Board Member named AMP 50 over 50

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.

Rush Deacon Former CEO/Consultant Arkansas Capital Corp.

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 Principal Catholic High School

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.

YSEALI & Professional Fellows Program – Spring 2019

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).
  

Toni Carr: When The Job Finds You

I remember my life before coming to Global Ties Arkansas. It was a life I loved, though not the life I have come to love. I began my career as an Early Childhood educator. I always found myself motivated by the lives of children around me to improve the world through education. I worked for the government funded Head Start Program and the Public Schools in Norman, Oklahoma as a teacher of children ages 4 to first grade.

In 1988, I was privileged to be a part of an innovative Early Childhood Special Education Pre-K classroom in Clayton, New Mexico. The district wanted to be a leader in the state before the federal mandate for public schools regarding young children with disabilities became law in 1990. I had the freedom to create the classroom, best practices, and establish the small town of Clayton as a model for other programs in New Mexico and nationally. This program was nationally recognized by The Ohio State University in a national study. My involvement with the Clayton program led me to a position as the first Director of a nine-school district cooperative in Richland County, Ohio. Luckily, my husband Jim (who had owned a successful construction company in Oklahoma for years) had accepted a position in the Construction Management Department of The Ohio State University. As a result, I was able to accept this new challenge! I worked with these classrooms for several years before branching out into yet another endeavor. I took the position as the department head of early childhood programs at a small college in Ohio; my job was to train other prospective teachers.

Although Jim and I raised our children in Oklahoma and Ohio, another great adventure was written in the stars. Jim accepted a position at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I continued my early childhood practice as an evaluator and mentor through Arkansas State University for state funded early childhood programs and became an adjunct professor at UA-Pulaski Tech.

While attending a function at the Clinton Presidential Center, I was honored to meet an amazing man, Dr. Walter Nunn. He spoke of the work he had been doing with international visitors through the US Department of State. His descriptions were filled with intrigue, adventure, and transnational cooperation. He spoke highly of the professionals he worked with from our local and other international communities. Jim and I exchanged glances followed by an “Okay, Jim. What do you think?” There is one thing that we have always shared and that is our love for international travel. What better way to interact with other cultures than to work as a volunteer with this group?”

We were hooked! Jim and I provided home stays for weeklong visitors and hosted more than our share of dinners and parties for short term visitors. After I stopped working full time, I called Dr. Nunn and said that I could expand my volunteering. He put me to work right away planning a week-long program for Iraqi youth. And so, it began…

After a few years of working as a part time staff writing itineraries for programs, Dr. Nunn came to me to say that he was ready to retire and wanted me to take his place. Of course, I told him NO! I had worked for years in administration and was just ready for the fun part! Obviously, he won that battle and I was interviewed with the Board and accepted the position as Director. That was about 8 years ago, and it was a great choice! This job means so much to me.

At first, I felt like I had deserted my first passion of education. But over time, I have come to realize that being a citizen diplomat is one of the most important education jobs I have ever held. I have learned so much about other cultures and have tried to convey what it is like to be an American to so many visitors. Arkansas is what we call “real America”. We are so similar to our visitors in so many ways. Introducing visitors to regular people who have similar concerns: family, finances, government and so on, and making them realize that we are pretty good folks is one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of my education career!