Clayton Lord is Americans for the Arts’ Vice President of Strategic Impact. In that role, he and the Strategic Impact team collaborate closely with research, communications, and program staff to connect the dots between the various components of work done at Americans for the Arts and encourage the creation of solid, complex initiatives that progress the core mission and goals of the organization and drive systemic change. Prior to shifting into this role, Lord was the Vice President of Local Arts Advancement for the organization for seven years. Lord is a prolific writer, thinker, and speaker about the public value of the arts and has edited and contributed to three books: Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of the Arts; Arts & America: Arts, Culture and the Future of America’s Communities; and To Change the Face & Heart of America: Selected Writings on the Arts and Communities, 1949-1992. He led Americans for the Arts’ New Community Visions Initiative, a multi-year effort to better understand and support the changing role of the arts and LAAs in American communities, and now oversees initiatives focused on the social impact of the arts, the equitable treatment of creative workers, and the proliferation of pro-arts policy. This has included the Arts + Social Impact Explorer (AmericansForTheArts.org/SocialImpact). He is the chief architect of the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention. He holds a B.A. in English and Psychology from Georgetown University, and lives with his husband and daughter in Maryland.

As the Public Art & Civic Design Senior Program Manager,Patricia Walsh overseas five program areas under the Equity + Local ArtsEngagement department including Arts and Community Development; Arts in CivicDesign; Creative Placemaking; Cultural Districts, Trails and Tourism; andPublic Art. Through her work she engages with and works to educate local artsagency leaders on how to utilize the arts to equitably address community needsand goals. Her work aims to support professional development, resource buildingand networking opportunities for arts administrators to utilize the arts tocreate accessible public spaces, enable inclusive and equitable communitydevelopment, and ensure the arts are an active component in equitable economicgrowth and sustainability.

Patricia is a member of the Arts and Planning Interest GroupSteering Committee for American Planning Association, co-chair for theWashington District Council on Placemaking for Urban Land Institute, and anartist selection committee member for two projects with the City of Rockville,Maryland.

She holds a Master of Science in Arts Administration from BostonUniversity, a Bachelor of Arts in painting from State University of New York atPlattsburgh, and an Associates in Applied Science in Commercial Art fromDutchess Community College.