair, the maximum allowed under the board’s bylaws.

The change in board leadership comes as the institution begins a search for a new president. Michael E. Hill, Ed.D. plans to depart Chautauqua at the end of May for a new role as president of Randolph-Macon College. Preliminary planning for the Board’s search for Hill’s successor is underway, and the appointment of interim leadership will be announced soon.

Branch will also take over the board at a time when Chautauqua Institution, while on solid ground financially, is working to change its operations to be more sustainable in the future. According to the minutes of the December 9, 2024, Chautauqua Institution Board of Trustees meeting, the institution’s five-year proforma for 2026 and beyond can’t be achieved within the institution’s current business model, with management recommending the hiring of an external consultant to evaluate Chautauqua Institution’s operating model, staffing and other structures needed to support it. Hill, according to the minutes, said during the meeting that the institution’s 2025 budget as presented represents many difficult decisions, and the process of creating the budget made it clear to him the institution’s current operating model is unsustainable in the long run. He emphasized that now is the time to make appropriate changes to ensure that Chautauqua remains financially sustainable, according to the minutes.

Branch is a fourth-generation Chautauquan and a lifelong summer resident of the Institution grounds. A resident of Longboat Key, Fla., and originally from Olean, Branch is CEO and president of Ironpeak, Inc., one of the oldest and largest networks of independent property and casualty agencies in the country. Holding three master’s degrees and a Ph.D., she also teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels at St. Bonaventure University. She has served as a member of the Chautauqua board since October 2022.

In addition to her volunteer service to Chautauqua, Branch has served on the boards of St. Bonaventure University and the Western New York Nature Conservancy. She also served for 15 years on the Board of Education for the Olean City School District.

“Laurie has provided valuable insights and expertise since joining the board, and we look forward to her continued leadership following my retirement as chair,” Maxwell said. “Laurie’s enormously successful career as a business leader, history of nonprofit volunteer leadership and philanthropy, and lifelong association with Chautauqua will inform her tenure as board chair. On behalf of the board, I offer her our heartfelt gratitude for taking on this role.”