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Canary Interview with Robert Lynch, CEO of Lumber Liquidators

August 6, 2012

Robert Lynch sits on the Board of Directors at Canary Foundation. He has been the President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Lumber Liquidators since January 2012. In this interview, Rob tells us about the history of his involvement with Canary Foundation. 

Q: How and why did you get involved with Canary?

In 2005, I was the CEO of Orchard Supply Hardware, and I was invited to participate in the Canary Gala that was part of the San Jose Grand Prix. At that time, it was their main fundraiser. I was inspired by Canary’s strategy, mission, and vision—I was personally moved and immediately wanted to become involved.

At the time, Orchard Supply Hardware supported City of Hope through an annual golf tournament; each year we raised about half a million dollars for them. I wanted to get involved with a more local organization, because we were based in the Bay Area. I decided that I wanted use our annual golf fundraiser to support Canary instead of City of Hope.

I bumped into Don with his son at a basketball game the following year. I reintroduced myself to him and communicated I wanted the golfing fundraiser to support Canary instead of City of Hope. His eyes lit up. The rest is history: the fundraiser went to Canary, I joined the board, and I’ve been involved ever since.

Q: You mentioned that one of the reasons you got involved with Canary is because it was local, but now you’re with Lumber Liquidators on the East Coast. Why did you stick with Canary?

I’m still involved because I believe strongly in what they do. Ultimately, the attraction wasn’t so much that it was local in terms of physical location. I wanted to be involved in an organization that had a real community, a place where I could really roll up my sleeves and get involved. More »