Mary Anne Carter serves as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a position she also held during the first administration of President Donald J. Trump. During that time, she advanced the expansion of Creative Forces, a creative arts therapy initiative supporting service members and veterans recovering from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, and other psychological health conditions. At the NEA, she has strengthened major national programs, such as Shakespeare in American Communities, the NEA Big Read, and Poetry Out Loud, ensuring agency activities engage audiences of all ages. Her dedication to this work is informed by personal experience, including her daughter’s early learning difference and the transformative role the arts have played in her education.