Contact:
Catherine Brandt
202-712-2054
[email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts, announced today the election of C. Kendric Fergeson as Chair and two new members to its Board of Directors.  The new members are: Deborah Jordy, executive director, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts; and Nancy Stephens, noted actor and activist.

“I am pleased that Ken will be taking on this leadership role. He has been an extraordinary board member, and his commitment to the organization will make him an outstanding Chair,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “I am also happy to welcome Deborah and Nancy—two extraordinary leaders—to our Board of Directors. They bring exceptional dedication and commitment to the arts and arts education, and I look forward to working with them and our other board members to further expand the reach the arts have in America."

An ardent supporter of the arts, C. Kendric Fergeson is a long-time member of Americans for the Arts (AFTA) and its board of directors. In his home state of Oklahoma, he has served on the boards of the Oklahoma Art Council and the Oklahoma Heritage Association. In addition, Mr. Fergeson presently serves on the boards of the Oklahoma Arts Institute, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Associate Board, Three Rivers Foundation for the Arts and Sciences and the Mid-America Arts Alliance. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Heritage Hall of Fame 2009 and has been honored by the Oklahoma Education Association for outstanding service for public education and received the Governor’s Arts Award in 1994 and 2000. He was also the recipient of the 2001 Business in Arts Leadership Award by the Business Committee for the Arts, and FORBES Magazine. Further, he and NBC have been responsible for six pieces of public art, all of which has been used to raise money for charitable and school organizations.

Since 2004, Deborah Jordy has served as executive director of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA), a nonprofit membership organization of Colorado businesses whose mission is to leverage the arts for economic vitality. In addition, she currently chairs the Private Sector Council of Americans for the Arts and sits on the Executive Board for the Colorado Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund, co-chairs the Create Denver Advisory Committee and sits on the board of directors for Arts for Colorado. In the past, Ms. Jordy served as a Commissioner for the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs and as a board member of the Colorado Nonprofit Association where she is currently a member of the Leadership Advisory Committee. Prior to joining CBCA, she served as executive director of the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities and led the Cherokee Ranch and Castle Foundation. She also served as associate curator of Modern and Contemporary Art for the Denver Art Museum. 

In addition to an acting career that has spanned several decades in series television and has included films like Halloween I, II and H2O, Escape from New York and American Dreamer, Nancy Stephens is an avid environmentalist and Democratic fundraiser at the local and national level.  A member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Concerned Scientists since 2001, Ms. Stephens is one of just four citizen activists among a host of esteemed scientists and Nobel Laureates.  She is a longtime member of the Leadership Forum of the California League of Conservation Voters, The Leadership Council of the NRDC, and the Advisory Board of Los Angeles based Liberty Hill Foundation.  Since 2000, she has also served as the Governor's appointee on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Board, serving the administrations of Governors Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown. In addition, Ms. Stephens is the president of The Rosenthal Family Foundation.

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.