Museum announces five new members for board of trustees
Five new community and business leaders have joined the board of trustees at the Mid-America Science Museum, where they will act as ambassadors for the museum along with the 10 current trustees.
According to a news release, the new members include Mary Bradley, who is co-owner, vice president and CFO of Crystal Ridge Distillery and Event Center and owner of Royal Research Inc.
Jonathan Hamner is vice president at B&F Engineering and serves on The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors.
Mechele McNary is the information technology director for Alliance Rubber Co.
Justin Nicklas is the president, CEO and general manager of Gross Funeral Home and serves on the boards of Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club, Ozark Mission Project, Tri-Lakes CASA, and the governmental affairs committee of the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce.
The fifth new member, Toddy Pitard, is president of Lauray’s — The Diamond Center in Hot Springs and Murphy-Pitard Jewelers in El Dorado and serves on the Hot Springs Parking Advisory Board and is chairman of the El Dorado Civil Service Commission.
“I am super excited about them; they have hit the ground running, they are enthusiastic and engaged, they are already helping us with fundraising,” Diane LaFollette, the museum’s executive director, said.
“One of the main tasks (is) that we ask them to be ambassadors,” she said, noting they have several duties.
“They actually perform oversight over the entire organization. They are my boss, all 15 in total, and they are all my bosses as a unit,” LaFollette said, noting they “hold responsibility for the financial health of the organization, the compliance of the organization to all the nonprofit rules and laws, and just make sure that I’m doing my job.”
“Each trustee can serve two three-year terms,” she said, noting the process to select new trustees takes several months.
“We look for community members,” LaFollette said.
“We look for diversity across gender and race, and ethnicity and age, so we have a good sampling of our community so our board reflects our community.”
She said they are also looking for people with skills “like if they are a lawyer or a business owner or if they are an educator, if they are a community volunteer, because they all bring a different perspective.”
The skills of the trustees who are leaving the board are skills they look for when finding new trustees, she said. “I would say on average that for every position we fill we look at maybe three people.”
Pitard said he joined the board because “it’s a great, great organization. It’s, to me, a great thing for Hot Springs.”
He said he has been involved in several nonprofits before and was impressed with the museum.
“It’s very well run,” Pitard said, noting he supports the museum because of its value to both education and tourism.
“It’s a big piece of the puzzle that makes Hot Springs as good as it is,” he said.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to be a part of an organization that has been so much impact on our town,” Nicklas said when asked why he joined.
“My whole family loves it. My kids really enjoy it,” Nicklas said. “I’ve gone there since I was a kid. I can remember in junior high taking trips out there.”
“I’m honored to really serve on something that does so much for our community, ” Hamner, who is a coach, said, noting a trip to the science museum can inspire a child.
The museum, with its science and art exhibits, “stimulates brains,” Hamner said, noting the textbooks at school lay the groundwork, but “we don’t have the cool tools.”
“To see something in action,” he said, creates a “light bulb click” for the children which is “why it’s so awesome.”
Most of the board members are people the museum has scouted, LaFollette said, noting, “Usually, most of the time, it’s we who seek people out, but there’s been a few times where people will come to me and share their interest.”
She noted they will have two new vacancies next year and “will be looking for two new trustees at the end of 2021, start of 2022.”
Bradley and McNary could not be reached for comment by presstime.