New Eras
In November, the North Little Rock Public Library System announced it would not renew its lease on the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub due to financial constraints and “the shifting grant landscape.” Just a few weeks ago, the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce established an advisory committee to explore how to preserve The Hub and relaunch it this year with enhanced programming and support. Update: A community discussion will be held on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. at The Sanctuary. Learn more at savethehub.org.
Ballet Arkansas launched a new creative partnership with The Capital Hotel that will feature an expanded series of ballet-inspired experiences such as intimate dinners, preview performances and opening night toasts.
After losing $2.5 million in annual federal funding last summer, the Arkansas Educational Television Commission voted to disaffiliate from PBS. Arkansas PBS is now Arkansas TV and will continue to feature its Emmy-winning local programming.
There’s another new nonprofit on the block. One Voice Arkansas recently received its 501(c)(3) status to accompany its mission to support and raise awareness of childhood apraxia of speech, a rare motor speech disorder.
Big Moves
The Arkansas Community Foundation announced Jessica Hughes Ford as its new president and CEO and Adelia Kittrell as program director of new initiatives and special projects.
Andrew DeMillo is now editor in chief of the nonprofit newsroom Arkansas Advocate after 20 years with The Associated Press.
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts added Stefanie Kirkland as its Windgate Foundation curator of contemporary craft.
Alicia Payseno is the new CEO of the Arkansas Hospitality Association.
The Arkansas Cinema Society added three new board members: John R. Tyson, Jason Owen and Daniel Campbell.
The Eli Talley Foundation added Chris Bahn and Marty Sullivan to its board of directors.
High Praise
Michael J. Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, has been invested as a member of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Birch Tree Communities CEO Dr. Brad Holloway has been elected president of the Arkansas Council for Behavioral Health.
On March 5, the annual Arkansas Business of the Year Awards will celebrate businesses, organizations and executives from across the state, including these finalists for Nonprofit Organization of the Year:
- Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
- Arkansas Research Alliance
- Fort Smith Boys & Girls Clubs
- SoMa 501 Little Rock
- University of Central Arkansas Foundation
- Women’s Foundation of Arkansas
Gifts & Grants
The Rotary Club of Little Rock and Park Plaza teamed up to donate 200 Build-A-Bear stuffed animals to the American Red Cross of Arkansas for kids in disaster response areas.
The Rampy MS Research Foundation donated $51,313 to the UAMS Department of Neurology, once again delivered by relay runners and walkers who started from the foundation’s Bentonville headquarters.
UAMS also recently received a $10.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop biomarkers for human diseases, a $1.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to create the new Cancer and Developing Entrepreneurial Technologies (CADET) graduate program and a $100,000 gift from Denver-based company GoldBug to fund maternal health training.
The St. Joseph Farmstead received the 2025 Community First Grant from the Whole Foods Market Foundation. This undisclosed amount will be used to build a community garden when it finalizes a new location.
HopeHub, a data-sharing and case management platform developed by Restore Hope, received a $1 million grant from For Others to coordinate care and connect families in crisis to essential resources.