Robert L. Lynch
President and CEO, Americans for the Arts

Robert L. Lynch is the president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, the national organization dedicated to making the arts more accessible to every American. 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 for Americans for the Arts in 1996. In 2005, he oversaw the merger of the national Arts and Business Council into Americans for the Arts and created the Americans for the Arts Action Fund.

In his 30th year of work for the arts industry Mr. Lynch is motivated by his personal mission to empower communities and leaders to advance arts and arts appreciation into society. Under his leadership the services and membership of Americans for the Arts has grown by 4000% over the last 20 years. He has personally reached audiences in the 49 states and eight 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.

Mr. Lynch earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He plays the piano, mandolin, and guitar and lives in Washington, D.C.