She is Board President for Southern Capital Project and serves on the boards for Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll/EparaTodos) Northwest Arkansas, Ark Angel Alliance, NEXXT Women, Arkansas Center for Impact Investing Working Group, Arkansas Capital Scan, and John Brown University Soderquist College of Business. She is a Steering Committee Member for Northwest Arkansas Product Management Guild, Executive Sponsor for Get Shift Done for Northwest Arkansas, as well as Advisor to both the Validation Fund at Winrock International and FindingNWA’s Life Works Here moving initiative. She routinely mentors entrepreneurs and advises non-profit leaders.
She owns a small co-working business in Rogers, NWA and lives with her family in downtown Bentonville where they enjoy the myriad of incredible parks, trails, and unique arts experiences. She also serves on the executive board of the Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce as the 2022 incoming Chairwoman for the board of directors and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Board for the city of Bentonville.
He is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana where he received both his undergraduate master’s degrees.
After several years teaching in the public schools, Mitchell was hired as Assistant Director of The Commons in Columbus, IN. The Commons (a Caesar Pelli building) is a multi-platform performance space and visual arts gallery under glass in downtown Columbus. From there, Mitchell was selected to serve as Assistant Director for Membership and Conferences for what is, today, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. At the time, the Association was headquartered in Madison, WI.
From the Association, Mitchell moved to Nashville, TN to become Assistant Director of the soon to be opened Tennessee Performing Arts Center in downtown Nashville.
In 1987, Mitchell received a call from the search team looking for a Managing Director to be on site working with the architects in designing and then building what is now The Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, AR. That building and program opened to the public in 1992. Five years after opening, he was hired to a similar job on what has now become the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences in Charleston, WV.
While working in Charleston, Mitchell began using days off to work with Halsey North of the North Group Inc. in New York City. The North Group specialized in fundraising and fundraising feasibility, and strategic planning only for arts organizations nationwide. Three years later he accepted an offer to go “full time” with The North Group Inc. Simultaneously, Mitchell opened his own firm (MITCHELLworks) so that he could work with any non-profit rather than only arts organizations. Working with the two firms he facilitated the outside planning and fundraising requirements of dozens of clients across the country. He continued this work until his full retirement began in 2020.
Mitchell has been married to Diana Smith Mitchell for more than 50 years. The couple enjoys the company of four grown children, their spouses and six grandchildren ranging in age from 10-20.
She received Wipfli’s Nonprofit Innovation Award in 2020 and the Cultural Champion award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance in 2021. Ms. Rice received her BA from The College of William and Mary, and her MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Outside of NWA, Olivia is currently working on a 3-year human-centered design project based in Lao PDR as a member of Maverick Collective, a division of PSI, focusing on expanding healthcare access to the country’s ethnic minority groups, learnings she plans to apply to her future work in Arkansas. Her hope is that her work will support the growth of the NWA community toward a more equitable mindset. In addition, Olivia continues leading her family’s heritage programs such as the Tyson Family Scholarship.
An advocate for diversity and representation in the arts, Dr. Uribe’s research is centered in music by/for the historically excluded and underrepresented. She directs RefleXions Music Series, a celebration of music that fosters creative justice through opportunities to reflect, learn, grow, change, and teach. She writes and hosts Sound Perimeter, a podcast dedicated to diverse voices in and around music.
Dr. Uribe holds degrees from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, University of Arkansas, and University of Kansas. Recently she earned an Executive Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University and is currently a Global Leaders Program 2022 Cohort fellow, an intensive 12-month executive development training in social entrepreneurship, cultural agency, and community development through the arts.