Updated: Mar 28, 2022
Global Ties Arkansas has hosted several groups from Ukraine over the past few years. Our hearts are breaking as they are enduring this terrible season. The staff and volunteers showed up to support the Ukrainian American Rally at the Capitol. The photo is Global Ties Arkansas staff and local Ukrainians.
We are on your side, Ukraine!
Updated: Mar 28, 2022
Global Ties Arkansas is proud to announce that one board member and one very supportive individual have been award the 50 over 50 from Arkansas Money & Politics.
As a natural extension of his university degrees, Rush Deacon began his career in what he describes as the less-exciting world of hourly billings – first with an international accounting firm in Houston and London, and then in local law practice. Later, he found his more passionate calling in executive leadership roles, first as president of Arkansas Development Finance Authority in Gov. Mike Huckabee’s administration.
In 2001, he joined Safe Foods Corporation in its early startup days as CSO and eventually, CEO, helping guide SFC from the always challenging development stage to becoming a profitable global leader in food safety technologies. In 2016, he resigned from his executive role at SFC (remaining on the board) to assume full-time CEO responsibilities at Arkansas Capital Corporation, the nonprofit, special-purpose finance organization. He recently led oversight by the SFC board in a successful sale of that company to a group controlled by The Blackstone Group of New York. On Jan. 1, he passed the CEO reins at ACC to Sam Walls III, but remains at ACC in a project finance role.
Steve Straessle is a 1988 graduate of Catholic High School and has been a teacher there since 1992. In 2005, he took the helm as principal and continues to teach two classes in addition to his administrative and fundraising duties. His numerous accolades include being named DAR Social Studies Teacher of the Year in 1995, ASPA Administrator of the Year in 2016, and he was a member of the inaugural class of AMP Influencers of the Year in 2020.
Straessle is a member of the Arkansas Activities Association board of directors and serves on the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation Commission. In 2018, he began writing a bi-weekly human interest column for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette highlighting the mountains and valleys of life. His work has appeared in other publications as well.
Liliya Kuriy was one of our Spring 2019 Professional Fellows from Ukraine. Her Fellowship was hosted by Rush Deacon, CEO of Arkansas Capital Corporation (pictured, left), who assigned her to various offices in town, including Governor Asa Hutchinson’s office. She also was partnered with Amy Hopper, Program Officer of the Delta I-FundTM, Winrock International, and their project was selected by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for an Outbound Project in Ukraine. We are happy to report that all four YSEALI and Professional Fellows that were placed here in Little Rock this Spring were awarded Outbound Projects. The Little Rock counterparts for these fellows are:
Donald Wood, Executive Director of Just Communities, going to Ukraine
Ms. MiMi San Pedro, Chief Strategy Officer of The Venture Center, going to Viet Nam
Terri Thomas, Impact Manager of City Year, going to Myanmar
Thanks to American Councils for granting Global Ties Arkansas the opportunity of hosting an amazing set of fellows this past spring. We already know the fall 2019 fellows that we have been assigned, and they are coming from Cambodia, Georgia (Eastern Europe), the Philippines, and Russia. Contact us to host one or more of these entrepreneurs for a month-long stay in your home, October 18 -November 17 (Contact info provided at bottom of newsletter).
