the bca 10: leadership award

James S. Turley
Global Chairman and CEO
Ernst & Young

Nominated by the National Corporate Theatre Fund

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, its 155,000 people are united by shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. Ernst & Young seeks to make a difference in helping its people, its clients and the communities where it operates achieve their potential.

James S. Turley is the Global Chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young, and under his leadership the company has consistently been recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Jim’s career at the company has spanned 35 years, with its start in 1977 at the US firm’s Houston office. In July 2001, he became Chairman and assumed the role of CEO in October 2003.

With a long-standing commitment to theater and arts education, Jim has been a dedicated leader since the beginnings of his career at Ernst & Young. Jim is actively engaged with one of the nation’s leading theatre associations, the National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF), serving as the Chairman of the Board for the past six years. In early 2012 at the Annual Chairman’s Awards Gala, NCTF launched its Impact Creativity campaign – a $5 million fund-raising effort to support theatre education programs in 19 American cities impacting more than 500,000 youth – with a launch gift of $200,000 from Ernst & Young LLP and its partners and principals. Turley was a 2012 Annual Chairman’s honoree along with Harry Connick, Jr., the Cleveland Play House and the Cleveland Clinic.

Impact Creativity aligns squarely with Turley’s and his company’s beliefs that the next generation needs varied experiences and quality education to succeed. The initiative brings together theatres, arts education experts and individuals to help over 500,000 children and youth, most of them disadvantaged, succeed through the arts by sustaining the theatre arts education programs threatened by today’s fiscal climate. Thanks to Turley, Ernst & Young, Clear Channel Outdoor, Aol.com and Creative Mobile Technologies, Impact Creativity has just concluded an unprecedented awareness campaign promoting theatre education that received nearly 40 million impressions.

For the 25th Anniversary of STAGES ST. LOUIS, a not-for-profit musical theatre company and performing arts academy, Jim and his wife Lynne Turley, STAGES Board Trustee, gifted the company with a $250,000 Challenge Grant. Being the largest operational grant in STAGES history, it supported the development of future productions, and theatre education and outreach initiatives. Each new and increased gift given to STAGES during its anniversary year was matched by the Turley Challenge, up to $250,000.

Christopher "Kip" Forbes
Vice Chairman
Forbes, Inc.

Forbes, Inc. is a private media company which delivers business information to millions of executives and investors worldwide. Its leading publication, Forbes, together with Forbes Asia and Europe has a global following of over five million readers. The company’s website, Forbes.com, is a leading news website and, along with its other online publications, reaches nearly 20 million business decision-makers each month. Christopher Forbes is the vice chairman of Forbes, Inc. where he shares responsibility for the advertising and promotion departments.

Christopher "Kip" Forbes attributes his artistic upbringing to his father, Malcolm Forbes. An avid collector of Faberge eggs and other rare items, Forbes’s father fostered his appreciation for the arts and his understanding of the arts’ importance to society. Christopher Forbes graduated from Princeton University in 1972 with a bachelor’s of arts in art history. While an undergraduate at Princeton, Forbes was a curator of The Forbes Collection and acquired the largest collection of English 19th-century paintings in North America. In 1985, Forbes transformed the ground floor of the Forbes, Inc. offices into The Forbes Magazine Galleries, which both distinguished it from other companies and provided an arts-rich work environment. Early on in his career, Forbes understood the mutually beneficial relationship between business and the arts and constantly worked to promote it.

Christopher Forbes expanded the program at the Forbes Galleries to showcase the artistic talents of employees, hosting not only employee art shows, but also literary readings and performing arts events. The galleries promoted new connections between employees who may not have had the opportunity to work closely beforehand.  Forbes believes that "the arts not only make for a more stimulating and creative work environment, but they also have a direct impact on the bottom line."

Christopher Forbes consistently demonstrates artful leadership. He serves on the board of several arts nonprofits, including The Brooklyn Museum, The Newark Museum, The Friends of New Jersey State Museum, The New York Academy of Art, The Victorian Society in America, and The Advisory Committee of the Department of European Decorative Arts of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, just to name a few. Forbes also played a major role in the strengthening and development of the Business Committee for the Arts (BCA), serving as a member of its board for nearly two decades. Forbes then went on to help develop BCA’s programming to ensure that the business community increased its support of art institutions, organizations, and the presence of art in the workplace.

Under Forbes’s leadership, Forbes, Inc. was a pioneer supporter of BCA's business and arts awards, now known as The BCA 10: Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America, working to bolster art support from businesses nationwide. As a business leader who has profited from employee and customer loyalty, Forbes believes he has a responsibility to give back to those individuals and their communities by supporting an integral and vital part of society—the arts.

Clarence Otis, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Orlando, FL

"Darden is committed to making a positive difference in the communities where we live and work. One of the many ways we do that is through our support of the arts. The sharing of artistic talent and heritage promotes cultural diversity and enhances the American story, serving as an inspiration for current and future generations."

- Clarence Otis, Jr.

Darden is the world's largest full-service restaurant company with annual sales of more than $7 billion. Through subsidiaries, Darden owns and operates 1,800 Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52 restaurants in North America; employs approximately 180,000 people; and serves 400 million meals annually. Clarence Otis joined the company in 1995 and was named CEO in 2004.  

Clarence Otis has been inspired by the arts since his childhood. He grew up in Los Angeles near the Watts Towers Arts Center which served as the hub for the Los Angeles black arts movement in the 1970s. The artists, painters, and actors who congregated at the Towers made Otis aware of the diversity of African-American art and culture. As a result of these early experiences, he understands the role the arts can play in encouraging diversity in the workplace and in the community.  

Darden Restaurants believes in supporting the community through grants, food donations, and employee volunteer time. Darden has made a $5 million commitment to help build the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center in downtown Orlando. The company also provides support to several Central Florida arts organizations as part of its Good Neighbor program: The Orlando Philharmonic, Orlando Ballet, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Orlando Repertory Theatre,  the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, and the Mennello Museum of American Art.  

Clarence Otis and his wife, Jacqueline Bradley, have assembled a collection of works by black contemporary artists. The Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College featured art from their collection in 2007.  They are also supporters of the Studio Museum in Harlem and hosted a fundraising event for the Orlando Philharmonic and the Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation in their home.    

Darden employees generously donate nearly $100,000 annually to United Arts of Central Florida. Through its foundation, Darden matches these funds and makes additional cultural grants to United Arts and more than 20 cultural organizations, making Darden the largest corporate supporter of arts and culture in the region.

Thomas A. James
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Raymond James Financial
St. Petersburg, FL

Tom James is chairman and chief executive officer of Raymond James Financial, Inc., a diversified holding company that provides financial services to individuals, corporations, and municipalities through subsidiary companies. He joined the firm in 1966, and became CEO in 1970.

Tom James is president of the board of trustees of The Salvador Dalí Museum where he is presiding over the fundraising and construction of a new 60,000-square-foot museum building in St. Petersburg, FL. He was a former board member of the national Business Committee for the Arts and Raymond James was recognized in 2003 and 2008 with leadership awards from the Tampa Bay Business Committee for the Arts.

During his almost four decades as head of Raymond James, the company has given approximately $25 million to community causes and organizations. The company is committed to ensuring that creative expression remains a central part of the Tampa Bay landscape. For the past five years, it has been the title sponsor of the Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts. In addition to its financial support, Raymond James coordinates more than 300 volunteers during the festival. The firm is also a major supporter of The Florida Orchestra, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, St. Petersburg’s Mahaffey Theater, and Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Additionally, Raymond James has long supported the American Stage Theatre Company—recognized as Tampa Bay’s best professional regional theater troupe—through ongoing sponsorship and, in 2009, provided the lead gift for construction of the Raymond James Theatre, the new home of American Stage.

The firm’s corporate headquarters is home to The Tom and Mary James/Raymond James Financial Art Collection consisting of more than 1,800 artworks. Nearly 95 percent of the collection is owned by Tom and Mary James, and Tom selected almost every piece of artwork himself. Many of the works he chooses are by living artists because he believes buying works from living artists helps sustain them in their profession. The collection is open by invitation to the public for docent tours that annually draw about 3,000 people.

“Office space is the next best thing to a museum because we have a high traffic area with about a million square feet here,” says James. “While I might have 35 or 40 western works in my house in Florida and another 30 in my Colorado house, I’ve got about 1,400 of them, as well as 500 pieces portraying other subject matter, in the home office.” Many of Raymond James’ employees who were never interested in art have become collectors or proudly bring friends to the headquarters and it is often voted one of the best places to work because of the creative environment.

The annual Associate & Affiliate Art Show typically attracts more than 400 works in various media from the firm’s employees and associates across the country. The artwork is displayed in the home office and online, with cash prizes going to winners in four categories and a People’s Choice Award voted on by all associates.

For the past ten years, The Wildlife & Western Visions Art Show has been co-sponsored by Raymond James and The Plainsmen Gallery of Clearwater, and is hosted at the Raymond James Financial headquarters each April. During the two-day show, hundreds of visitors enjoy meeting the artists and viewing their original paintings, bronze sculptures, limited edition prints, and fine Native American jewelry, all of which are available for sale.

James R. Houghton
Chairman Emeritus
Corning Incorporated
Corning, New York

“I have always believed that the arts are a very important part of our society and that those of us in the business sector have a responsibility to support the arts.” 

- James R. Houghton

The BCA Leadership Award recognizes a business executive who demonstrates exceptional vision, leadership and commitment in developing and encouraging business alliances with the arts throughout his/her career.

James (Jamie) R. Houghton has been a champion of the arts throughout his career. Under Jamie’s direction, Corning Incorporated built a new headquarters in the early 1990s. A dynamic and engaging environment—one that inspired and enabled communication and innovation—was the prime objective. The building is a modern structure, which appropriately employs the imaginative use of glass to enhance its architectural features. The building’s eleven skylit atria each showcase a permanent glass sculpture. Jamie commissioned a group of world-renowned glass artists— including Dale Chihuly, Peter Aldridge, and Donald Lipski—to create these works. The sculptures are part of the building’s distinctive character and communicate the message of the vast potential of glass—the core material of Corning’s business.

In 1996 he received Corning’s Market Street Historic Preservation Leadership Award for his dedication to redeveloping the city of Corning. In addition to encouraging artists to establish studios in the city, he served on the Board of the Market Street Restoration Agency (MSRA) from 1997 to 2000. He continues to be a board member emeritus, and through his leadership at Corning Incorporated has seen that MSRA continues to be supported financially through Corning’s Gaffer District (the district encompassing downtown Corning and Corning Incorporated).

Jamie has served on the Board of the Corning Museum of Glass since April 1970. He was president of the Board from 1988–1997 and has served as vice president from 1997 to the present. He is a founding member of the Museum’s Ennion Society, an honorary society comprised of donors of $1,000 or more. With his wife, Maisie, he has been a generous donor to the Museum’s collection.

Jamie also served as a Trustee of the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, Corning, New York from 1983–1997 when he was elected a Trustee Emeritus. He was on the Board of the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, New York from 1968–1975, and he served on the Board of the New York State Council on the Arts from 1971–1979.

Outside of Corning, Jamie has been on the Board of Trustees of the Pierpont Morgan Library since 1975. He has been vice president of this Board since 1988 and is also a member of the Executive Committee. In 1989 he was the Chairman of the Library’s $40 million capital campaign that raised funds for an expansion that included the acquisition and renovation of the Morgan house, as well as endowment capital. He also served on the search committee that selected Renzo Piano as architect of the museum’s $105 million expansion and renovation project. Jamie is a founding member of the Director’s Roundtable at the Morgan.

Jamie has served on the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1982 and has been the Chairman of the Board since 1998. Under his leadership, the Museum opened new Greek and Roman Galleries which enabled the Museum to display hundreds of works that had been in storage for decades. He oversaw a capital campaign that increased the original campaign goal of $400 million to $650 million. This campaign funded the Mary and Michael Jaharis Gallery which opened in 1999, as well as curatorial and conservation work, special exhibitions, publications, education, and concerts and lectures.

Jamie has been recognized numerous times for his support of the arts. In 1992, he received the New York State Preservation League Pillar of New York Award. He was elected a Fellow for Life of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1994. In 1996, he accepted The National Alliance of Business Lyndon Baines Johnson Award for Distinguished Service in Building Successful Public/Private Partnerships and in the same year he also accepted the first Caron Foundation Distinguished Corporate Citizen Award on behalf of Corning Incorporated. In 1997, the American Craft Museum honored him with its Visionaries Award.

Because of his deep involvement with the arts, Jamie is frequently a speaker at arts events. He has spoken passionately of the role the arts play in developing the kind of workers business needs today, pointing out that many new media technology companies look for strong arts backgrounds in potential employees, as indicators of people skilled in communications and teamwork. He also notes that in business today capital, technology, and natural resources can be had virtually anywhere in the world, but workers with superior skills are the one resource that is not easily transferable.

Jamie was a director of the national Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. from 1969–1996. In 1995, Corning Incorporated was named to the BCA Hall of Fame.

Henry W. Bloch
Honorary Chairman and Co-Founder
H&R Block, Inc.
Kansas City, Missouri

“It is in the best interest of every business – no matter its size – to support the arts.  Beyond their intrinsic value, the arts add to the economic vitality and quality of life of our communities.  They also unleash creative ideas in and out of the workplace, foster dialogues and increase understanding among people.” 

- Henry W. Bloch

The BCA Leadership Award recognizes a business executive who demonstrates exceptional vision, leadership and commitment in developing and encouraging business alliances with the arts throughout his/her career.

Henry W. Bloch, Honorary Chairman and Co-Founder of H&R Block, Inc. is passionate about giving back to Kansas City, Missouri, the city in which the company began. For decades he has provided vision and leadership, as well as substantial support, both personally and through his company, to dozens of the city’s not-for-profits. In addressing his support for his community, Henry said, “Kansas City saw my company through the lean years, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to give back.”

As Chairman of the Board of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Henry initiated the museum’s $100 million Endowment Campaign, and was on the Steering Committee for the $200 million Generations Capital Campaign to which he gave a leadership gift. Designed by Stephen Holl Architects, the Bloch Building is the centerpiece of a dramatic transformation of the museum that includes major renovations of the original building, reinstallation of European galleries, a new Ford Learning Center and restoration of the Kansas City Sculpture Park. The inaugural exhibition in the new Bloch Building, Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and HenryBloch Collection, featured the Blochs’ personal collection of Impressionist paintings. This was the first time this collection has been exhibited publicly. Henry served as trustee of the museum from 1983 to 2007 and as Chairman of the Board from 2004 to 2007. In 1985, he created the Business Council at the Nelson-Atkins which has become a valuable support organization that continues to help the museum grow and enhance its mission.

In 1974, Henry established The H&R Block Foundation and serves as its Chairman. The foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life by responding to the changing needs of people and communities through thoughtful, innovative and responsible philanthropy.

Under Henry’s guidance, the foundation created the H&R Block Artspace in collaboration with the Kansas City Art Institute, a college of art and design where he served as Director. The Artspace supports the creation and presentation of contemporary art by international, national and regional artists through exhibitions, publications, public art projects, educational programs, partnerships, and innovative professional development opportunities for students and exhibiting artists.

In 2001, the H&R Block Foundation created the Henry Wollman Bloch Fountain at Union Station as a gift to the people of Kansas City. Union Station, a former railroad station built in 1914, was renovated in 1999 and is now the home of Science City – an educational center that preserves and interprets Kansas City’s regional history. Kansas City, known as the City of Fountains, is believed to have more public fountains than any city other than Rome.

Henry is also one of 11 founding trustees of the Kansas City Symphony. The founding trustees, all businessmen and philanthropists, recognized the city’s need for a symphony and established an initial endowment for the symphony in 1983. He also served as the Honorary Chairman of the Symphony Ball, the symphony’s annual fundraiser. And, he is a former member of the Corporate Fund of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

In 2000, Henry Bloch helped to establish the Kansas City Business Committee for the Arts to increase business involvement with the arts at the local level. He remains the Honorary Chairman of this organization. According to Henry, “Being a member of the Kansas City BCA is a win-win-win-win for our metro-area companies. It’s a win for the artists with whom they partner, a win for the Kansas City community, a win for the employees, and a win for the member businesses.” Additionally, he served on the board of the national Business Committee for the Arts from 2002 through 2006.

Throughout his life, Henry has been an avid champion for the arts. He has devoted considerable leadership, vision and resources to enrich the arts for the benefit of those living in and visiting Kansas City and on the national level he has worked tirelessly to engage businesses with the arts to ensure the arts may be enjoyed by all.

J. Barry Griswell
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Principal Financial Group
Des Moines, Iowa

“I firmly believe our ongoing support of the arts is a must-have investment in the well-being of our employees and the vitality of our community. The arts stimulate the intellectual, emotional and creative development of future leaders, workers and problem solvers we need to keep our community - and our company - great.”

- J. Barry Griswell

The BCA Leadership Award recognizes a business executive who demonstrates exceptional vision, leadership and commitment in developing and encouraging business alliances with the arts throughout his/her career.

Making the arts part of the everyday experience, providing opportunities for young and emerging artists, and embracing cultural diversity to heighten understanding are the focal points of J. Barry Griswell's vision for nurturing the growth of the arts in the United States.

In Des Moines, Iowa, the headquarter city of Principal Financial Group, Barry's vision and leadership has helped spawn the development of two major projects. BRAVO Greater Des Moines - a collaboration established in 2004 - brings 15 arts and cultural groups together for the first time to develop joint marketing, strategic planning, fundraising efforts and strategies for cross-selling. The Principal Riverwalk - a $60 million project, will transform the city by connecting the east and west sides of downtown Des Moines through a series of pathways and bridges and includes major works of art including one by Joel Shapiro.

Under Barry's leadership, The Principal has developed a 760-piece museum-quality art collection to share with the public, has underwritten a 70-city, three year tour of Treasures to Go, an exhibition of works from the Smithsonian collection that would have remained in storage during the renovation of several museums, and has been a champion and founding sponsor of the Des Moines Art Festival - the fourth largest event of its type in the U.S.

David R. Goode
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Norfolk Southern Corporation
Norfolk, Virginia

"In business, the challenge is to spark the creativity that will make a business great. In both business and the arts, you have to find the right combination - one that ignites creativity and manages the bottom-line."

- David R. Goode,
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Norfolk Southern Corporation

Since joining Norfolk Southern Corporation in 1965, David Goode has provided the vision and leadership required to weave the arts in the company's operating culture, and he has devoted considerable energies to serving on boards of arts organizations and encouraged other business executives to embrace and support the arts.

Under his direction the Norfolk Southern Foundation has systematically provided about one-third of $85 million in grants to the arts. Additionally, he has been a champion of the development of the company's museum-quality art collection of more than 400 works that are displayed throughout the company and loaned to museums and the Art in Embassies Program.

David Goode's long-term service to the arts began as a director of the Mill Theatre in Roanoke, Virginia. He was also Chairman of the Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. He served, or currently serves, as a director of the Hampton Roads Business Consortium for Arts Support, the Center in the Square, the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Virginia Arts Festival and the Virginia Symphony, all in Virginia. He has been the Chairman of the Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. (BCA) and a member of the Corporate Fund Board of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

To further the development of the arts, David Goode makes certain that the company provides support for arts organizations large and small. The Virginia Symphony, for example, receives annual operating support and the company sponsored the orchestra's New York debut at Carnegie Hall. He also oversees annual support to the Chrysler Museum of Art, The Virginia Opera, WHRO, Virginia Stage Company, Virginia Musical Theatre, as well as the Hampton Roads Business Consortium for Arts.

Support, which provides operating support to arts organizations throughout the area. Under his direction, Norfolk Southern also provides support to the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation in Gettysburg; the North Carolina Transportation Museum Foundation in Spencer, North Carolina; The John F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta; the Western Virginia Foundation for the Arts and Sciences in Roanoke; the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia; and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg.

To promote economic development and tourism, David Goode was a driving force in the establishment of the nationally recognized Virginia Arts Festival in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which showcases international artists and local arts organizations. He also committed Norfolk Southern to a $3 million leadership grant to Jamestown 2007 - a celebration of America's 400th birthday. And, he directed the company to make the first grant of $50,000 toward the construction of the Pilot Schooner, Virginia - a replica of the ambassadorial vessel that is being built by the Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation in Richmond.

Guided by David Goode, the company recently donated a former Norfolk & Western Railway passenger station building in Roanoke to establish the Roanoke Visitors Center and the O. Winston Link Museum - the first photographic museum in the country dedicated to the work of one artist. Additionally, he made a personal contribution to the project, encouraged other executives to do the same and pledged $300,000 from the company.

He also arranged for Norfolk Southern to provide rail access for Artrain, America's Museum in Motion, and he has been at the forefront of developing a new museum to be located on the main floor of the company's headquarters, about railroads past, present and future that is scheduled to open in November 2005.

David Goode's vision, leadership and commitment to the arts and his untiring efforts to increase business involvement with the arts have spurred growth and appreciation of the arts throughout the United States.

Raymond D. Nasher
President and CEO
The Nasher Company

John C. Hampton
Chairman of the Board
Hampton Affiliates

Jack A. Belz
Chairman and CEO
Belz Enterprises

C. Kendric Fergeson
Chairman
National Bank of Commerce, Altus

Sondra A. Healy
Chairman
Turtle Wax, Inc.

Martha R. Ingram
Chairman of the Board
Ingram Industries Inc.

John H. Bryan
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Sara Lee Corporation

Eli Broad
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
SunAmerica Inc.

Award not presented in 1996.

Winton M. Blount
Chairman of the Board
Blount, Inc.

James D. Wolfensohn
President and Chief Executive Officer
James D. Wolfensohn Incorporated

Henry T. Segerstrom
Managing Partner
C.J. Segerstrom & Sons