Americans for the Arts

This piece by Laura Bruney of the Arts & Business Council of Miami was originally published on their blog, www.artsbizmiami.org/ArtsBizBlog.

When Jessica Goldman-Srebnick moved to Miami 18 years ago to work with her father, the iconic Tony Goldman, she felt like a fish out of water. The whole city was quickly becoming a serious place for business and she found her niche, fell in love with South Florida and put down roots. Since becoming CEO in 2012, this innovator and change-maker has put her own stamp on Goldman Properties with her unique vision and creative flair. The company is firmly embedded in the fabric of Miami-Dade with the arts playing a leading role in many of their projects and investments. I sat down to talk with Ms. Goldman-Srebnick, in her sunny South Beach office, about her vision for Goldman Properties and how the arts are embedded in their corporate DNA.

Americans for the Arts, like any national nonprofit advocacy and research organization, is a complex, multifaceted smorgasbord of programs, activities, and goals. Our modest number of employees not only work to make fundamental changes to society using the arts and culture, but we also work to change how people view the arts and culture by getting them to recognize its value to the economy, education, and to the health and wellbeing of our nation and its communities. For a nonprofit of our size, we often do the work or see successes similar to much larger nonprofits or even for-profit companies. We owe this success to our members and the thousands of arts organizations across the country who work with us to accomplish our goals. But, there is another group of organizations that Americans for the Arts partners with who also help us accomplish our goals. These organizations are not arts-centric groups, but they do see the value of the arts and culture in accomplishing their goals. We call this group of organizations our Strategic Partners.