Robert Lynch is the president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, the national organization dedicated to advancing the arts and arts education in people's lives, schools, and communities. He was executive director of the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies for 12 years, and managed the successful merger of that organization with the American Council for the Arts to form Americans for the Arts in 1996. In 2005, Mr. Lynch oversaw the merger of the Arts and Business Council, Inc. into Americans for the Arts. In the same year he also created the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and its connected political action committee to engage citizens in advocating for the arts and arts education to ensure arts-friendly public policies. With more than 30 years of experience in the arts industry, Mr. Lynch is motivated by his personal mission to empower communities and leaders to advance arts and arts appreciation in society. Under his 25 years of leadership, the services and membership of Americans for the Arts has grown to more than 50 times its original size in 1985. He has personally reached audiences in 49 states and 12 countries, ranging from Native American tribal gatherings to the U.S. Armed Forces in Europe and the President of the United States. Mr. Lynch currently serves on the board of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, the Arts Extension Institute, and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts Board. He is a member of the Executive Committee for United Voices for Education and is on the Advisory Council of the National Museum for Children in the Arts. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Mr. Lynch plays the piano, mandolin, and guitar, and lives in Washington, DC.
 

Henry Cisneros is Executive Chairman of the CityView companies, which work with urban homebuilders to create homes priced within the range of average families. CityView is a partner in building more than 60 communities in 13 states, incorporating more than 7,000 homes with a home value of over $2 billion.

Mr. Cisneros' community-building career began at the local level. After serving three terms as a City Councilmember, in 1981, Mr. Cisneros became the first Hispanic-American mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio, Texas. During his four terms as Mayor, he helped rebuild the city's economic base and spurred the creation of jobs through massive infrastructure and downtown improvements. In 1984, Mr. Cisneros was interviewed by the Democratic Presidential nominee as a possible candidate for Vice President of the United States and in 1986 was selected as the "Outstanding Mayor" in the nation by City and State Magazine.

After completing four terms as Mayor, Mr. Cisneros formed Cisneros Asset Management Company, a fixed income management firm operating nationally and ranked at the time as the second fastest growing money manager in the nation.

In 1992, President Clinton appointed Mr. Cisneros to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a member of President Clinton's Cabinet, Secretary Cisneros was credited with initiating the revitalization of many of the nation's public housing developments and with formulating policies which contributed to achieving the nation's highest ever homeownership rate. In his role as the President's chief representative to the nation's cities, Mr. Cisneros personally worked in more than 200 U.S. cities in every one of the 50 states.

After leaving HUD in 1997, Mr. Cisneros was president and chief operating officer of Univision Communications, the Spanish-language broadcaster which has become the fifth-most-watched television network in the nation. Mr. Cisneros currently serves on Univision's Board of Directors.

Mr. Cisneros has served as President of the National League of Cities, as Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and is currently an officer of Habitat for Humanity International. Mr. Cisneros remains active in San Antonio's leadership where he is Chairman of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. He is currently a member of the advisory boards of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Broad Foundation.

Mr. Cisneros has been inducted into the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) "Builders Hall of Fame" and honored by the National Housing Conference as the "Housing Person of the Year."

Mr. Cisneros has also been author or editor of several books including: Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation. His book project with former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, Opportunity and Progress: A Bipartisan Platform for National Housing Policy, was presented the Common Purpose Award for demonstrating the potential of bipartisan cooperation and Casa y Comunidad: Latino Home and Neighborhood Design was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal in the category of best business book of 2006.  

Mr. Cisneros holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University. He earned a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, studied urban economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holds a Doctorate in Public Administration from George Washington University, and has been awarded more than 20 honorary doctorates from leading universities. He served as an infantry officer in the United States Army. Mr. Cisneros is married to Mary Alice P. Cisneros, who from 2007–2011 served on San Antonio's City Council and they have three children – Teresa, Mercedes, and John Paul – and four grandchildren.

Session(s): 
Leadership Awards and Convention Town Hall

























 

Floyd W. Green, III is responsible for developing grassroots marketing strategies to assist in maximizing opportunities in new business development, customer retention, healthcare disparities, and strategic partnerships. He is also responsible for building a culturally relevant presence to attract, acquire, and retain diverse market segments across channels and touch points; enhancing current community investment models including philanthropic investments to strengthen Aetna’s brand; expanding employee programs (e.g., volunteerism, gift matching, etc.) to differentiate Aetna as a committed and trusted partner; implementing urban marketing strategies to increase Aetna’s visibility and to address the multicultural/multilingual and generational needs of key constituents across the country.

He is a member of the a member of Actors Equity Association, the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), 100 Black Men of America, the National Association of Health Services Executives, the National Alliance of Market Developers, and a lifetime member of the National Black MBA’s and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Floyd received a B.S. from Lincoln University in Oxford, PA in history/public ffairs. Later, he received an M.B.A. in marketing/strategy from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management.

Session(s):

Profiting with Business Partnerships: The pARTnership Movement
Leadership Awards and Convention Town Hall

Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD is a senior research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Center at the Urban Institute (UI) and director of UI's Culture, Creativity and Communities Program. Her research expertise includes neighborhood revitalization and comprehensive community planning, the politics of race, ethnicity and gender in urban settings, and the role of arts and culture in communities. Her projects in cities throughout the United States have explored the role of intermediaries in comprehensive community planning, the characteristics of place that lead to cultural vitality, the measurement of arts and cultural vitality and the integration of new topics into policies and programs concerned with quality of life.

Dr. Jackson's work has appeared in academic and professional journals as well as edited volumes in the fields of urban planning, sociology, community development and the arts. She has been a speaker at numerous national and international conferences focusing on quality of life, changing demographics, communities and cities of the future, and arts and society. She currently serves on the boards of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, the National Performance Network and the Alliance for California Traditional Artists. Formerly, she was on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and the Fund for Folk Culture. Jackson earned a doctorate in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MPA from the University of Southern California.

Sessions(s):
Leadership Awards and Convention Town Hall

Instrumental in the formation and implementation of Trey McIntyre Project from a summer touring company in 2004, to an innovative force in the contemporary dance world, Schert oversees the mission of the company, ensuring McIntyre’s unique artistic voice is recognized, funded and marketed across the United States and the world. Schert has led the company to build a national support base with Board Members and funders from over 40 states. He promotes and books all of the companies national and international touring as well as successfully works to continue developing audiences in TMP’s chosen home base of Boise, ID and across the globe. Under his leadership, Trey McIntyre Project’s innovative engagement methods have been recognized and awarded by highly publicized grants such as Dance/USA’s Engaging Dance Audiences, the NEA’s Our Town grant and ArtPlace. John Michael helped establish TMP as the first ever City of Boise Economic Development Cultural Ambassador and as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador touring to Asia in Spring 2012 as part of DanceMotion USAsm, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, produced by BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) to showcase contemporary American dance abroad.

Session(s):
Leadership Awards and Convention Town Hall

Dennis Scholl is the Vice President / Arts for the Knight Foundation.  He oversees the foundation's national arts program, including the Knight Arts Challenge and Random Acts of Culture.  He is well known as a collector of contemporary art for over three decades.  Dennis is also the founder of a series of initiatives dedicated to building the contemporary art collections of museums, including the Guggenheim, the Tate Modern and the Miami Art Museum.  He is a two time regional Emmy winner for his work in cultural documentaries. Dennis is also the co-founder of Betts and Scholl, an award winning wine project.  He is currently a Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow, focusing on the role of culture in community engagement.  Previously he was a practicing attorney and CPA.  

Session(s): 
Leadership Awards and Convention Town Hall

Laura Zucker is Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and Director of the Masters in Arts Management program at Claremont Graduate University. The Arts Commission provides leadership in cultural services of all disciplines for the largest county in the United States, encompassing 88 municipalities. The Arts Commission administers a $4.1 million grants program that funds more than 300 nonprofit arts organizations annually; provides leadership and staffing to support the regional blueprint to restore arts education to all 81 school districts in Los Angeles County, Arts for All; funds the largest arts internship program in the country in conjunction with the Getty Foundation; programs the John Anson Ford Theatres; and implements the county’s civic art program. The Arts Commission also produces free community programs, including the L.A. Holiday Celebration which emanates from the Music Center.

Session(s):

Transition and Succession Planning for the Future

Leadership Awards and Convention Town Hall