Our History
The Tomorrow's America Foundation was incorporated in 1979 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation. Its founder and president, Michael Broome, has a BA from Appalachian State University where he was elected twice as student government president. Through independent study, he designed his major in leadership development. Upon graduation, he began his career as a motivational trainer and was sponsored by several North Carolina business leaders to deliver his messages to youth audiences.
Michael’s vision was to create week-long conferences where teens and young adults could be taught more in-depth messages about leadership, character, achievement, and America. Beginning in 1982, the BROYHILL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCES have been held each summer. Since that time, over 30,000 participants from all over the United States as well as from foreign countries have attended BLC.
The Broyhill Family Foundation has made this possible.
The founder of Broyhill Industries was Ed Broyhill. He and his wife Satie had four children – Paul, Jim, Allene, and Bettie. Their children continue to demonstrate the Broyhill belief in perseverance, self-reliance, and service to others.
We would like to give special appreciation to Paul Broyhill for spearheading the development of the Broyhill Leadership Conferences. Paul is certainly no stranger to success. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he entered the furniture market and began to make his mark early. He worked vigorously and made many improvements to his father’s business, Broyhill Furniture. He was widely known and recognized for being an innovative marketer. Paul eventually became the President of Broyhill Furniture Industries (the largest privately owned furniture company in the world at that time.) He continued to rise through the executive ranks and served as Chief Executive Officer and was Chairman of the Board of Directors at the time of his retirement in 1980.
Since that time, Paul has served as Chairman of the following corporations: BMC Fund, Inc., Broyhill Investments, Inc., and Broyhill Family Foundation, Inc. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Furniture Manufacturers Association. In 2004, he was inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame.
Paul was married to Faye Arnold, a former Miss North Carolina. Faye passed away in 2002. She was a most gracious person who was known and admired for her active roles in many educational and civic causes. They had three children – Caron, Claire, and Hunt.
Originally head-quartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Tomorrow’s America Foundation office now makes its home in York, South Carolina. Through the years, Michael and his wife Karen have continued to look for ways to improve the BLC experience. They believe that “nothing changes for the better if nothing changes.”