Awards

Founders Award for Civic Leadership

The Founders Award for Civic Leadership acknowledges groups and individuals of national stature for his or her contributions to the stewardship of communities.

Robert L. Lynch is being honored for more than 50 years of work to advance the arts in schools and communities across the United States. His work has resulted in public policy that recognizes the value of the arts in our society and his successes have promoted and protected access to the arts for the whole population. Lynch is the president of Americans for the Arts.

A true leader in the field of arts advocacy, Robert L. Lynch became the executive director of the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies in 1985. He oversaw its successful merger with the American Council for the Arts twelve years later, creating the nationally-renowned advocacy group Americans for the Arts. Under Lynch’s leadership, the organization has grown to 50 times its original size, with a permanent staff of more than 60 individuals working in offices in New York and D.C. and an annual budget greater than $11 million.

Americans for the Arts has become the defining leadership group for arts advocacy in America in terms of membership and advocacy. Outside of his work with the organization, Lynch has served as counsel to the President of the United States on matters concerning the arts and has lent his expertise to the boards of a number of influential arts organizations, including the Craft Emergency Relief Fund and the Arts Extension Institute. Lynch’s admirable history of arts advocacy has allowed countless communities to enjoy the benefits that the arts can bring, and the creation of this leadership group is a truly great achievement for the arts in America today.

Investors in America Award
 

Janet W. Thompson is honored for her expertise in community development, engagement, and reinvestment in nonprofit and financial management. As Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, community consultant to Morgan Stanley, and former Corporate Directorof Community Reinvestment at Citibank, her spirit and leadership has propelled public and private community engagement for more than 35 years.

Founders Award for Civic Leadership 
 

James O. Gibson is honored for his leading advocacy in urban revitalization, community development, and race relations. His demonstrated commitment to social equity for more than three decades on issues ranging from civil rights to economic opportunity has provided critical progress for our country’s social fabric.

Quarter Century of Service Award 

Arts Extension Service, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is honored for their groundbreaking work as a leading arts service organization that bridges research and practice by providing education, training, research, and professional development opportunities to state and local arts agencies, arts managers, and artists. Their influential work has laid the groundwork that established local cultural councils throughout Massachusetts, launched the New England Film Festival, and developed a diversity of publications and programs. These include the nation’s only online Bachelor’s Degree in Arts Administration, a Peer Advising Network that transforms community arts leaders into peer consultants, and Artist-in- Business trainings that balances skill-building with creating community for the arts.