Joan Harris serves as the president and past  chairman of the Irving Harris Foundation, through which she has helped to strengthen new initiatives such as MusicNow at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Cultural Policy Program at the University of Chicago. She serves as president, chair, director, or trustee of many Chicago and national cultural organizations(including the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Juilliard School, Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and is a member of the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board. Past positions include commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Chicago, trustee of the National Institute for Music Theater, president of the Chicago Opera Theater, president of the Illinois Arts Alliance, and chairman of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.In 2014,she receives the National Medal of Arts award.