Nolen V. Bivens, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, is a former U.S. Army General and serves as chair of the National Leadership Advisory Council, the National Initiative for Arts & Health Across the Military (NIAHM); military community advisor for the National Endowment for the Arts Military Healing Arts Network’s Creative Forces program, and senior Policy Fellow on Arts & Military.

Bivens is president of Leader Six, Inc. and has executive leadership experience delivering successful results for public, private sector, and nonprofit organizations with $1B (+) in annual revenue, including strategic business development and sales at the VP level for a top four defense corporation, General Dynamics Mission Systems. A retired U.S. Army Brigadier General, he’s held leadership and staff positions from company through Army and Joint Pentagon Staff and U.S. Combatant and Special Operations Command levels. He has testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, and co-chairs the National Leadership Advisory Committee for NIAHM. He has been guest speaker for national nonprofit conferences, the Aspen Seminar for Leadership in the Arts; and is a contributing writer for the Smithsonian Institution, HuffPost, and American for the Arts’ social media.

Bivens holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from South Carolina State University, a Master of Science in Management from the Naval Post Graduate School, and a Master of Science in National Security and Strategic Studies from the National Defense University.

Jay Dick is the Senior Director of State and Local Government Affairs at Americans for the Arts where he works with state and local arts advocates to assist them in creating and promoting policies that promote equitable state and local funding along with the overall expansion of the arts and culture into society. Further, he works with a variety of associations representing elected officials to not only educate them on a national level about the arts and culture but connecting them back to their local arts constituents to establish strongly connections.  

Social Media: @JayAFTA

At Americans for the Arts, Lauren works with the Federal Affairs team in federal lobbying and government affairs activities, including composing position statements, monitoring federal legislation, drafting legislative proposals, coalition building with the Congressional Arts Caucus and other Congressional staff.  She enjoys teaching others how to become compelling arts advocates and how to pursue strong arts policy.  Prior to joining Americans for the Arts, Lauren worked for a member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives for over two years where she managed the arts, humanities, and museums portfolio.  Before coming to Washington, DC, Lauren worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia.  There, she held positions in the Education Outreach, Historical Interpretations, and Curatorial departments.  Lauren earned her Master of Arts degree in Public History from James Madison University and her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Tennessee.  Lauren's passion for the arts began at age three when she first started ballet lessons and continues to this day as she enjoys dance and theater performances, museums, and art shows.

Ann Marie Watson joined Americans for the Arts in June 2016. As Senior Manager, Digital Communications Strategy, she serves as the managing editor of ARTSblog and directs social media strategy and content for @americans4arts accounts, including organic daily posting and paid advertising for events and programming. Previously in her nonprofit arts and culture career, she was Marketing Communications Manager at the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the First Amendment, and worked at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in a range of roles from public relations intern to Creative Director for External Affairs. Ann Marie is a graduate of the University of Virginia, an enthusiastic blood donor, and a volunteer in local community theater.

Nikki joined Americans for the Arts in February 2020. As the Equity in Arts Leadership Program Manager, she will work to envision, design, and implement programs to improve the entry, advancement, and leadership opportunities for historically and currently marginalized or underrepresented arts administrators in the arts and culture field.

Nikki holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Linguistics from Pitzer College in southern California, where she solidified her interests in language, human rights, and cross-cultural understanding. She also holds a Master's degree in Arts, Festival, and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she researched the impact of programming at the intersection of arts and social justice.Her previous work experiences include organizations across the US, such as the Massachusetts Cultural Council, El Sistema USA, Berklee College of Music, and The Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, among others.

One of Lester’s favorite memories growing up is gathering aroundthe living room piano and singing songs with friends and family. Little did heknow, moments like that can happen in any place at any time, and Lester isthrilled to be bringing the joy of art and music to the community.

With ten years of non-profit experience, Lester helps bring theSing for Hope Pianos program to live both in NYC and across theglobe, creating pockets of living room singalongs throughoutpublic spaces for everyone to be a part of. Check out more of Lester’sexperience with the SFH Pianos in his TEDxBroadway talk here.

Harrison Clark (he/him/his) is a junior at Tufts University majoring in International Relations with a language concentration in Arabic. A composer, lyricist, and playwright, Harrison has dedicated his artistry to the celebration, performance, preservation, and advancement of Black Art in America. At Tufts, he serves as music director for the S-Factor vocal group, conducts archival research on the institutional legacies of Black art and artistry, and serves on the Tufts Diversity Admissions Council. Currently, Harrison is writing his first stage musical, an original story concerning questions of cultural and artistic agency from the perspective of young Black artists. His ultimate goal is, through his artistry and advocacy, to unlock the gates to a reimagined future in which anti-Blackness is removed from the foundational DNA of the arts in the United States and globally. Harrison is eager to get to know the world of nonprofit arts leadership this summer through DIAL. 

Narric Rome serves as Vice President for Government Affairs and Arts Education at Americans for the Arts.  In his role he manages federal, state, and local government advocacy, grassroots campaigns, policy development, and national coalition-building efforts with cultural, civic, and private sector organizations with the goal of influencing public policies that advance direct and indirect support for the arts and arts education.

Narric is responsible for promoting the Americans for the Arts’ message to Congress and the Biden Administration, and leading the policy development for the annual National Arts Action Summit, including Arts Advocacy Day, which involves coordinating over 85 arts organizations as partners. In 2019, the advocacy effort by Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund to "#SaveTheNEA" was celebrated by the Public Affairs Council with their Lobbying Innovation Award.

Most recently, Narric has pursued a national campaign to boost the creative economy and workforce by building support for a trio of congressional bills including the Creative Economy Revitalization Act, the CREATE Act and PLACE Act in Congress.

Narric also oversees the Americans for the Arts education program that seeks equitable access to the arts through advocacy at the national, state and local levels. This work has included overseeing a $1.5 mil. three-year multi-state policy initiative, and successful passage of the National Arts In Education Week resolution through both bodies of Congress.

Prior to joining Americans for the Arts, Narric worked on the policy staff of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign in Vermont and served as a legislative aide to Secretary Richard Riley at the U.S. Department of Education where he received the Peer Recognition Award in 1999.  Earlier in his career, Narric worked on Capitol Hill, at the Podesta Group and on several state and national political campaigns. He is the immediate past-president of the Vermont State Society.

Narric holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University.

At Americans for the Arts, Lauren works with the Federal Affairs team in federal lobbying and government affairs activities, including composing position statements, monitoring federal legislation, drafting legislative proposals, coalition building with the Congressional Arts Caucus and other Congressional staff.  She enjoys teaching others how to become compelling arts advocates and how to pursue strong arts policy.  Prior to joining Americans for the Arts, Lauren worked for a member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives for over two years where she managed the arts, humanities, and museums portfolio.  Before coming to Washington, DC, Lauren worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia.  There, she held positions in the Education Outreach, Historical Interpretations, and Curatorial departments.  Lauren earned her Master of Arts degree in Public History from James Madison University and her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Tennessee.  Lauren's passion for the arts began at age three when she first started ballet lessons and continues to this day as she enjoys dance and theater performances, museums, and art shows.