Leadership Arkansas Class XX 2025-2026
Class of 2025/2026
Leadership Arkansas
Congratulations to the new Leadership Arkansas Class XX! The Leadership Arkansas Selection Committee carefully worked to identify 53 individuals from a diverse set of industries across the state to participate in the 2025-2026 program. The members of Leadership Arkansas XX have two things in common: all are leaders in their respective communities and industries, and all are committed to making Arkansas a better place to live and work.
Congratulations Leadership Arkansas Class XX - 2025 / 2026
Adam Osweiler
McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Adam is a partner and senior project manager at McClelland Consulting Engineers (MCE), bringing over 13 years of experience in the design, permitting, and construction of diverse site and civil development projects. He leads multidiscipl...
Alison Taylor
University of Central Arkansas
Alison Taylor serves as Executive Director of Alumni Relations at the University of Central Arkansas, where she leads efforts to connect, celebrate, and engage over 80,000 alumni and friends across Arkansas and beyond. Since joining UCA ...
Amber Crawford
Arkansas Department of Commerce
Amber Crawford is a dedicated communications professional and community leader based in Little Rock Arkansas, where she resides with her husband Chase and their dog Teddy. She holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Central Arka...
Arrianna George
Walmart
Arrianna George is a globally minded leader and passionate community builder with over nine years of experience driving operational excellence, process optimization, and cross-functional initiatives across billion-dollar organizations an...
Bentley Story
Entergy Arkansas
Bentley Story is a Senior Project Manager on the Business & Economic Development Team at Entergy Arkansas. A native of Forrest City, Arkansas, Bentley started his career in economic development in 2007 at the Arkansas Economic Devel...
Beverly Roberson
Garver
Serving as the Principal Accounting Officer and Controller for Garver, an Arkansas-headquartered engineering firm, Beverly Roberson’s expertise in financial acumen has served the company for over two decades. Her leadership and dedicatio...
Dr. Brian Berry
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Dr. Brian Berry is a distinguished academic leader whose career is grounded in his deep-rooted commitment to the growth and success of his home state. Born in the Arkansas Delta and raised in central Arkansas, Dr. Berry is a proud alumnu...
Brooke Brewer
Northwest Arkansas Community College
Brooke Brewer is the Executive Director of Athletics and Institutional Branding at NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC), where she leads the college’s growing NJCAA athletic program and oversees institutional branding initiatives...
Brooke Pryor
CARTI
Brooke Pryor joined CARTI in October 2022 after nearly 13 years leading marketing and communications at Unity Health in Searcy, Arkansas. Though her career began with a degree in journalism and public relations, she found her calling in ...
Bryan Fisher
Arkansas Tech University
Vice President for Advancement & Executive Vice President for ATU Foundation
Arkansas Tech University
CFRE since 2019
Prior to serving in my current role, I began with ATU as the Director of Major Gifts and Athletic Enhancement in 2...
Caroline Woods
Learfield | Red Wolves Sports Properties
Caroline Woods serves as the General Manager of Red Wolves Sports Properties, the Learfield property representing Arkansas State University. In her role, she leads all aspects of the university’s multimedia rights relationship, oversees ...
Chad Young
WDD Architects
Chad Young is the current President and CEO of WDD Architects, one of the state’s largest and most established architectural firms. As the sixth president in WDD’s 106-year history, Chad has just marked 30 years with the firm, having sta...
Charles Smith
Dassault Falcon Jet
Charles Smith, a native of Little Rock, is the Senior Manager of Procurement at Dassault Falcon Jet. He is interested in all aspects of supply chains as well as the aeronautics and defense industries in Arkansas and worldwide. Charles...
Clark Lewis
Lockheed Martin
Clark Lewis serves in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles & Fire Control (MFC) business area as the Production Operations Manager for Ordnance Programs at the Camden, Arkansas, facility. In this role, Clark is responsible for production opera...
Dr. Connie Wilson
Southern Arkansas University
Dr. Connie Wilson serves as the Vice President for Advancement at Southern Arkansas University, where she oversees the university’s initiatives in Alumni Relations, Foundation management, and Development. Prior to her current role, she h...
Connor Olsen
Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation
Connor Olsen is Manager of Load Forecasting at Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC). In this role, his responsibilities are managing, coordinating, maintaining, modeling, analyzing, and reporting on large amounts of demograph...
Dallas Johnson
Summit Utilities
Dallas Johnson serves as Director of Customer Experience Operations at Summit Utilities, supporting customer-facing operations across the company’s Arkansas natural gas service territory, along with operations in four additional states.
...
Daniela Medina
Tyson Foods
Daniela Medina is the Sustainability Communications Lead for the Commodity Purchasing Group at Tyson Foods. In this role, she supports the company’s agriculture-focused sustainability efforts by working closely with internal teams ...
David Mitchell
Ozarka College
David Mitchell serves as the Division Chair for Applied Science and Technology at Ozarka College, which operates campuses in Melbourne, Ash Flat, and Mountain View, Arkansas. In this role, he works closely with students, faculty, college...
David Robinson
W&W-AFCO STEEL LLC
David Robinson was born and raised in North Little Rock, AR. David graduated from North Little Rock High School and continued his education at Harding University in Searcy, AR. David received a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and a Maste...
David Scoggin
Black Hills Energy
David is a seasoned energy industry professional serving as business development representative at Black Hills Energy in Arkansas.
With nearly 15 years of experience in the gas industry, David oversees a portfolio of high-volume accounts...
Dr. Jeffery Norfleet
Shorter College
Dr. Jeffery Norfleet is the President of Shorter College, a private two-year Historically Black College founded in 1886 and located in North Little Rock, Arkansas. With over 15 years of experience in higher education leadership, Dr. Norf...
Eddie Ramos
Signature Bank of Arkansas | Banco Si
Eddie Ramos is a long time Northwest Arkansas resident. He is originally from a small town in Mexico but moved to Springdale at 10 years old in 1994. After 31 years in this city, it is now called home to him, Yuri, his wife, and two bo...
Colonel (Ret.) Erica L. Ingram
Arkansas National Guard
Colonel (Ret.) Erica L. Ingram is a trailblazing military leader and dedicated public servant with over 26 years of distinguished service to her state and country. A native of Wilmar, Arkansas, she graduated from Wilmar High School in 19...
Erin Franks
Arkansas Children's
Erin Franks serves as the Government Relations Administrator for Arkansas Children’s. With a career spanning more than 15 years in government and politics, she brings a wealth pf experience and knowledge to her role having held sev...
Heath Hooker
Nucor-Yamato Steel
Heath is a maintenance supervisor at Nucor-Yamato Steel. He has been a very active Teammate for NYS for 24 years. Heath started in shipping and then moved into maintenance for the last 19 years. Heath has held several leadership posit...
Jacob Jones
Farmers Bank & Trust
Jacob Jones is a Hope native (Hope High School Class of 1999), a Southern Arkansas University alumnus (2004), and a graduate from the Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University (2021). He is the Market Presiden...
Jason Chacko
Morgan Stanley
With 15 years of experience in financial planning and investment management, I am dedicated to helping clients achieve their financial goals through personalized strategies. As a Certified Financial Planner™ with The Pinnacle Mountain Gr...
Jason Hudnell
The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts
With over two decades of experience in education and leadership, Jason currently serves as the Director of Admissions and Public Affairs at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts (ASMSA), a nationally ranked resident...
Jonathan Hamner
Crafton Tull
Jonathan Hamner is the Vice President of Survey and manages the Crafton Tull office in Hot Springs. He has worked in the survey industry for over 25 years after graduating from the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton an...
Justin McCarty
Simmons Bank
Justin McCarty currently serves as Community Regional Executive at Simmons Bank, overseeing all community banking efforts in Clarksville, Clinton, Conway, Marshall, Mountain View and Russellville. Justin began his career with Simmons Ban...
Kandi Chitman Hughes
Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)
Kandi Hughes is a dedicated legal strategist and public servant with almost 20 years of multifaceted experience across the public, private, and regulatory sectors. She currently serves as managing senior corporate counsel at Midcontinent...
Karen Kitchens-Witt
JPMorgan Chase
Karen Kitchens-Witt is a seasoned commercial banker with 30 years of experience, currently a Vice President in the Mid-Corporate and Specialized Industries group at JPMorgan Chase. In her role, she focuses on building the JPMC brand in A...
Kerry Moody
inVeritas
Kerry Jucas Moody joined inVeritas, a global public affairs firm specializing in public relations, research, and strategic consulting, following a 22-year career in elections, campaigns and state government. Kerry serves the firm as the ...
Kristin Daniel
Parity Financial Group, LLC
Kristin began her career in the financial industry in 2010 with a mission to help individuals and families achieve lasting financial security. Raised in a small Arkansas town, she brings deeply rooted values of integrity, discipline, and...
Lindsey Bowman
Craighead Electric Cooperative Corporation
Lindsey Hawkins Bowman is the Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Public Relations for Craighead Electric Cooperative Corporation and its broadband subsidiary, Empower. In this role, she leads all branding, internal communications,...
Louis Alderman
Goodwill Industries of Arkansas
Louis Alderman joined Goodwill Industries of Arkansas in May 2024, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in logistics, operations, and team leadership. As Vice President of Operations, Louis leads the organization’s outlet a...
Lucy Cross
Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment
Lucy Cross is a seasoned environmental management professional with over a decade of experience in regulatory compliance, public service, and program leadership. Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Lucy has always had a deep connec...
Rebekka Nickols
JCD Consulting
With more than two decades of experience, Rebekka is a seasoned marketing professional known for helping clients achieve significant growth. She excels at leveraging her deep knowledge of current market trends to develop and execute effe...
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Lavery V
Arkansas Air Guard
Lt Col Richard J. Lavery V is an MQ-9 Pilot and the Chief of Staff of the 188th Wing, Ebbing Field, Arkansas Air National Guard. He leads four Airmen to develop and implement the A-Staff to accelerate the Wing Commander’s decision cycle ...
Scott Provencher
Wright Lindsey Jennings
Scott Provencher is a healthcare lawyer with Wright Lindsey Jennings who assists clients in matters related to compliance with HIPAA and HITECH, the Physician Self-Referral (Stark) Law, Anti-Kickback and EKRA Statutes, and EMTALA. He re...
Sean Hoagland
PotlatchDeltic Real Estate LLC
Sean Hoagland is a dynamic leader with extensive experience in real estate development, and financial management. Currently serving as the Director of Real Estate Development at PotlatchDeltic Corporation, he oversees major commercial an...
Sharon Strong
Arkansas Scholarship Lottery
Sharon Strong was appointed Executive Director of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery in July 2024 by Governor Sarah Sanders and DFA Cabinet Secretary Jim Hudson. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong brings over 20 years of experienc...
Colonel Sonny Baxter
Arkansas Air National Guard
Sonny Baxter currently serves as Commander of the 189th Maintenance Group at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. He leads over 260 maintainers and is responsible for the overall maintenance of up to 17 C-130H/J/AMP aircraft, supporting...
Sonya Archer
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems
Sonya joined the Human Resources Department at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in 2023. Her career in the defense industry spans more than a decade at East Camden’s Highland Industrial Park. Her leadership experience inclu...
Suzie Barham
Pafford Medical Services
Suzie Barham leads strategic marketing, communications, and community engagement for Pafford Medical Services, an EMS provider with nearly 100 locations across Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. As a third-generation member of her fami...
Tim Roswell
Glen Sain Chev Buick Gmc
Tim Roswell is life-long resident of Paragould and has been married to his wife Kelly for 20 years. Together they have proudly raised their family in Paragould and in the public school systems here. Roswell is a graduate of Greene County...
Tricia Wilson
Simmons Bank
Wilson serves as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff for the president of Simmons Bank, the principal subsidiary of Simmons First National Corporation (Nasdaq: SFNC), a Mid-South-based financial holding company with more than 230 br...
Tucker Brackins
ARcare
Tucker Brackins serves as Senior Counsel for ARcare, Inc., a multi-state Federally Qualified Health Center headquartered in Augusta, Arkansas. In this role, he manages legal, compliance, and regulatory matters affecting healthcare delive...
Will LaRue
TFC Inc.
Will is a Conway native, leaving Central Arkansas for three years to attend the University of Arkansas. After graduating, Will came back to the area to continue to grow the family metal fabrication business, TFC Inc., with his father Way...
Zeynep Vural
Southwest Power Pool
Zeynep Vural is currently Senior Manager of Treasury and Credit at Southwest Power Pool (SPP), where she has held various leadership roles since joining the organization in 2012.
Before joining SPP, Zeynep held finance management roles a...