New Arkansas 4-H Foundation board members ‘bleed some green’

LITTLE ROCK — Three former Arkansas 4-H members have joined the Arkansas 4-H Foundation Board of Directors.

The new board members are Johnny Key, commissioner of Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education for the Department of Education; Dr. Philip E. Ferguson, a pathologist with Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates in Fayetteville; and Krista Brimer, a registered nurse in Searcy.

“The Foundation is very pleased to add these exceptional leaders to our board,” Arkansas 4-H Foundation Managing Director John Thomas said. “They exemplify the kind of influence Arkansas 4-H can have in someone’s journey. They all have been involved with 4-H and continue to live out the 4-H pledge to serve with head, heart, hands and health.”

Thomas also noted that the new members “bleed some green” — a reference to the signature green of the 4-H clover emblem.

Growing up, Key was a member of Clark County 4-H and participated in the poultry project. He also was a delegate to Citizenship-washington Focus and attended National 4-H Congress as a youth. Key later served in the Arkansas Senate and the Arkansas House of Representatives before joining the Arkansas Department of Education. He will serve a threeyear term on the 4-H Foundation Board.

Ferguson, a doctor with Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates, grew up in Pope County 4-H and was a 1990 state record book winner in photography. He served a year as Arkansas 4-H president, and in 1993, he was inducted into the Arkansas 4-H Hall of Fame. He will serve a two-year term on the foundation board.

Krista Brimer, a nurse at the Unity Health Outpatient Care Center in Searcy, led the Velvet Ridge 4-H Club from 2008-2021. Her oldest daughter, now a college freshman, was part of the club, and her youngest daughter is a current member. Brimer is also active with Extension Homemakers Clubs, a volunteer

organization with the Cooperative Extension Service. She served as White County’s EHC president from 2011-2013 and then served on the Arkansas Extension Homemakers Council from 2013-2015 as the Delta district director. She’s a member of the Bald Knob Extension Homemakers Club and will serve a three-year term on the foundation board.

The Arkansas 4-H Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports educational programming for youth through the 4-H program and operations at the C.A. Vines 4-H Center. Arkansas 4-H programming is offered in every county in Arkansas and is an outreach of the Cooperative Extension Service, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. It served more than 130,000 youth last year.

To learn more about the Arkansas 4-H Foundation, visit https://arkansas4hfoundation.org/.