University of Central Arkansas
Center for Community & Economic Development and Community Development Institute
Director
Shelby Fiegel is the Director of the University of Central Arkansas Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) and the Community Development Institute (CDI). She is an Honors graduate of Arkansas State University and holds a degree in public relations and minors in marketing and English. Shelby is a certified Professional Community and Economic Developer (PCED), designated by the Community Development Council, and is a 2016 graduate of CDI.
She has also completed the Mid-South Basic Economic Development Course. In 2017 Shelby received the New Professional Award from the Arkansas Community Development Society. She currently serves as the Ex Officio (previously served as Vice President of Membership and as Vice President of Technology) for the Arkansas Community Development Society, serves as UCA Staff Senate Secretary, is a member of the Breakthrough Solutions Advisory Board, Arkansas Economic Developers and Chamber Executives, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the PRSA Arkansas Chapter. Shelby serves on the Conway Historic District Commission and is an Arkansas Municipal League City & Town magazine contributor.
She is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Conway Area Leadership Institute (CALI) in 2017 and is a Certified Strategic Doing Workshop Leader.
You can reach Shelby at sfielgel AT uca DOT edu.
Ruth Ellen has been a resident of the bi-state community of Texarkana USA since 1983; for virtually all of her thirty-nine years in the community, she has been in leadership positions where success has depended on her leadership in gathering individuals from throughout the community to work together for best collective outcomes. For the success of her leadership and positive impact on the community, Ruth Ellen was recognized in 2009 with the Texarkana Regional Chamber of Commerce's C.E. Palmer Award, Texarkana’s highest award for Civic Leadership.
As Leadership Texarkana's Executive Director since 2010, Ruth Ellen has been focused on the goal of scaling community leadership from an insular group of program graduates to the community at large, through the Leadership Texarkana’s LIfT program: (the Leadership Initiative for Texarkana). In April of 2018, in an ongoing quest for growing her capacity for successfully leading groups in working together, Ruth Ellen attended Strategic Doing Practitioner’s training in Purdue in April, 2018, becoming a Certified Strategic Doing Practitioner in February 2019. Ruth Ellen has embraced the proven processes of Strategic Doing for leading change in Texarkana, in the community’s pursuit of excellence and progress, and currently leads a Core Group of influential community leaders committed intent on tapping the proven potential of Strategic Doing for making progress possible.
Prior to her position for Leadership Texarkana, the majority of Ruth Ellen’s service was in leadership roles and as Executive Director for the regional Arts and Humanities Council, focused on the mission of growing people–and community–through the arts. The organization served both Texarkana TX and Texarkana AR and the counties around. Ruth Ellen has also led numerous non-profits in Texarkana and has been founding director of others.
Ruth Ellen holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Communications from the University of Texas, and has completed all coursework for a doctorate from the University of Texas at Dallas. Ruth Ellen holds a Certificate of Non-Profit Management from the University of Texas at Austin She has an extensive academic and experiential background in education and training of all ages, with a primary focus on graduate and adult education.
