At the Council on Foundations 2014 Fall Conference for Community Foundations in Cleveland this October, Robert Lynch was joined by Edgar Smith, a BCA Executive Board member and CEO of World Pac Paper; Jennifer Dowley, President of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; and Carla Dirlikov, an opera singer and a member of the Americans for the Arts Artist Committee to speak about how the arts can transform communities.

As they discussed in the session, the nonprofit arts industry pumped an estimated 61.1 billion into the economy and generated 4.1 million jobs in 2010, proving that the arts are a path to opportunity. The arts have proven to benefit veterans in managing stress and promoting self expression, and benefit businesses from the creativity. The arts broaden citizen voice and participation, give disenfranchised groups access to the civic realm, enhance public understanding of complex issues, and motivate people to make change. More than 1,500 community foundation leaders attended the conference to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the community foundation movement and to look ahead to how community foundations can make a difference for the next one hundred years.