arkansas - where bold nonprofits work

WHERE

WORKBOLD NONPROFITS

Economic Development Commission

2 ARKANSAS — Where Bold Nonprofits Work

Most people know that Arkansas is home to some of the world’s largest for-profit companies – Walmart and Ty-son Foods among them. You might not know, though, that Arkansas provides the perfect home base for a growing number of nonprofit companies as well.

Heifer International, Winrock International, World Services for the Blind, the International Association of Yoga Therapists, the American Taekwondo Association and many other national and global nonprofits headquar-ter in Arkansas. Even regional nonprofit offices flourish here, as Goodwill Arkansas has under Brian Itzkowitz.

Here is why:

• With 22 four-year universities and 22 two-year colleges, Arkansas provides a qualified workforce and opportunities for training.

• Education Week’s Quality Counts report ranks Arkansas’s educational system fifth in the nation.

• Purchase prices and lease rates for office space are very competitive in Arkansas, which contributes to the overall low cost of doing business in the state. (The fourth low-est CDB in the nation, according to CNBC.)

• Arkansas also offers an array of competitive incentives, including income tax credits, sales and use tax credits and refunds, and payroll rebates for new and expanding com-panies.

And many of the same things that make doing busi-ness here so rewarding also make living here special, like the seventh lowest cost of living in the U.S., according to

CNBC Top States for Business.Work commutes here tend to be measured in minutes

instead of half-hours, and there is nowhere in Arkansas that is more than a few miles from pristine beauty and recreational opportunities. It’s no wonder Arkansas is known far and wide as “The Natural State.”

With some 9,000 miles of streams and rivers and more than 600,000 acres of lakes, Arkansas is an oasis for fish-ing and hunting and water sports, including sailing and scuba diving. Marinas, boat docks and fishing guide ser-vices are plentiful across the state — and so are trophy-size bass, trout, catfish and more.

Enjoy a relaxed family float trip down America’s First Scenic River, the Buffalo, or the thrill of a whitewater or rock climbing adventure, and even get back to sleep in your own bed that night. Explore any of 250 hiking trails that cover more than 1,500 miles. Over half of Arkansas is still timbered, including 2.9 million acres protected in three national forests.

Other fun outdoor activities to enjoy in Arkansas in-clude on- and off-road biking, golf on designer courses throughout the state, mining for quartz crystals and dia-monds and bird watching. The more adventurous can go caving in underground limestone caverns or search for one of the state’s many breathtaking waterfalls.

I personally invite you to give Arkansas a closer look if you’re thinking of locating or relocating a nonprofit’s headquarters. I know you’ll like what you see.

Sincerely,

Grant TennilleExecutive DirectorArkansas Economic Development Commission

GREETINGS,

Ballet Arkansas, the state’s professional dance company,

has several performances throughout the year.

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3ARKANSAS — Where Bold Nonprofits Work

Winrock InternationalContinuing the legacy of the philanthropic Rockefeller family, Winrock International is dedicated to increasing economic opportunity and sus-taining natural resources and accomplishing innovations.

12Oxford AmericanThe nonprofit Oxford American Literary Project is a cultural asset that combines food, music, literature and art.

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Innovate ArkansasA partnership with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Winrock International, Innovate Arkansas encourages technologi-cal innovations and assists the state’s entrepreneurs in developing their ideas into viable ventures.

14Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)HIPPY USA works with families in their own homes to support parents as their child’s first and most important teacher.

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Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer InstituteThe Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences treats patients from all over the world.

16International Association of Yoga TherapistsFor 25 years, Little Rock has been the headquarters of the Interna-tional Association of Yoga Therapists, a professional organization serving yoga teachers and therapists worldwide.

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Southern Bancorp Community PartnersSouthern Bancorp Community Partners works to revitalize struggling ru-ral areas in the Mississippi River Delta and southern Arkansas by helping individuals and businesses create jobs and invest in their communities.

18Goodwill Industries of ArkansasWhile not headquartered in the state, Goodwill Industries of Arkansas provides a wide range of training and employment opportunities so that individuals can become more independent.

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CONTENTS

Heifer InternationalFor 70 years, Heifer International has been working to end world hunger and poverty globally and to care for the Earth. And, it has had a long history in Arkansas.

8Bridge2RwandaFormed in 2007, Bridge2Rwanda helps expand Rwanda’s global net-work, encourages foreign direct investment and creates opportunities for Rwandans to study abroad.

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Clinton School of Public ServiceIn 2006, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Ser-vice became the nation’s first higher education institution to offer a Master of Public Service degree.

10World Services for the BlindWorld Services for the Blind is one of the most comprehensive adult re-habilitation centers in the world for individuals who are blind or have visual impairments.

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Promoting Advocacy in ArkansasA qualified workforce, low cost of living, natural beauty and an abundance of cultural and recreational activi-ties — Arkansas is a great place for national and inter-national nonprofits to call home.

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Published by Arkansas Times for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission

EDITOR Erica Sweeney

WRITER KD Reep

ART DIRECTOR Bryan Moats

Central Arkansas has a thriving live-music scene.

WHERE

WORKBOLD NONPROFITS

Economic Development Commission

ON THE COVERA resident of the Chawanbari Village in the Palpa District of Nepal with a Heifer International representative.

Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International


ARKANSAS VALUES SERVICEWhat we’re known for is agriculture, Walmart and Tyson, and we have our share of multi-millionaires and billion-aires. Arkansas has nurtured one of the most beloved presidents of this country and counts award-winning writers, artists and musicians including Maya Angelou, James Hayes, Johnny Cash and Al Green among our natives.

But what Arkansas does best is pro-vide for our neighbors in need. That’s what makes the state the optimal place for national and international nonprof-its to base their headquarters and pursue their missions.

“Arkansas is a wonderful place for non-profits because it has the infrastructure and support that organizations need to thrive,” said Stephanie Meincke, president and chief executive officer of the Arkansas Nonprofit Alliance. “Arkansas is fertile ground to bring in ideas that have worked in other places. The state has the kind of education support from colleges and uni-

versities to help nurture organizations. Plus, it’s a friendly, neighborly place that’s con-venient for organizations to trade ideas.”

According to the 2012 Charity and Pros-perity Report, a study released by the Uni-versity of Arkansas at Little Rock Center for Nonprofit Organizations in partnership with the Arkansas Coalition for Excellence, there are more than 9,200 charitable non-profits in Arkansas, which bring in more than $13 billion in revenue. In addition, the report notes that 22 percent of Arkan-sas’s nonprofits are human services related. When looking at all the requirements a business needs to thrive in any economy, Arkansas has it all.

QUALIFIED WORKFORCECNBC ranked the state’s workforce sev-enth in the nation, and according to the Arkansas Economic Development Commis-sion, workforce development is a priority of the state’s technical colleges and insti-tutes, which work with local business and industry to meet existing and new work-

A view from the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge,

with the William E. “Bill” Clark Presidential

Park Wetlands (in the foreground) and Little Rock

skyline.

Arkansas is Rich in the Original

Renewable Resource: Advocacy


force needs. AEDC’s Workforce Consor-tium serves more than 2,100 Arkansas busi-nesses each year.

In 2010, Arkansas’s nonprofit sector employed more than 93,000 full-time pro-fessionals, which comprises 6.8 percent of the state’s labor force. The 2012 Char-ity and Prosperity Report also notes that from 2008 to 2010, nonprofits in Arkansas employed an average of 81,122 people per year with health care and human services industries employing the majority of those workers.

Arkansas was the first in the nation to offer a Master of Public Service degree. At the Clinton School of Public Service, stu-dents gain the knowledge and experience to further their careers in the areas of non-profit, governmental, volunteer or private sector service, and while learning in the classroom, these students also complete hands-on public service projects, ranging from local work in Arkansas communi-ties to international projects on all of the world’s six inhabited continents.

“Our students outside of Arkansas may come here because of their desire to pur-sue a life of service, but once they get here, they stay because they have fallen in love with the state,” said Skip Rutherford, dean of the Clinton School. “If there are posi-tions available here where these students can fulfill both their career goals and life mission, we will be able to keep them in Arkansas.”

LOW OVERHEADIn 2013, CNBC ranked the top states to conduct business based on 51 measures of competitiveness developed with input from

Grocery Items 98.0%Utilities 108.6%Health Care 96.9%Transportation 98.1%Miscellaneous Good & Services 98.5%

Key Living Expenses Comparisons with National AveragesCourtesy of Metro Little Rock Alliance

BRIAN CHILSON

Advocacy


business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers and the Council on Competitiveness. Arkansas ranked fourth as the lowest cost in doing business in the country and seventh in both quality of workforce and cost of living.

The AEDC offers the nonprofit incentive program, which provides an annual pay-roll rebate for up to five years equal to four percent of the payroll of new, full-time, per-manent employees hired by international, national or regional nonprofit headquarters

locating or expanding in Arkansas.To qualify, eligible nonprofit organiza-

tions must create a payroll for new, full-time, permanent employees of at least $500,000 and pay an average wage in excess of 110 percent of the state or county average wage (whichever is less) in the county in which the organization locates or expands. In addition, the nonprofit organization must receive 75 percent of its income from out-of-state sources. The AEDC’s nonprofit incen-tive program also provides a sales and use tax refund for eligible projects that invest a minimum of $250,000, and the refund is eligible for taxes paid on construction materials and machinery and equipment associated with the approved project.

QUALITY OF LIFEAccording to the Metro Little Rock Alli-ance, a coalition of 12 counties in Arkansas dedicated to making central Arkansas the premier location for new and expanding business within the Mid-South, the Metro Little Rock region boasts a high quality of

life with a low cost of living in Arkansas. The composite index reports the Little Rock Metropolitan area at 93.9 percent of the national average, and housing costs, which make up the largest portion of expense for most individuals, compare favorably at 79.7 percent of the national average.

Arkansas’s education system ranks fifth in the nation, according to EducationWeek’s“Quality Counts” report for 2013; also that year, Forbes named Fayetteville, Little Rock and Fort Smith among the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S. for business and careers. Jonesboro, Hot Springs and Pine Bluff also made that mag-azine’s list of “Best Small Places for Busi-ness and Careers.”

CULTURE AND RECREATIONFly into Little Rock, and there is no ques-tion of the natural beauty surrounding you. Whatever you enjoy most — endless outdoor options like hiking, biking and walking trails, 5k fun runs and full marathons, water sports like fishing, boating and swimming, or taking to the skies whether it’s learning to fly or diving from a plane — you can find (or discover) it in Arkansas.

Home to fine cuisine and down-home cooking, farmers markets, urban gardens, food trucks, distilleries, breweries and vine-yards, Arkansas has food for every type of diet, mood and need. In addition to the Arkansas Arts Center, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Arkansas and the Arkan-sas Natural Heritage Commission, patrons of the arts can visit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Northwest Arkansas or stroll through any number of local galleries and art walks throughout the state.

According to the 2013 Arkansas Depart-ment of Parks and Tourism Annual Report, the Arkansas tourism industry experienced a year of growth with travel expenditures

Little Rock Los Angeles Phoenix ChicagoNew York

City Boston HoustonU.S.

Average

Overall Cost of Living 91 142 88 105 169 149 89 100

Median Household Income

$47,353 $46,901 $46,956 $45,393 $48,529 $50,755 $48,5322 $50,935

Median Home Cost $120,200 $368,500 $105,900 $156,100 $466,200 $339,600 $144,000 $153,800

Property Tax Rate $9.26 $7.73 $7.57 $16.10 $6.88 $9.23 $20.09 $11.20

Comparison of Cost of Living

in Arkansas with Urban

American Cities Courtesy of Arkansas Economic

Development Commission

[In 2013] Forbes named Fayetteville, Little Rock and Fort Smith among the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S. for business and careers.


increasing from more than $5.7 billion to almost $6 billion. The number of visitors increased by more than 431,000 over 2012, due in large part to the Two Percent Tour-ism Initiative passed by the state General Assembly in 1989.

“The key to changing a person’s percep-tion about Arkansas is to get them here,” said Tom Dalton, director of Innovate Arkansas. “When I moved here from Michi-gan, the thing I enjoyed most was having four distinct seasons. Couple that with how friendly the people are here, and it makes leaving Arkansas formidable.”

SUPPORT SYSTEMS Perhaps the most valuable asset Arkansas has for nonprofits is the network of support. In addition to a ready, qualified labor pool, low cost of living, high quality of life and reasonable cost to conduct business, the citi-zens, corporations and other nonprofits in the state want charitable pursuits to thrive.

“Nonprofits cannot work alone,” Meincke said. “They need connections to each other to establish a funding structure and a solid plan to establish their footing. That’s where the Arkansas Nonprofit Alliance comes in with our training and connections between one organization and another. Because of Arkansas’s relatively small size, people get to know each other and help each other. We

help nonprofits support each other through training and partnerships. There’s no sense in one organization duplicating the services of another so we help them decide their focus and fine-tune their outreach. We do training all over the state, sometimes in con-junction with the local chambers of com-merce such as in Jonesboro and El Dorado.”

According to the Division of Community Service and Nonprofit Support, a division of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, the dollar value of one hour of a volunteer’s time is $21.36. By helping non-profits locate, recruit and encourage volun-

teers through programs like AmeriCorps, Community Service Learning and volunteer recognition, the division is able to connect human capital with suitable missions. The oldest state office of volunteerism in the nation, the Division of Community Ser-vice and Nonprofit Support strengthens community resources, volunteerism and national service in Arkansas by offering training, consulting and information to all Arkansans.

“Knowing there is a core of people who value what we do makes pursuing our mis-sion much easier,” said Pierre Ferrari, presi-dent and chief executive officer of Heifer International. “We are a global entity, but Arkansas is our home.”

Left: Polychromatic runners finish the annual Color Run in Little Rock.

Right: Little Rock is an impor-tant stop for touring artists like Ashlee Hardee Brown and Jimmy Brown from the band Matrimony, at Juanitas.

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You’d be hard-pressed to find an Arkan-san who has not heard of Heifer Inter-national. The global nonprofit has spent 70 years working with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth, and it has had a long history in Arkansas.

Founded by a Midwest farmer, member of the Church of the Brethren and aid worker on the front lines of the Spanish Civil War, Dan West’s mission was founded in the New Testament lesson to teach a man to fish. “He distributed cups of milk to war refugees, and he realized it simply was not enough,” said Pierre Ferrari, president and chief executive officer of Heifer International. “Dan thought then, ‘What if they had a cow?’ That’s what started Heifer International.”

Heifer links communities and helps bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. The animals Heifer International contributes to partners provides them with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey can be traded or sold at market. In addition to sustainable income, communities benefit from building schools, creating agricultural cooperatives, forming community savings and funding small businesses.

“The foundation of our work is providing someone with the means to create and sus-tain a life for himself, his family and commu-nity,” Ferrari said. “If that person can break the cycle of poverty in his life, he can then help someone else do the same. We call this

‘Passing on the Gift,’ and it means the fami-lies we have helped pass on the first female offspring of their livestock and share the training they receive to another family. The family we have helped becomes a donor to another family, and, we hope, the cycle continues.”

It’s fitting, then, that this global proj-ect is headquartered in Arkansas, one of the largest producers of agriculture in the United States as well as one of the most impoverished.

“The people in Arkansas have a solid sense of what charity is in terms of commu-nity,” Ferrari said. “Perhaps it’s the largely religious aspect or the notion that all of us will go through difficult times in our lives and will need help from someone else. Regardless, it’s an attribute that brings about

positive change.”Having grown from one man and a few of

his friends accompanying 17 young cows to Puerto Rico to providing bees, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens and other livestock for 20.7 million families and 105.1 million men, women and children worldwide — includ-ing the United States, Heifer Internation-al’s success is a unique one in the nonprofit industry. Ferrari, who was born in the Bel-gian Congo in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo, attributes a lot of this to

what Arkansas has to offer nonprofits.“I have this conversation all the time,”

Ferrari said. “Why Arkansas? And I tell other nonprofit leaders that Arkansas has a global outlook that would surprise them. Look at the nonprofits we have here already: Winrock International, World Services for the Blind, Bridge2Rwanda. All of these are because Arkansans saw a need and decided to fulfill it from right where they lived.”

Ferrari attributes the state’s lower costs in conducting business as another advantage.

“The number of leaders that emerge in Arkansas is astonishing, and nonprofits of all types can utilize their capabilities.”

— Pierre Ferrari, president and chief operating officer of Heifer International

Above: The Heifer Inter-national headquarters in

Little Rock.

Right: One of Heifer Inter-national’s many sustainable

agriculture projects.

From Arkansas,

Heifer International

Leverages the Power

to Change the World


“The labor costs and the cost of living here are so much lower than more urban cities,” he said. “There are groups of incredibly well-educated professionals avail-able, and they want to stay in Arkansas to put into practice what they’ve learned. Cou-ple that with the beauty of Arkansas and the generos-ity of spirit its citizens have and any nonprofit can thrive here.”

Ferrari earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s of Business Administration from Har-vard Business School. After working for more than 40 years at companies like Coca-Cola USA, CARE and the Small Enterprise Assis-tance Fund, Ferrari brought his business experience to

Heifer International to reach people in need through a network of commodities, service and human capital.

“There is a tremendous respect here for the work nonprofits do,” Ferrari said.

“Without this community’s generosity and support, I don’t think Heifer International would be accomplishing the goals we have set out. The number of leaders that emerge in Arkansas is astonishing, and nonprofits of all types can utilize their capabilities.”

One aspect that would help Arkansas attract more nonprofit and corporate enti-ties alike, however, is information technol-ogy. “We need a strong digital backbone so the world can find us,” Ferrari said. “We have one here, but it needs to be world-class. The things Arkansas Capital Corporation and Innovate Arkansas are doing to train Arkansans in the new digital world are help-ing achieve this. What Heifer International needs the world to know is that agriculture is a global commodity, and when people realize that poverty and hunger are most extreme in other parts of the world, we can address it together.”

As for drawbacks, Ferrari doesn’t see any real negatives in the state for nonprofit work.

“If you are dedicated to mission and want to transform what’s wrong in the world to what is positive, then Arkansas is the right place.”

If you want to see what true joy in giving looks like, meet Mahendra Lohani.A native of Nepal, Lohani began volunteering with Heifer Inter-national more than 20 years ago when he helped a group of Nep-alese women begin their own goat cooperative. Today, he is vice president of Heifer’s Asia and South Pacific Programs where he provides direction and leadership to Heifer’s pro-grams in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, the Philip-pines and Vietnam.

“I had never heard of Little Rock or Arkansas until I passed by it one day,” Lohani said. “I was introduced to the mission then, and I thought, ‘This would be a wonderful thing to do in my village.’

“There was a group of 25 women in Nepal who wanted to raise livestock to help sup-port their families. The bank in my village wouldn’t give them a loan because they said they didn’t have any collateral. What they suggested they do, however, is get their husbands to get the loan for them, and to the wom-

en’s credit, they refused. With Heifer, I was able to get them 75 goats. That was 1991, and since that time, that group has passed on the gift they received 14 times.

“Because of that initial work, I was fortunate to work for Heifer, and in February 2003, I came to Arkansas. I love it here, and my wife does as well. It’s a wonderful place — the pret-tiest place in the world. It has everything I need, and it only takes me 10 minutes to get to work. People don’t believe just how beautiful and green it is in Arkansas until they visit.

“The passion for the mission is what brought me to Arkan-sas, but how warm and hos-pitable the people are here is what keeps me. Neighbors keep an eye out for my home when I’m traveling, and I know my wife is cared for when I leave. The nature here and the lov-ing community and society are what make Arkansas a great place to be.”

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From Nepal to Arkansas: Mahendra Lohani Passes on the Gift


Putting Hope into

Action: The

Clinton School

of Public Service

The ultimate American Dream: The son of a single mother from a rural town in a small, Southern state becomes president of the United States and brings the nation’s only advanced degree in public service to his home state. A place called Hope, indeed, and now that hope is in action. The Univer-sity of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service is the nation’s first higher educa-tion institution to offer a Master of Public Service degree. It’s also the embodiment of President William J. Clinton’s approach to bettering the world: Building our own future by helping others to build theirs.

“I came to the Clinton School with a nonprofit background, but my experi-ences there made me a stronger and wiser professional, advocate and citizen,” said Kelly Ford, director of development for the Arkansas Arts Center. “The curriculum uses both a global and local lens that provides a real opportunity to explore possibilities for positive change wherever you find yourself.”

The Clinton School’s mission is to edu-cate and prepare professionals in public service who understand, engage and trans-form complex social, cultural, economic and political systems to ensure equity, challenge oppression and effect positive social change. According to Skip Rutherford, dean of the school, the program gives students the knowledge and experience to further their careers in the areas of nonprofit, govern-mental, volunteer or private sector service.

“It’s a two-year graduate program with a real-world curriculum,” Rutherford said. “It’s different than any other mas-ter’s program because a significant por-tion of instruction is direct field service work. Essentially, the state of Arkansas is our laboratory.”

The Clinton School, which is located on the grounds of the William J. Clinton Presi-dential Center and Park in Little Rock, was born from a collaborative decision between President Clinton and Alan Sugg, former president of the University of Arkansas System. While it could have been located anywhere, according to Rutherford, the Clinton School was set at the presidential center and park so students could connect personally and professionally with major worldwide issues and developments. The first year’s enrollment in 2006 totaled 16 students; eight years later, just over 100 students from all over the world are in attendance.

The vision of the Clinton School is its belief in the right of all individuals, without exclusion, to participate fully and demo-cratically in the social, cultural, economic and political systems that affect their lives. Professional public servants must under-stand, engage and transform these com-plex systems to ensure equity, eliminate injustice and effect positive social change.

“We believe in the right of all individuals to reach their full potential and to embody the spirit of democracy,” Rutherford said.

“These students must join with people who are marginalized so they are advocates for bettering their lives and developing their own communities. We also believe in moral leadership that includes integrity, compas-sion and a commitment to social justice, and that means the students who gradu-ate from this program and go on to pursue their careers in public service must listen to and learn from diverse groups, compro-mise and build alliances and take strategic and decisive action to advance the common good. They can learn to do all of this and put it into practice right here in Arkansas.”

Field service promotes the Clinton School vision by emphasizing the “prac-tice” of public service by placing students in challenging environments, ones where they work with community leaders to help build healthy, engaged and vibrant communities, both in Arkansas and around the world.

“There are some distinct advantages to nonprofits located in Arkansas,” Ruther-ford said. “There is a nucleus of national and international organizations here that already put into practice what public ser-vice seeks to accomplish, including Heifer International and Winrock International. We also have nonprofit professionals who already live here and want to stay to build their careers. That’s probably the single largest benefit we boast in the state — a qualified and compassionate labor force.”

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Above: The Clinton School of Public Service is just

a stone’s throw from the Clinton Presidential Center in

downtown Little Rock.

Above right: Clinton School students participate in public

service projects all over the world.

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The Clinton School builds leadership in civic engagement by enhancing its stu-dents’ capacity to work across disciplinary, racial, ethnic and geographical boundaries. Arkansas is unique in that it can offer all of this experience within its borders, and that work ranges from local work in Arkansas communities to international projects on all of the world’s six inhabited continents.

Students are required to complete three courses where they engage in field projects: The practicum, which takes student teams into Arkansas communities, including the Delta, to foster community development and social change in areas such as eco-nomic development, environmental aware-ness, public education, youth leadership development and health improvement; the international public service project, which places students with organizations all over the world that are combating global hun-ger, fostering educational opportunities for children, promoting corporate respon-sibility and expanding health care in the third world; and, the final Capstone project, which challenges students to put their skills into action and complete an in-depth pub-lic service project to benefit a government or nonprofit agency and, ultimately, lead the student into a career upon graduation.

“The state is small enough that you aren’t just a number,” Rutherford said. “We’re a state where people know each other per-sonally, and hospitality is an art form in Arkansas. The fact we are small does not impact the quality of the work we can do to make a global impact through training the next generation of public servants.”

While the Clinton School’s students come from all backgrounds and experience levels, such as Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach for America and military veterans to medical, business and nonprofit profes-sionals, it will take the right opportunity to keep them here.

“All of these entities recruit our stu-dents,” Rutherford said. “But there is a net ‘in-migration’ of students who move here for the program and want to stay here after graduation. In fact, as more people in Arkansas connect with our students, they want to hire them and keep them here. What we need is more opportunity for these leaders to pursue professional and private lives that are fulfilling. If they can find those positions in our state, we can keep them here and benefit from it.”

Marie Lindquist moved to Little Rock from Memphis by way of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. As the director of field services for the Clinton School of Public Service, Lindquist is familiar with and skilled at navigating radically different cultures, landscapes and temperatures.

“I worked for nine years at Rhodes College in Memphis, and when the opportunity to work at the Clinton School of Public Ser-vice came up, I couldn’t turn it down,” Lindquist said. “I hadn’t been to Arkansas except just over the border in Helena-West Hel-ena so I really didn’t have a con-cept of what was good or bad about it. I don’t make assump-tions about places because, in general, they just aren’t true.

“When I moved here, I was so glad to have the opportu-nity to move somewhere with such natural beauty. Being from Minnesota, I really missed that. Memphis has a lot of cultural and what might be considered a ‘big city’ vibe, but there really isn’t anywhere to walk or ride or sit amongst nature. Certainly noth-ing like what is available here.

“Little Rock is such an easy city to live in. It’s easy to get

around, and the people are so friendly. In fact, that is one of this city’s best points: The citi-zens in Arkansas are so accept-ing and accessible. You can knock on the door of the mayor or any local leader, and they will talk to you. It’s certainly not like that in other cities, and I think it’s a major reason why things get accomplished in the nonprofit industry here.

“Part of what I love about Arkansas is the students at the Clinton School want to come here, and when they get here, they stay. The stereotypes about Arkansas do not hold up once you get here. It’s not what people outside its borders think it is. It’s not pretentious in any way, and what I find particularly refresh-ing is Arkansas is a place that is always working to improve, to get better and be better for its citizens and visitors.”

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Marie Lindquist Traded Snow Plows for Public Service


Think of the quintessential American suc-cess story, and the name “Rockefeller” will be one of the first to come to mind. An Ameri-can industrial, political and banking family, the Rockefellers may be best known for their wealth, but it is their legacy of philanthropy and social change that will keep their name etched in history.

Take, for example, Winrock International. A nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources, Winrock has accomplished signifi-cant innovations in agriculture, the environ-ment, clean energy and leadership develop-ment to help people improve their livelihoods while protecting the resources on which they rely. Winrock also is committed to ensuring all members of society have equal access to services and goods, and are protected by just laws, with a focus on ending child labor and

human trafficking, as well as full participation and opportunities for men, women, girls and boys. These programs include policy reform; advocacy and awareness raising; strength-ening of organizations and governments to understand and defend the rights of all citi-zens; and economic empowerment of the most marginalized populations.

“Winrock is an organization born in Arkan-sas that is positively impacting people in every corner of the world,” said Rodney Ferguson, president and chief executive officer of Win-rock International. “The people of Arkansas take pride in that, and to know we accomplish our work with Arkansas resources is incred-ibly gratifying.”

Winrock International began as a chari-table enterprise by Winthrop A. Rockefeller at his ranch on Petit Jean Mountain near Mor-rilton. That endeavor was the Winrock Inter-national Livestock Research and Training Center, and its mission was to improve ani-mal agriculture by utilizing the expertise developed in raising Santa Gertrudis cattle at Winrock ranch. In 1985, that institution merged with the Agricultural Development Council (A/D/C) and the International Agri-cultural Development Service, both of which were founded by Winthrop’s brother, John D. Rockefeller III, to form Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, which is now Winrock International. Headquar-tered in Little Rock, Winrock International expanded its mission and program initiatives to include agriculture and sustainability, cli-mate change, forests and natural resources management, leadership, youth and education, clean energy, economic opportunity, gender equality and human rights, and water quality and conservation.

“Our focus is to address some of the most important and critical issues facing the world today,” Ferguson said. “Whether the initiative revolves around one of these issues or one of the myriad other challenges facing the world today, we’re prepared to offer solutions tied to the values that guide our work.”

With the global scope of Arkansas’s com-panies and nonprofits as well as its history of supporting internationalists like Winthrop Rockefeller, J. William Fulbright and Presi-dent Bill Clinton, Winrock International’s work is a natural continuation of the global orientation that these outstanding leaders fostered within the state.

“There are a number of advantages to hav-ing a nonprofit like this in Arkansas,” Fergu-

Above: The Winrock International headquarters in the Riverdale neighborhood of

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Winrock International Improves Lives,

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son said. “The quality of life here and the intellectual capital are just two reasons we stay, but the main reason is we have a solid nonprofit community that already exists in Arkansas. Look at nonprofits like the Clinton School of Public Service and Heifer Inter-national. They boast international experi-ence and scope, and there are companies in Northwest Arkansas that have international dealings, too. But, having them here in a small state is very important. Nonprofits have strong support from local, state and national politicians—especially from the governor and the United States senators.”

Winrock International works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources. It has full-scale projects, partnerships or program activities all over the world.

Among Winrock’s projects are promot-ing sustainable practices to build the capac-

ity of three Oklahoma-based Native Ameri-can tribes to construct and manage their water and wastewater infrastructure more effectively, eradicate child labor in tea pro-duction in Rwanda, lowering emissions in Asia’s forests, developing enhanced local government infrastructure and livelihoods in northern Uganda and countering the traf-ficking of people in Cambodia. To accom-plish this, it will take leaders with vision who are willing to make Arkansas their home.

“This state is a growing and vibrant sec-tor of the world that is worthy of invest-ment, whether that is time, talent or funds,” Ferguson said. “There is a deep talent pool in Arkansas, and we are fortunate to have that quality of professionalism. But what we need to do is complement our homegrown leaders with organizers from other states and countries. If we can get those people to come to Arkansas, we’ll have no problems keeping them here as they’ll see what they can accomplish with us.”

David Norman is an agricul-tural economist with experi-ence managing rural devel-opment and credit projects in the United States and overseas. He is the vice president of the enterprise and agriculture group. Most recently, he headed Win-rock’s Volunteer Technical Assis-tance division, which focuses on recruiting qualified U.S. volun-teers to assist farmers, businesses and organizations to share their knowledge and expertise, and monetization programs, that sell U.S. agricultural commodities abroad to fund local development projects and create markets for U.S. goods. Prior to joining Win-rock in 1994, Norman was direc-tor of operations for AgriBank in St. Paul, Minnesota, a $70 bil-lion cooperative bank serving 15 states, and was a member of the board of directors for AgriBank from 2002 to 2011. He holds a master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Arkansas.

“The big international non-profits like the Clinton School of Public Service and Heifer Inter-national didn’t move to Arkan-sas, they were born here. These nonprofits don’t really compete with Winrock. Instead, we com-

plement each other. They have a history of cooperation and col-laboration, especially the Clin-ton School and Heifer. There’s a great pool of talent right here in Central Arkansas that both nonprofit and corporate entities can access.

“But if I could improve any-thing, it would be telecommu-nications and the availability of broadband in the rural South. Though Arkansas has come far in those areas, they both need to be improved and increased dramatically.

“Having a vibrant NGO [non-governmental organization] sec-tor here in Central Arkansas goes a long way toward making the state a ‘cool’ place. In my opin-ion, this helps motivate young professionals to move to Central Arkansas, while giving others a reason to stay.

“At Winrock, we value our roots and have a great interest in Arkansas and the American South. States similar to us—Mis-sissippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma—don’t have anything resembling what we have right here. This state is starting to value what we have, and it shows. And, we’re not what people from out of state think, either, and it shows.”

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David Norman

Sees the value of blooming where

you’re planted

“The quality of life here and the intellectual capital are just two reasons we stay, but the main reason is we have a solid nonprofit community that already exists in Arkansas.”

— Rodney Ferguson, president and chief executive officer of Winrock International


Job creation is crucial to the future of Arkansas, and technology is the newest American frontier. To assist entrepreneurs in the state in developing their ideas into viable ventures, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission in partnership with Winrock International developed Innovate Arkansas.

“This program encourages technology-based innovations and creates jobs,” said Tom Dalton, director of Innovate Arkansas.

“If we can get the developers we have right here to take the next step from turning their ideas into a workable business, we can create higher-paying jobs. With higher-paying jobs, more people will want to stay here, and we can attract more professionals to the state, too. If we can do that, everyone benefits.”

According to the program, Arkansas’s economic well-being depends on the abil-ity to grow knowledge-based assets. This includes professionals in digital industries and their ability to get the education and skills to compete on a global scale.

“What we see happening is entire eco-

nomic regions are losing industries to areas where there is technologically advanced infrastructure and more skilled employees,” Dalton said. “Arkansas has the potential of being one of the leaders in technology-based enterprises, but we must constantly innovate and grow firms that diversify our economy to do so.”

How Innovate Arkansas works is by turning new inventions and high-tech ser-vice concepts into viable commercial ven-tures. Entrepreneurs with technology-based ideas pitch them to Innovate Arkansas, and if the idea is selected, the program helps with business startup and financial sup-

port needs, and mentors the entrepreneurs and inventors as their ideas become reality. As a result of these collaborations, Arkan-sas benefits from higher-paying jobs and better opportunities for professionals with higher education and skill levels. Innovate Arkansas also assists aspiring businesses by identifying new technology products and services and recruiting throughout the state. By doing so, the program helps the businesses wherever they are located—not just in Central Arkansas.

Innovate Arkansas can provide tech-nical services such as technology product assessments, market feasibility analysis, intellectual property advice, commercial-ization strategies, business plan develop-ment, coaching and mentoring assistance, and product and concept valuation. The program also can enhance links to existing capital resources and provide early stage investment advice, Small Business Innova-tion Research application assistance, Small Business Technology Transfer application assistance; federal, state and local grant assistance; and second and third stage financing assistance.

“The kinds of companies we help are not the kind that can get working capital or financial assistance from a bank,” Dalton said. “Where Innovate Arkansas can help is connecting these entrepreneurs with other investors. In fact, we’ve helped Acumen Brands, InvoTek, Sales Tax DataLink, which

is an e-filing solution, and WriteGov come to fruition, among other clients.

“We’re looking for intel-lectual properties that can be capitalized. What we want to determine is if the product makes sense and

adds value to the end user. To help answer that, we use the Lean Startup method, which is a scientific approach to creating and man-aging startups and getting the product to the customers’ hands faster.”

Innovate Arkansas has several initiatives to ascertain if these ideas are sustainable. Similar to an elevator speech, there is the Gone in 60 Seconds program, or G60, which is a social event where ideas are pitched in 60 seconds or less. There also is hands-on, face-to-face mentoring in which entrepreneurs are paired with business consultants who help them through the process of founding new businesses.

Above: Innovate Arkansas’s client

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Arkansas, develops assistive devices

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“Arkansas has the potential of being one of the leaders in technology-based enterprises, but we must constantly innovate and grow firms that diversify our economy to do so.”

— Tom Dalton, director of Innovate Arkansas


“Our startup weekends, which is a national program, brings in clients on a Friday evening. They pitch their ideas, and if they are selected, work on the business model until Sunday,” Dalton said. “The ones that aren’t selected stay for the weekend and help the ones who were selected in the process. This way, both sets of entrepre-neurs benefit; the ones chosen to pursue their ideas learn insights from those who weren’t selected that go-around, and the ones not chosen learn how to improve their presentation if they want to go through the process again.”

The most intensive mentorship program in which Innovate Arkansas participates is the ARK Challenge, which is an accelera-tor program for technology startups. This program is a 14-week boot camp in which entrepreneurs all over the country come to Arkansas to participate. About 10-15 new business clients attend, and in exchange for a 6 percent equity stake in each com-pany, those selected each receive $50,000 as well as intensive mentoring from a group of community-based and national business and industry mentors. The ARK Challenge program focuses on customer acquisition, market traction, investor relations and prod-uct refinement.

“Since we started Innovate Arkansas in 2009, we’ve worked with 430 startup clients,” Dalton said. “Of those 430, we contracted with 110, and of that 110, 70 are in devel-opment or have become viable businesses. Those companies that are still viable have created 500-600 jobs—all here in Arkan-sas—and $209 million in investments has been contributed to our client companies.”

This investment in job creation and growth will not only bolster Arkansas-based entrepreneurs in turning their ideas into reality but also attract industry into the state.

“For potential clients to participate in Innovate Arkansas, the company or person must be based in Arkansas,” Dalton said.

“Once the company has been created, it must have the potential to provide jobs in Arkan-sas with wage bases of at least 150 percent of the current Arkansas individual per capita income. Our goal is to help bridge the gap between innovation and commercialization, and by doing so, Arkansas benefits from an increase in higher-paying jobs and better opportunities for our trained workforce. It also means we can entice young profession-als from outside the state to relocate here.”

What would you improve about the state to help your business succeed in its industry?Innovate Arkansas was devel-oped in part by Winrock Inter-national, and our headquar-ters are in their offices in Little Rock. Winrock has always had a strong international interest—it’s in 60 countries right now—and it recognizes that Arkansas is an attractive environment for business, particularly knowl-edge-based and technology ventures. Outside of the global nonprofits we have here, look at the national and international companies that were started in this state: Walmart, Tyson, J.B Hunt and Dillard’s to name just a few. Huge retailers, manufac-turers and transportation enter-prises. With that type of vision, we should be able to create more industries so our citizens want to go to college and use their skills right here at home.

If we could improve anything, I think we could do a better job of marketing ourselves. A lot of people who come to Arkansas for the first time don’t realize all the things we can offer. We need to highlight that we have now and

are bringing about intellectually challenging professions for peo-ple who want to be engaged in their life’s work.

I’ve been in Arkansas since 1986. I moved here from Michi-gan, and what impressed me most was how friendly the people are. It’s not unusual at all to meet gov-ernment, business and commu-nity leaders, and they will stop and talk to you. I remember some-one telling me about Dale Bum-pers when I moved here. He was a United States senator at the time, and I didn’t think much about it. I literally bumped into him at the grocery store. Anywhere else, you would have apologized and gone about your business. Here, he stopped, introduced himself, and we talked for a bit.

Dispelling the image that Arkansans aren’t as progressive as the rest of the country or even the world would help tremen-dously. There are enough advan-tages to Arkansas to make people want to stay once they are here. We should focus on those and make them known.

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Q & A with Tom Dalton, director of Innovate Arkansas


Winthrop Paul Rockefeller was no stranger to philanthropy in his life. As a politician, farmer and businessman, Rock-efeller was a president of the Quapaw Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and served on the Boy Scouts National Board of Directors; sponsored Project ChildSafe, a national firearms safety program; and served as honorary chairman of the Arkansas Liter-ary Festival. In 2005, Rockefeller was diag-nosed with myeloproliferative disease, a rare blood disorder that, if left untreated, can develop into leukemia. After intensive treat-ment, including two bone marrow transplants at a facility out of state, Rockefeller died in 2006 at the age of 57.

In 2007, the Cancer Institute center of excellence at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences was renamed for Rockefeller to honor his memory and dedication to com-munity service.

“He championed raising awareness of the importance of bone marrow donation after he returned home from his treatments,” said Peter D. Emanuel, director of the UAMS Win-throp P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. “His influence is part of why the Cancer Institute is the state’s premier cancer research and treatment facility.”

The Cancer Institute began as an idea of colleagues Kent Westbrook and James Y. Suen, both of whom had fellowships at M.D. Ander-son Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. They recognized how crucial it is to be close to home surrounded by a support system while receiving comprehensive cancer treatment and care. They began developing the can-cer program at UAMS, and in 1984, received approval to formalize their plans for a cancer institute, which was then called the Arkansas Cancer Research Center.

“The first four floors of the Center opened in 1989,” Emanuel said. “Half that space was dedicated to research, and the other half to

patient care. That same year is when Dr. Bart Barlogie joined the center. His focus was on multiple myeloma, and at the time, few clini-cian-scientists were focusing their research on it.”

It was Barlogie’s vision for a comprehen-sive myeloma program at UAMS, which has since developed into the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy. As a result of the institute’s work, the annual survival rate of myeloma patients upon diagnosis has more than doubled from three to seven years and beyond. The Cancer Institute expanded in 1996 when seven more floors were added, and in 2010, it opened another 12-story expansion.

Emanuel took over as the Cancer Insti-tute’s director in 2007, moving to Little Rock from the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Well-known and regarded as an expert in leukemia and lymphoma, Emanuel’s focus for the Cancer Institute is to strengthen research, outreach and clinical programs to become a National Cancer Institute-designated Com-prehensive Cancer Center. It was under his direction that three floors of the Cancer Institute’s new tower became dedicated to research. These floors are designed in an open lab format to encourage collaboration and cost savings through shared resources and equipment.

“Every state needs an academic cancer center,” Emanuel said. “Not only to serve the needs of the state’s people but to bring those therapies developed elsewhere here. That’s why we at the Cancer Institute are recruiting in other researchers, clinicians and physicians from outside Arkansas.”

Already, the Cancer Institute treats patients all over the country and throughout the world. In fact, according to Emanuel, that’s one of the challenges of the Cancer Institute.

Above: The entrance to the Winthrop P.

Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University

of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Top Right: Nurses prepare a patient to receive

radiation therapy at the UAMS Radiation

Oncology Center.

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Brings

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“Governor Beebe has said that we are bet-ter known nationally and internationally than in Arkansas,” Emanuel said. “Our growth has been tremendous, and we have world-class research, therapies and care that have been carefully cultivated. Depending on the type of cancer they have, patients in Arkansas don’t have to go out of state for treatment anymore. We can provide them the care they need.”

An advantage Little Rock and Arkansas have over more populated areas like Dallas/Fort Worth or Chicago is a more interactive but less competitive environment for clini-cians and physicians to pursue their careers.

“You can get more done here and much faster than you can in a larger, more urban city,” Emanuel said. “Our challenge is recruit-ing and retention. We get talented profession-als at the Cancer Institute, but they get lured away by other institutes or pharmaceutical companies. For the size of this state, Arkansas has more than its share of millionaires and billionaires. If there was more funding for entrepreneurial ventures like the Arkansas Research Alliance, we could keep that talent here developing treatments. More recogni-tion for the expertise we have at the Cancer Institute is what will bring in more patients from both inside and outside the state.”

Emanuel, who has made Little Rock his home for seven years, appreciates what Arkan-sas has to offer him and his family. However, he understands the allure of bigger, more urban cities to professionals.

“Little Rock is a nice, small city,” he said. “There’s not a lot of traffic—nothing like what you encounter in Birmingham or Dallas—and all the outdoor pursuits right in town can’t be beat. What we need to do as a state is raise awareness of what we can offer, which is that Arkansas is a great place to live and pursue a career.”

A University of Kentucky Wild-cats fan by way of Yale Medi-cal School via Yorkshire County in the United Kingdom, Peter Crooks, Ph.D., leads a half-dozen doctoral-level research-ers in Little Rock to discover and develop new cancer treatment drugs. These agents improve patient outcomes after radiation therapy and medication to treat acute and chronic pain. The chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy, Crooks and his team conduct ongoing research in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and in the Col-lege of Pharmacy’s Division of Radiation Health.

What brought him to the United States was Yale Medi-cal School. What kept him here is American culture.

“I lived in Lexington, Ken-tucky, for 30 years, and I built up the pharmaceutical research group at the University of Ken-tucky,” Crooks said. “I moved to Arkansas three years ago because I wanted another chal-lenge.”

The UAMS College of Phar-macy was looking for a dynamic chair, and Crooks was invited to be a guest lecturer to see what the school as well as the city and state were all about.

“The great thing about UAMS is I knew so many people here already,” Crooks said. “And the Cancer Institute was already interested in discovery. We set

out and accomplished a gradu-ate program within one year. That is unheard of, and I don’t think it could have been done anywhere else but UAMS.”

Crooks is adamant that the research taking place in Little Rock is unique to pharmaceuti-cal companies across the nation if only because of the desire for collaboration here.

“The biggest successes we’ve had are the number of collabora-tions with researchers,” Crooks said. “And not just within the school, but outside the state, too. And it’s only going to get better.”

One of the pioneers behind the newly FDA-approved top-ical treatment for lymphoma, Crooks is determined to dis-cover, patent and market simi-lar drugs at UAMS. Combin-ing the research aspects of the Cancer Institute with the Ph.D. track in pharmaceutical sciences and the business incu-bator of BioVentures, Crooks firmly believes Arkansas could revolutionize cancer research and treatment if there are more manufacturing units available.

“If there was an industrial park built close to the campus, we could attract more people who are open to collaboration,” Dr. Crooks said. “What we need are good jobs and opportuni-ties so we can keep Ph.D. stu-dents in the state. If we can get people to visit Arkansas, any negative perception they may have before they arrive will be dispelled when they see all the wonderful things that are here.”

Peter CrooksUAMS Department of

Pharmaceutical Sciences’ Dynamic Leader

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Of almost 3 million people in the state of Arkansas, 18.8 percent live in poverty. It’s a problem the private citizens, corporations and nonprofits in the state are mobilizing to eliminate, and Southern Bancorp Com-munity Partners is pursuing it proactively.

“Southern is part of a unique social enter-prise started by the Clintons, Waltons and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in the ’80s that includes a rural development bank — now the third largest of its kind in America. Our mission is to transform rural communi-ties by creating new economic opportuni-ties for people with limited resources,” said Dominik Mjartan, senior vice president of Southern Bancorp. “We believe that effec-tive, lasting change is less likely to come from projects that rely solely on ongoing philan-thropic investment. For long-term commu-nity change to occur, the initial investment must be used in a way that creates change year after year rather than just one time.”

A 501(c) (3) nonprofit and a certified com-munity development financial institution (CDFI), Southern Bancorp Community Part-ners works in partnership with Southern Bancorp, which collectively is referred to as

“Southern.” As one of the country’s largest rural development banks, Southern revital-izes struggling rural areas within the Mis-sissippi River Delta and southern Arkansas. This region, according to Southern, is plagued by long-term poverty, economic decline, loss of population and other problems.

Southern partners with local residents and businesses to create and build local capacity by implementing a shared vision for economic recovery. Southern then helps implement that vision by providing respon-sible and responsive finance, asset building opportunities, employment services, pol-icy change and nontraditional financing to individuals and businesses with potential to create jobs and invest in their communities.

“Because we help to create new economic opportunities for low-wealth people and communities, we have the ability to take a more holistic and long-term approach to development,” said Mjartan. “Where some organizations might focus on improving workforce opportunities alone, our finan-cial structure allows us to take it a step fur-ther. For example, if someone in one of our communities wanted to attend cosmetology school, we could not only help them find the money to earn that education, but upon grad-uation, we could help them actually fund a

salon. We can help them build better futures for themselves, their families and their com-munities, and that type of long-term invest-ment will reap dividends for generations to come.”

Southern’s programs help low- and mod-erate-income families strengthen financial security, through matched savings accounts, financial literacy education, and housing and credit counseling. These programs help fami-lies improve their financial stability, buy and maintain homes, start businesses and attend college. Another program provides thou-sands of low-income families with quality tax preparation services at no cost, and these volunteer tax initiatives maximize the use of the Earned Income Tax and other credits so citizens can keep more of what they earn throughout the year. Public policy initiatives such as ending payday lending in Arkansas and creating a state Housing Trust Fund also expand Southern’s impact throughout

Top Right: Southern Bancorp partners with

local residents and business to promote economic recovery.

Southern Bancorp

Community Partners

Turns Tide of Poverty

in Arkansas, Mississippi

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“I have always viewed Arkansas as one of the few places in Amer-ica where the American Dream is still alive and real because of the opportunity available for peo-ple who have ideas, and the work ethic and character to go with it,” said Mircha King, senior director of community development for Southern Bancorp Community Partners. “I also love Arkansas because there is always some-thing to do and to discover in the Natural State, and if you need to unplug and get away from it all, Arkansas provides you that break, whether it’s from the Ozark pla-teaus in the north to the flat allu-vial lands of the enchanted Delta where I live and work. There is an adventure waiting to happen if you are willing to go outside and meet it.

“I serve in one the nation’s most economically challenged areas by lending my experi-ences, talents and education to the people whom I feel will ben-efit most by it. I’m in the office about 50 percent of the time, and my other time is spent out in the community assessing needs and engaging the beautiful people that make up this region. It is satisfying to get up in the morn-

ing knowing that my efforts are making a difference in the qual-ity of life for my neighbors and myself. This is something that I did not think was possible when I graduated from law and grad school.

“My search for an affordable, but high in quality law school led me to the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock. I visited a dozen law schools from Boston (my home) all way the way down the East Coast into Arkan-sas, and I felt the best received in Arkansas—a state where I had no friends or family. The peo-ple of this state have welcomed me with open arms ever since I chose to go here for law school in 2007. Southern hospitality is very much alive and real in Arkansas.

“One of Arkansas’s greatest resources is its people. Arkan-sas is very welcoming of outsid-ers, and Southern hospitality thrives in this state. So long as you are honest, hardworking and authentic, Arkansas will open up to you and the sky is the limit. Most people do not know that before Arkansas was called the Natural State, it was called the Land of Opportunity, and that’s our secret.”

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Mircha KingSees Potential in the Land of Opportunity

the region it serves.Through changes in public policy, respon-

sive and responsible financing for individu-als and families, and building on the finan-cial, social and human capital that Southern provides, rural communities can become engines that drive regional revitalization. According to Southern, it has leveraged more than $170 million in funding and more than $4 billion in loans in distressed rural markets since inception, providing capital for new and expanding business, school improve-ment models, increased access to health care services and other community-initi-ated enhancements.

“There is always more that can be done to help Arkansas’s working families improve their economic security and independence,” said Mjartan. “Additional tax incentives for folks to build assets and invest in their future would most certainly be an effective taxpayer investment, as would policies that support the work of effective development organiza-tions. Expansion of the state’s new market tax program would also contribute greatly.

“Arkansas is generally a very positive envi-ronment for these types of policies and ini-tiatives. Because of the state’s size, you’re likely to run into policymakers and influenc-ers wherever you go, which creates ample opportunity to share ideas and thoughts about development. It also helps that the Arkansas culture is very welcoming. Com-munity service is highly valued here, and the state’s numerous charitable individuals and organizations are reflective of that.”

Southern’s efforts have gained national recognition from organizations such as the Council on Foundations, Bloomberg’s Busi-ness Week, Corporation for Enterprise Devel-opment, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the American Bankers Association.

“We believe that rural America and its people can thrive, and the solutions are avail-able right here in Arkansas,” Mjartan said.

“Look at world class development organi-zations like Heifer, Our House, Winrock International, EAST Initiative as well as the Clinton School of Public Service. They are all based in Arkansas. Together, they and others like them are proving Arkansas is a fertile ground for innovative solutions to education and economic opportunity that can rival any other place in America. I predict it won’t be long before the rest of the nation knows what we do — that Arkansas is the place for those committed to the pursuit of positive change.”


The Republic of Rwanda is nothing like it was 20 years ago. Notorious for the genocide that took the lives of up to a million citizens in 1994, the country is now rewriting history to be known for education, capacity building and unity through peace. Inscribed on the pages of this history will be Bridge2Rwanda, a nonprofit based in Arkansas that helps expand Rwanda’s global network, encour-ages foreign direct investment and creates opportunities for Rwandans to study abroad.

“Under President Paul Kagame’s leader-ship, Rwanda has achieved unprecedented socio-economic and politi-cal progress as well as con-solidated peace and unity among its people,” said Dale Dawson, founder, chair and chief executive officer of Bridge2Rwanda.

“This stability is one of the major catalysts for the country’s success in education and economic development.”

Formed in 2007 to “burst the bottlenecks” that prevent the country’s best students from entering and attending college, Bridge2R-wanda helps those students take English-proficiency and college admissions tests as well as secure scholarships to international universities. The nonprofit’s mission is dedi-cated to “building a bridge to Rwanda and transforming lives,” both in that country and the United States.

“The entire focus of Bridge2Rwanda is to

prepare the next generation of Rwandans for extraordinary lives as entrepreneurial servant leaders modeled after Jesus,” said Dawson. “These relationships create oppor-tunities for them to be entrepreneurs in their country as well as examples of what can be accomplished.”

Dawson was an investment banker at Ste-phens Inc. in Little Rock when he learned of the need in Rwanda through local friends. In 2001, Dawson’s acquaintance, Martha Vetter, who was a local children’s minister, teacher and nurse, moved to Rwanda to help open a private boarding school for genocide orphans. The following year, Dawson and his wife, Judi, along with Dabbs and Mary Cavin and Scott and Dede Ford began help-ing build Sonrise High School in Rwanda based on the growth of Vetter’s boarding school. In 2005, President Kagame visited Little Rock to speak at the Clinton School of Public Service and encourage the launch of the new Opportunity International Bank of Rwanda. Two years later, Bridge2Rwanda

was formed.“Bridge2Rwanda came about at the

request of Rwandans,” Dawson said. “It was founded by my wife and me about the same time I joined Scott Ford, Joe Ritchie, Bishop John Rucyahana, Pastor Rick War-ren, Michael Porter and Mike Fairbanks to serve on President Kagame’s Presidential Advisory Council, an international group of friends who meet with him and other Rwan-dan leaders twice a year.”

With Rwanda’s rebirth into one of the

most progressive countries in Africa, Bridg-e2Rwanda is able to expand its resources available to both students and entrepreneurs. Today, many of the best students in Rwanda attend school abroad and bring back what they learn to lift up the entire country. Spe-cifically, Africa and Rwanda are attracting foreign investors like Walmart and Tyson, which want to train Rwandans in their indus-tries so they can return to their country and set up stores and enterprises there.

“Walmart recently acquired the third larg-est retailer in Africa,” Dawson said. “That

Above: Bridge2Rwanda helps Rwandan students

obtain international scholarships to prepare them to become future

leaders in Africa. In this photo, scholarship recipients are wearing

T-shirts from the schools they will be attending.

Bridge2Rwanda Connects Students, Innovators,

Entrepreneurs Across Continents

“Most of our staff live in Rwanda, but there are no real challenges with having our headquarters in Little Rock and the bulk of the work in Rwanda as we are really a virtual organization.”

— Dale Dawson, founder, chair and cheif executive officer of Bridge2Rwanda

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corporation trains Rwandan students in information technology so they can go back to Africa and open Walmart locations. Tyson also is training Rwandan citizens in Arkan-sas so they can manage feed mills in Africa, and Westrock Coffee took a neglected coffee mill in Rwanda to produce some of the finest coffee through Rwanda Trading Company.”

In fact, Rwanda Trading Company works directly with Rwanda’s coffee producers to acquire, process and market its coffee beans throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. The company also pays its full-time employees in Rwanda a premium over the local labor market and provides health care for both employees and their families, daily meals, contributions to employee pension funds, maximum work weeks of 45 hours, filtered drinking water, shower and sanita-tion facilities, and high safety standards and working conditions.

“Arkansas has some world-class compa-nies and organizations that have the desire to do something positive in this world,” Daw-son said. “There is not another state in this country that Bridge2Rwanda could draw so much goodwill from every sector – corpo-rate, nonprofit, academic, faith-based and private citizens.”

Bridge2Rwanda works in two areas. First, it identifies and prepares Rwanda’s most tal-ented and promising students to compete for international scholarships. A rigorous pro-gram, Bridge2Rwanda Scholars introduces students to local host families, churches and internship opportunities once they have been accepted to a university. The program’s goal is to prepare these students to succeed as international students, graduate and return to Rwanda where they can live with purpose as the country’s future leaders.

The second area of focus is to create suc-cessful businesses that make a profit, provide jobs and transform lives and communities in Rwanda.

“One of our challenges is to connect with people outside of their comfort zone,” Daw-son said. “Most of our staff live in Rwanda, but there are no real challenges with hav-ing our headquarters in Little Rock and the bulk of the work in Rwanda as we are really a virtual organization. Once you get people to Rwanda, they have no doubt it’s a great place to live and pursue their careers. It’s much more fulfilling when you know you are helping transform lives both in Africa and your own country.”

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Q & A with Dale Dawson, founder of

Bridge2Rwanda

If you were to speak to an executive director about the advantages of having an international nonprofit’s headquarters in Arkansas, what would you say?

Two things: Arkansans have a deep sense of the importance of helping others, and the state itself is a beautiful place to raise a family and live your life.

Whether it’s because we have a profound understanding of what being poor and rural truly means, or we know that what we can do individually or collectively has value and makes an impact, I’m not sure. What I do know is Arkansans have a global perspec-tive that many other Americans don’t, and that makes pursuing charitable endeavors much eas-ier here. We also have an incred-ible number of innovators here who have a kinship with others throughout the world who are seeking what they can provide.

Innovation is what helped create peace in Rwanda and is now mak-ing it the prosperous country it is today. Arkansas has equity in that.

Arkansas also is a unique state that offers a quality of life that is almost unmatched anywhere else. The natural beauty and ease of getting around are just two of the reasons to consider basing a nonprofit here. Arkansas will never be New York or Chicago because we’re not meant to be. We do have a reputation in get-ting things accomplished, how-ever, and I think that is what will lure professionals here — those who want to make a life of service and build their careers around making Arkansas and the world a better place.


If you’ve ever called the Internal Revenue Service’s hotline, you have probably spoken to a client of World Services for the Blind.

“This is our home. This is where our roots are,” said Melanie Jones, marketing commu-nications director for WSB. “If not for a blind man from the tiny community of Ironton, World Services for the Blind would not exist.”

That blind man was Roy Kumpe, who at 8 years old became visually impaired from trachoma, a viral infection that causes cornea scarring. Kumpe had big dreams for himself (he sold Bibles door-to-door to fund his law school education), and he worked to create educational and employment opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired, both in Arkansas and around the world.

Kumpe created the first significant employ-ment opportunities in Arkansas for people who are blind or visually impaired by capital-izing on the Randolph-Sheppard Act of 1936, which provided for the establishment of vend-ing stands to be operated by blind individuals in federal buildings around the country.

“This was the first time WSB collaborated with the federal government in providing a skilled, competent labor force,” Jones said.

“Today, we work with the IRS and other agen-cies to place clients in careers for which we train them right here in Little Rock.”

WSB has served thousands of individuals in the organization’s history. In all, WSB has served nearly 13,000 people from all 50 states and 58 countries. Under Kumpe’s leadership, WSB grew into one of the most comprehen-sive adult rehabilitation centers in the world, offering a complete life skills program, eight career training courses, a vision rehabilitation clinic, an assistive technology laboratory and a college preparatory program.

“Blindness is no respecter of persons, and it strikes without regard to race, religion, sex or nationality,” said Tony Woodell, the orga-nization’s chief operating officer. “In the United States, more than 25 million people age 18 and older are blind or have severe visual impairments that cause them to make adjust-ments in their careers and everyday living

situations. Our mission is to empower blind or visually impaired adults in the United States and around the world to achieve sustainable independence.”

The WSB campus is located on a full city block in a residential area near the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The complex is com-prised of six two-story buildings surrounding a tree-shaded courtyard. The training capac-ity at WSB is approximately 100 clients, and on-campus housing is available for 91 people in the women’s and men’s dormitories as well as in two independent-living apartments. The length of training varies with the progress of the individual and with their chosen programs, but the average period of training is six months.

“Clients come to World Services for the Blind from across the country and around the world,” Jones said. “This is where we put them on the path to sustainable independence. But for many, there are still certain perceptions and stereotypes about the South in general that gives them reservations about coming to Arkansas. What we normally hear when a cli-ent is referred to us is something like, ‘Arkan-sas? Really? I don’t know if I want to go.’ But they do come here, and in addition to receiv-ing a world-class education, they find out that Little Rock has the shopping, dining and cul-tural options that they would be leaving at home if they’re coming from a big city. Others who come from smaller towns out of state are pleasantly surprised to find that Little Rock offers plenty of ‘big city’ experiences. They find we have beautiful parks and recreation areas around the state during weekend recreation trips, and everyone loves to take advantage of everything the Natural State has to offer.”

WSB is accredited by the National Accredi-tation Council for Blind and Low Vision Ser-

Above: World Services for the Blind offers a variety of training and life skills

programs for individuals who are blind or have visual

impairments.

World Services for the Blind’s Deep Arkansas

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vices, and it is financed through grants, gifts from both groups and individuals and tuition paid by state rehabilitation agencies that pur-chase training services from WSB for their clients. While the infrastructure for helping their clients adapt and thrive in the world has been established since 1947, there are things that could help WSB attract and assist more students.

“Public transportation in the metro area needs continued improvement,” Woodell said.

“And the commitment to education is so impor-tant to provide educational opportunities to create a strong, qualified workforce. It’s critical to hire highly trained, certified workers, par-ticularly for the work we do at WSB. Equitable urban planning and extra incentives for orga-nizations to relocate to Arkansas also would benefit the state and the companies who do business here.”

One asset for nonprofits doing business in Arkansas is the balanced budget amendment.

“It saves businesses from going into debt as we can only spend what we make,” he said. “Our proximity to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock also helps us create collaborative relationships with people in our field.”

But it’s the unique combination of life skills and career training that offers adults such comprehensive programs that makes WSB like no other organization in the world. WSB’s commitment to community engagement and access, which includes assisting older Arkan-sans who are losing their vision, brings full circle the mission of WSB.

“We are the only organization in the world that provides the kind of services we do to the clients we serve,” Jones said. “WSB is the only center for adults who are blind or visu-ally impaired that offers both life skills and career training programs. For more than 65 years, we’ve served tens of thousands of people across the world, and we did it right here in Little Rock. What’s more, some of the people we train find jobs in Arkansas and become resi-dents of the Natural State once they graduate.”

When asked if WSB would ever move its headquarters to another, more populated and urban area, Jones is emphatic.

“No, this is where we belong,” she said. “The people here are very dedicated to their state, and they have a very giving mindset. Arkan-sans have a strong sense of pride in the suc-cesses and accomplishments of those in our state, and our citizens are always willing to step in and support each other in good times and bad times.”

From Oklahoma to Boston to Little Rock Rachel Buchanan Finds Her Home

Rachel Buchanan is the direc-tor of vocational training and an assistive technology program instructor at World Services for the Blind in Little Rock. She is visually impaired but has some vision, and her reservations about moving to Arkansas were largely dispelled when she and her hus-band settled here almost three years ago.

“We moved here from Bos-ton where we lived for five years. One good thing I thought about the move to Arkansas was that the cost of living would be lower. That was a positive. But, I was concerned about a lack of diversity and support for people with dis-abilities. I had lived in Oklahoma, and I thought living in Arkansas would be similar. I didn’t have a great experience living in Okla-homa as there is a lack of support for my disability and public trans-portation options. The jobs there paid much less for the same types of jobs here. Another reservation I had is that I’m quite liberal, and I was worried about not having like-

minded people around me, con-sidering the geographic location.

“After we arrived, I found I really like it here, actually. I feel like there is a liberal movement, and the state disability services are great. The Department of Ser-vices for the Blind really makes an effort to offer training and ser-vices for the blind.

“The state is beautiful; the parks, the opportunities to be out-side with nature. I like to hike, and I never knew how much I liked to hike until I moved here. There are so many options. It’s not a mecca of cultural diversity; efforts are being made for that, and there are different cultures to experi-ence. You just have to look a little harder for them. I love getting all of those benefits on top of the great cost of living.

“My husband works for the fed-eral government, and it was easier for him to transfer to Arkansas. And, we want to adopt, and Arkan-sas has a great adoption process. Overall, we’re really pleased to be here.”

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While the Civil War was over almost 150 years ago, Southerners still aren’t keen on depending on the North for any-thing. Call it a clash of cultures or a hesi-tancy steeped in tradition, it’s what has brought about the OxfordAmerican, the Southern Magazine of Good Writing.

“Southern writers were complaining about having to send work to New York to be published,” said Ray Wittenberg, associate publisher of the OxfordAmeri-can. “For whatever reasons—publishers were inundated with submissions, they really didn’t get what Southerners were saying, what have you—it was difficult. So, like true Southerners, we decided to do it ourselves.”

Marc Smirnoff, the founder of the magazine, was a clerk at Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, when he launched the first issue in 1992. World-renowned Southern writers like John Grisham, Larry Brown, Barry Hannah and Willie Morris would pass through the store on author tours, which made Smirnoff think the South needed its own general interest magazine like TheNewYorker.

Since that time, OA moved from Mis-sissippi to Arkansas, first being published from Little Rock then moving to Conway as part of the University of Central Arkan-sas. According to OA, the magazine was put under the auspices of a newly formed nonprofit organization called The Oxford American Literary Project and moved to UCA in 2004.

“It’s rare for a publication with a national scope to have a presence on a college campus,” Wittenberg said. “UCA has both a stellar journalism and emerg-ing creative writing program, and what OA can do is provide students with unique opportunities to engage with all aspects of producing an ambitious and culturally significant magazine.”

In 2012, Roger Hodge became editor

of OA. A native of Texas, Hodge studied comparative literature at Sewanee in Ten-nessee and began his writing career as a freelancer in North Carolina. His experi-ence as the editor for Harper’sMagazinefor four years has brought more journal-ism to OA in addition to the long-form essays and creative writing pieces.

“Roger is able to help us bridge the literary worlds between New York and the South,” Wittenberg said. “He has a vision for the publication that fits well with the mission of the Literary Project, which is dedicated to promoting literacy and exploring Southern culture through various other creative endeavors.”

Today, the magazine’s business offices are based in Little Rock while the edito-rial offices remain in Conway. “Much like the South as a whole, OA is a cultural asset. We have it all in the South—food, music, literature, art—and we cover it all in OA.”

Among what has been featured is the original work of Charles Portis, Roy Blount Jr., Jesmyn Ward, Allan Gurga-nus, Kevin Brockmeier, Karen Russell and others while also discovering and launching some of the most promising writers in the region.

“We’ve published previously unseen work by Southern masters like William Faulkner, Walker Percy, James Agee, Zora Neale Hurston, James Dickey, Carson McCullers,” Wittenberg said.

OA also is noted for publishing the exceptional art and photography of South-erners like William Eggleston, Carroll Cloar, Thornton Dial Sr., Eudora Welty, Lara Tomlin, Wayne White, Robert Gwathmey and Glennray Tutor, among others. Perhaps the magazine’s most anticipated and sought-after issue, how-ever, is the annual Southern music issue, which includes a CD of songs highlighting a variety of genres and eras. It showcases

Oxford American

Delivers the South from

the South to the World


both famous and profoundly neglected musicians, including R.E.M., The Gants, Isaac Hayes, Erma Franklin, Lucinda Williams, Karen Dalton, Carl Perkins, The Armstrong Twins, Willie Nelson, Gary Stewart, Jerry Lee Lewis and Nel-lie Lutcher.

“Becoming a nonprofit is what ulti-mately saved OA,” Wittenberg said. “It’s a business just like a for-profit, and it is tough succeeding as a nonprofit, but there’s opportunity for us to grow the magazine long term.”

Part of that growth includes forming OA into an overall arts organization, parts of which are already happening.

“The National Endowment of the Arts gave us a place-making grant, which has given us the opportunity to open South on Main,” Wittenberg said. “It includes a res-taurant and stage, and we have music, lit-erary readings and film screenings there called ‘From the Page to the Stage.’”

South on Main’s multi-disciplinary programming provides a forum for estab-lished as well as unknown artists to per-form in front of audiences who want to hear what they have to say. The food isn’t bad, either, as South on Main was named one of the top restaurants worth travel-ing for in a February 2014 post on FlipKey.com. As the OxfordAmerican likes to say,

“South on Main provides a full culinary, artistic and educational immersion in Southern culture.”

“The chef there has worked to make the space comfortable with a literary slant,” Wittenberg said. “And our board of direc-tors is seeing to it that we make strides, too. Vincent Lovoi, Richard Massey and Mary Steenburgen understand why Southern culture is important, and they are helping shape not only the magazine but also what the Literary Project is pur-suing and how OA is opening up the South to the world.”

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Q & A with Ray Wittenberg, associate publisher

of the Oxford American

What are the advantages to nonprofits of being based in Arkansas?

Living in Arkansas is a breeze. You’re a day’s drive from any-where in the state, and you can hop a direct flight to New York, Phoenix, Atlanta, Chicago or Washington, D.C. We also have an advantage geographi-cally that we are pretty much situated right in the middle of the country. We have suffi-cient infrastructure here to host some sizeable conferences and meetings, and it’s easier to get to and from here than traveling across the entire country to go to a three-day seminar.

There’s also a tremendous pool of talented, creative peo-ple right here that want to do great work. There’s incredible creativity, particularly in Cen-tral and Northwest Arkansas, and that creative economy is accessible to both nonprofit and corporate sectors. We print our

magazine in Little Rock, which is a tremendous advantage in and of itself. It’s also a way for us to invest in the community that invests in us.

Speaking of which, Arkan-sas is particularly welcoming to nonprofits. There is a lot of support for charitable giving and pursuits here, and you’re embraced by Arkansans if you are engaging in work that bet-ters the community. The sup-port of the arts could be better here, but that’s changing, too.

Perhaps the two main advan-tages we have outside of the cre-ative sector is the leadership and technical support avail-able in the state. Our alliance with the University of Central Arkansas has been an immense benefit to us. Thank God for the nonprofit route because it is what saved the OxfordAmerican.


There was a period in our nation’s history when being referred to as a hippy kid was disdain-ful. Today, however, being a HIPPY kid means aca-demic achievement, strong families and promise for the future.

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Young-sters (HIPPY) is a program that works with families in their own homes to support parents as their child’s first and most important teacher. An international program that started in Israel in 1969 as a research and demon-stration project, HIPPY is now in countries through-out the world, including Germany, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada along with Israel and the United States.

HIPPY USA, which was founded in 1984, was intro-duced to Arkansas in 1985 when then First Lady of

Arkansas Hillary Clinton learned of the program during a visit to Miami, Florida. After witnessing what the program could accomplish for low-income families, Clin-ton decided to help establish HIPPY in Arkansas. In 1986, the first HIPPY programs began in Arkansas. The national head-quarters was moved from New York City to Little Rock in 2007.

“Secretary Clinton recently spoke at our national conference, and she noted that HIPPY was focused on early child-hood development and learning before it was the ‘in’ thing to do,” said Lia Lent, executive director of HIPPY USA. “She also pointed out that children who come from low-income families hear about 30 million fewer words on average than chil-dren from more affluent families. What HIPPY USA does is close that word gap and give all children a level playing field when it comes to education.”

Today, there are 135 HIPPY program sites in 21 states and Washington, D.C. that

serve 15,000 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds and their families. Designed to improve child outcomes by supporting, HIPPY fosters children’s intellectual, social and physi-cal development by empowering parents with the skills, tools and confidence nec-essary to work with their children in the home. Research conducted over 20 years in the United States and eight countries has shown the HIPPY model to be effec-tive in improving school readiness, parent involvement, school attendance, class-room behavior and academic achievement for children participating in the HIPPY program.

“Moving to Little Rock enabled HIPPY USA to be in the middle of the country and closer to our programs both here in Arkansas and across the South,” Lent said.

“Arkansas Children’s Hospital runs the Arkansas HIPPY program for the state and is a wonderful partner for HIPPY USA, contributing space on the campus for our national headquarters. It is wonderful to be in a community where we are now see-ing generations of HIPPY families—HIPPY kids are now HIPPY moms and dads with their kids in HIPPY programs.”

“Many times, our HIPPY parents become home visitors,” said Donna Kirkwood, national program director for HIPPY USA. “Some HIPPY parents become home visitors and move on to fin-ishing their education and then become teachers or counselors. It’s incredibly grat-

ifying to see how the cycle of encouraging one family can positively affect genera-tions and the community.”

In fact, one of HIPPY’s goals is to strengthen communities and families by enabling and encouraging parents to actively prepare their children for success in school. HIPPY programs serve families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups across the nation, particularly those most at risk because of poverty, parents’ limited education and social isolation.

“What we see is a communication gap between some parents and teachers,” Kirkwood said. “Many times, parents who enter the program don’t understand

Above: Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool

Youngsters (HIPPY) works with families to support a

parent’s role as their child’s first teacher.

HIPPY Kids Change Landscape

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Considering President Barack Obama just included in the nation’s budget substantial funding increases for early childhood programs, it’s an exciting time for early childhood education.


what educators are saying to them about their kids. If you think about how intim-idating parent teacher conferences can be, now imagine being a parent who did not have good school experiences. Think about meeting with the teacher and the entire mystique around it: the teacher is in charge, and knows more than you. Then think about being an adult who doesn’t understand the terms the teacher is using about your child. It can be overwhelming, frightening and intimidating.”

To address this situation, HIPPY works with parents to empower them both as teachers and advocates for their chil-dren. “We teach parents how to commu-nicate with educators,” Kirkwood said.

“It’s about an adult talking with an adult so the parents feel they are on the same level as the teacher, principal, director or any other person in their child’s school.”

In addition to a set of carefully devel-oped curriculum, books and materials designed to strengthen their children’s cognitive skills, early literacy skills, social/emotional and physical development, the HIPPY community supports parents as a child’s first and most important teachers.

“Secretary Clinton said she is proud to be a HIPPY mom,” Lent said. “Having someone with the national and interna-tional influence and recognition she has helps awareness not only of HIPPY but also of what Arkansas has accomplished and our potential as a community.”

Considering President Barack Obama just included in the nation’s budget sub-stantial funding increases for early child-hood programs, it’s an exciting time for early childhood education.

“What we know is evidence-based home visiting programs like HIPPY show improved maternal and child health in their early years; long-lasting and positive impacts on parental skills; and enhanced children’s cognitive, language and social-emotional development and school readi-ness,” Lent said. “What we witness every day is at-risk children are getting a stron-ger start in their lives because their par-ents are getting support and encourage-ment from their community. What all of this means is a significant return on investment through increased earning power for participants and reduced soci-etal expenses in health care, criminal jus-tice and remedial schooling.”

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Q & A with Donna Kirkwood, national program

manager for HIPPY USA

What brought you back to Arkansas to pursue your career?Imagine what a spring day sounds like, and it’s similar to talking with Donna Kirkwood: fresh, alive and ready for what comes next.

“Of all the things about Little Rock, the trees were what I missed most,” she said. “People always look at me strangely when I say that, but when I lived in Dallas and Houston for so many years, it’s just not something you see all the time.

“I grew up in Little Rock and graduated from Central High School. I went to college in Texas then worked as a preschool teacher then a preschool director then a college professor for the 20 years I lived in Texas. I wanted to move back to Arkansas, but it was HIP-PY’s mission that brought me here. The opportunity to help families reach their potential is really a privilege. If we can empower an entire family, we can do the same for communities.

“In particular, Arkansas has communities where everyone can belong. That’s something else I missed about Little Rock—the hometown feeling. Since I’ve been back as national program direc-tor, it’s not unusual to run into a HIPPY mom or HIPPY child at the store or on errands, and we always chat for a few minutes and catch up. And the conveniences of Little Rock compared to Dallas or Houston just can’t be beat. It takes

15 minutes to drive from the air-port to downtown Little Rock. In Houston, it takes you another hour of travel after you’ve landed just to get home or work.

“Coming back to Little Rock, I was so happy to see such a sense of pride around Central High School. The Little Rock Central High School Memory Project is doing so much to educate students on how civil rights have progressed over the past 60 years. According to the Memory Project, Central High students in Civics classes col-lect the personal stories of family and neighbors who lived through those historic and current civil rights struggles. They interview these people and write an essay about it, and the essay is then posted to the Memory Project’s site (lrchmemory.org/wordpress/). That’s another way Arkansans as a community support and encour-age one another.

“But what I’m most proud of is how much HIPPY is in demand. Not just in Arkansas, but all over the country. Typically, HIPPY is in more rural areas of the state, and there are waiting lists for families to become HIPPY families. When the parents see their children’s milestones being achieved, they see what they can accomplish together as a team, as one unit. To be a part of that is an honor.”


You may know yoga as the discipline that exercises a person’s physical, mental and spiritual being. You may even know it’s the sixth most commonly used complemen-tary health discipline among adults with more than 13 million practicing in the U.S. What you may not know is the headquarters of the Interna-tional Association of Yoga Therapists is in Little Rock and has been for 25 years.

According to John Kepner, executive director of IAYT, Little Rock is well-positioned to help expand integrative and complementary medicine, like yoga.

“Most associations have their headquarters in Washington, D.C.,” Kepner said. “One word to describe it there: expensive. We have found it easy to manage our asso-ciation from here because it’s centrally located to our mem-bers all over the coun-try, but another rea-son IAYT stays is it is much more pleasant to live here than the D.C. area.”

IAYT is a profes-sional organization serving yoga teach-ers and therapists worldwide to estab-lish yoga as a recog-nized and respected therapy. Professional interest in the field of yoga therapy has soared in the past 10 years, and IAYT’s membership has grown from 600 members in 2003 to more than 3,400 in almost 50 countries today.

One of the reasons for this growth is Kepner himself. A native of Houston, Texas, Kepner moved to Arkansas from Jackson, Mississippi. At the time, Kepner worked for Entergy as an economist, but it was his sab-batical in 1996 that took him all over the world that led him to pursue yoga as more than a hobby.

“I traveled to spiritual eco-villages in Can-ada, northern Scotland and India,” Kepner

said. “These were intentional communities based on spiritual, ecological and sustainable economic values, and I found those inspiring for work that was making a difference.”

When Kepner did return to Arkansas, he helped form a nonprofit organization that supported the school garden project for Gibbs Elementary School and Dunbar Mid-dle School. He continued his yoga studies and started teaching yoga in one-on-one private instruction in Little Rock. Based on his expe-rience in economics and policy as well as his observations of growing trends in integrative health care, Kepner wrote articles for the association and occasionally suggested ways to grow the field and better develop yoga as a complementary health-care discipline.

“They asked me to come on board, and I’ve been working with IAYT ever since,” Kepner

said. In that time, IAYT

established the Inter-national Journal ofYoga Therapy, an annual, peer-reviewed journal indexed in PubMed and serv-ing yoga practitio-ners, teachers, thera-pists and researchers as well as health pro-fessionals throughout the world. IJYT pub-lishes scholarly and research-based sub-missions related to any tradition or aspect of yoga therapy. In 2007, IAYT held its first international confer-ence in Los Angeles. The goal was to attract 400 yoga profession-

als; more than 800 were in attendance. IAYT then held its first academic yoga research con-ference in 2010, hoping to bring 50 scholars together. They finally had to close registra-tion at 200.

“Our next step was to establish educational standards for the training of yoga therapists,” Kepner said. “These standards are the result of more than three years of concentrated work spearheaded by the standards committee. The draft standards were twice presented to IAYT Member Schools, practitioners and the practitioner community to ensure the final set of standards would be widely acceptable

The International Association of Yoga Therapists’ annual

conference, Symposium on Yoga Research

Therapy (SYTAR), provides professionals

with education, research, practice and discussion of policy issues for yoga

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and allow for a diversity of yoga philosophies and training approaches. The educational standards were further shaped by the results of those reviews. The goal was to define the foundational knowledge and skills required for the safe and effective practice of yoga therapy. In 2012, we published those stan-dards, and at our 2014 conference, we are announcing IAYT’s first set of accredited yoga therapy programs.”

With all these accomplishments and advancements in the industry, the negative perceptions about Arkansas in particular and the South as a whole are still prevalent.

“I travel all over the world in learned yoga circles, including academic and health-care forums where yoga is a respected discipline, and one can sense the lack of understanding about Arkansas when I note where I am from,” Kepner said. “What I tell them is Arkansas has so much to offer that it’s almost a hidden gem.

“I tell people to take a look at all the fine new development in downtown, midtown and other areas and see how economically vibrant our city is. In the nonprofit field, note how well Heifer International has done here, and also note the graduates coming out of the Clinton School and how many want to stay here. There is a smart, talented and willing labor pool in this state that wants to stay. In fact, we recently hired a graduate of the Clin-ton School and are extremely pleased with her. It’s the perfect fit.”

According to Kepner, yoga’s focus on stress reduction and spiritual support through focused exercise is what makes for positive relationships, be they personal, business or otherwise.

“Yoga makes you a better person,” he said. “Anything that reduces stress is good for con-nection. The fact is yoga is beneficial to people, and they like it.”

In addition to an educated labor force, Kepner thinks the state’s sense of commu-nity is a factor in attracting and keeping non-profits in Arkansas.

“Since we decided to keep IAYT’s head-quarters in Little Rock, we’ve found some new grassroots initiatives to connect people who are changing the world from right here. It is personally fun and intriguing to join them and share what IAYT is doing and actively help each other. We are happy and excited about investing in Arkansas and doing our part to help put our city on map, especially in learned yoga and complementary alterna-tive medicine circles.”

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Q & A with John Kepner, executive director of the

International Association of Yoga Therapists

What would you improve about the state to help your IAYT succeed in its industry?I’d like to know more about the developments and interest in integrative medicine by our leading health-care institutions and health insurance firms in Arkansas. Integrative medicine is a growing field; in fact, M.D. Anderson in Houston has a large integrative medicine department, and the Cleveland Clinic has what they call a Center for Life-style Medicine where yoga is an important component. The Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease has recently been accepted by Medicare, and yoga is a big part of that.

I travel all over the U.S. where yoga is being integrated into

health care, and IAYT brings worldwide leaders to our confer-ences, but I’m not aware of any major efforts in my own town for incorporating integrative medi-cine. I do know we have a vibrant complementary and alternative medicine network outside of the conventional health-care system in Little Rock. I believe this is one of the intangible quality of life issues that people are interested in, especially those that have been exposed to this in other parts of the country. We also have a vibrant yoga community in Lit-tle Rock, and I would love to see our health-care system view this community as a partner in health.


Since 1927, Goodwill has helped people in need procure training, secure employ-ment and pursue independence for them-selves and their families. In this state alone, Goodwill Industries of Arkansas has increased the number of people served from just over a thousand in 2008 to almost 10,000 just five years later.

“When people think of Goodwill, they think of the thrift store, but it is so much more,” said Brian Itzkowitz, president and chief executive officer of Goodwill Indus-tries of Arkansas. “Thousands of individuals with disabilities and other barriers are put onto a path toward reclaiming their inde-pendence through the power of work, and we help them do that by operating stores that provide jobs and training within the retail environment and by channeling a majority of our revenues into job creation and employment training and placement programs. This is how we can all help change lives, one person at a time.”

Goodwill’s vision is rooted in the value of work to transform lives. By building self-confidence, independence and empower-ment, work through Goodwill provides a broad range of training and employment opportunities to assist adults in overcom-ing barriers to employment so they may

achieve a level of independence to partici-pate more fully in life. These barriers may be physical, mental, emotional or a combina-tion of these, but by helping people manage these disabilities, prepare for jobs through education and training, and placing them with employers provides them the value, joy and dignity of productive work as well as a paycheck.

“Putting people to work not only benefits the individual, but also the communities’ economic vitality through taxes, spending power, real estate values, quality of life and relief to social services and welfare systems,” Itzkowitz says. “Arkansas is an ideal place for an organization like Goodwill to do its work. There are people from all walks of life motivated to better their lives as well as people who are willing to commit to their success by employing and mentoring them. In fact, we’re able to offer our services free to the public because of contributions from the public. That means everyone in our community is involved and invested in the success of the people we serve.”

According to Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, the nonprofit was founded in the state by a group of community leaders who recognized a need for training and employ-ment for those without job skills. Mayor

Above: The Outlet Center at the Goodwill Resource Cen-ter in Little Rock is the only store of its kind in Arkansas

to sell items by the pound.

Goodwill Industries of Arkansas Elevates

People to Their Full Potential

Fiscal Year

People Served

Percent Increase

People Placed

Percent Increase

Number of Services

Percent Increase

2008 1,068 89 1,1622009 2,251 110% 159 79% 4,237 265%2010 3,221 43% 330 107% 7,746 83%2011 5,066 57% 648 96% 12,749 65%2012 6,581 30% 1,112 72% 27,819 118%2013 8,371 27% 1,279 15% 36,043 22%2014* 9,670 16% 2,035 59% 52,431 45%

*FISCAL YEAR ENDS ON JUNE 30, 2014

Year-to-Year Progress of

Goodwill Industries

of Arkansas, 2008-2014

Data courtesy of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas

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Charles Moyer learned about Goodwill during a trip to Seattle, Washington, and upon his return to Little Rock, he worked with interested charitable organizations in establishing Goodwill Industries of Arkan-sas. Today, Goodwill is creating jobs, pro-vides training and paid work experience to people with disabilities and other special needs, and offers free employment services to anyone in the community who is looking for a job and other support services.

Goodwill also has expanded its locations in the past five years to cover the entire state. In addition to its main facility in downtown Little Rock, Goodwill has career centers, donation processing sites and retail loca-tions in 27 cities throughout the state

“We help thousands of Arkansans, keep millions of pounds of household goods out of area landfills, and recycle thousands of pounds of hazardous waste materials each year,” Itzkowitz said. “The fact we are able to expand our successes from year to year is due to our staff, volunteers, clients and donors. They see how Goodwill shapes a person’s life for the better and the affect that positive growth has on that person’s family, friends and the community at large. It’s a benefit of our work that other profes-sions don’t always provide. If you have a passion for service and our mission, you can experience this fulfillment, too.”

Goodwill also is the original sustainabil-ity nonprofit as it is one of the world’s larg-est recyclers. When shopping or donating at Goodwill, each item finds new purpose instead of being sent to a landfill. By recy-cling in this way, Goodwill reuses viable resources and reduces waste on the planet. In addition, donated items provide revenue to support Goodwill’s mission and pro-grams as well as helps people in the com-munity to become more self-sufficient and reach their full potential.

“Because we rely almost exclusively on donations, the generosity of Arkansans is our greatest advantage,” Itzkowitz said.

“This year, 96 percent of our revenue came from the sale of donated goods, straight from the closets and garages of the people in this state. When people donate to Good-will, we create jobs, we sell the goods at a great cost saving to the customer, and we use the proceeds to help people with dis-abilities and disadvantages reach their high-est potential through training, education and employment services. Everyone wins.”

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Q & A with Brian Itzkowitz, president and chief executive

officer of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas

If you were to speak to an executive director or board of directors about moving headquarters to Arkansas, what would you tell them? First, this is a great place to live. My family moved here six years ago from Florida, and we love it. I think executives have to want to live in the place where they relo-cate the organization, and a visit to Arkansas can help with the decision. There are many old growth non-profits here, Heifer International, Winrock International, World Ser-vices for the Blind and others. These groups do incredible work across the world from right here. Good-will Industries of Arkansas is 87 years old, and all of this couldn’t have happened if the conditions weren’t just right.

I’m a perfect example of the hesitant executive. After working Goodwill missions in Baltimore and Fort Myers, Florida, my wife Dawn and I looked at each other and asked,

“Do we really want to move to Arkansas?” I interviewed with the board and then went back to Florida and told her she had to come see it for herself. It was really her call. I think people need to keep an open mind and come visit, and that’s all it will take. Sure, we had Disney World and the beach, but this is the real thing, a beautiful state with great people. There’s actually more to do here for the family. And in Hot Springs, we haven’t once worried about sharks or jellyfish.

Goodwill Industries of Arkan-sas is a partner in the most impor-

tant changes needed, which is the greatest issue for all communities and states: workforce develop-ment. There is a social component to economic development, which is: What comes first, the great job or a trained, interested worker? We believe if you help people find their way through education and training, we can create net contributors to society, not net consumers of pub-lic assistance. The communities that have the most skilled workers will always be in a better position to attract good jobs. Arkansans can go to many of our statewide loca-tions and, for free, get the basic skills needed to find work, and we’ll help you find that job.

After we give a tour of our facil-ity or speak to a group about our mission, it is without fail that we hear, “I had no idea Goodwill did that!” Nearly everyone knows we take donations and have great val-ues in our stores. We want more people to know what we do with the proceeds, and that it helps Arkansans overcome life barriers to become productive citizens and realize their potential. This year we will serve more than 10,000 Arkansans and place 2,500 into jobs. We’ve served tens of thousands of people in communities all across the state, and when people donate to Goodwill, lives are changed for better.


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