Walton Family Foundation Announces New NWA Director

Senior research officer Karen Minkel will be the new director of the Walton Family Foundation Home Region program, the foundation announced on Monday.

With an official starting date in April, she will replace Rob Brothers, who has been with the organization since 2009 but announced his retirement in December. He will stay on as a consultant.

The Home Region program’s focus is on education, economic development and quality of life in Northwest Arkansas, according to the foundation’s website.

“Karen’s past experience in the classroom and leading urban planning projects, along with her public policy education, makes her uniquely qualified to hit the ground running as director,” Buddy Philpot, executive director of the Walton Family Foundation, wrote in an emailed newsletter. “Her passion for enhancing the quality of life for people living in Northwest Arkansas and the Delta embodies our foundation’s mission.”

Minkel previously worked as director of strategic planning for the city of Fayetteville, where she led the creation of the city’s comprehensive plan.

She was a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 2013 Forty Under 40 class, and in the accompanying article said she became in interested in policy while working as a Teach for America corps member in Harlem.  

Minkel has been with the foundation now three years and played a key role in the development of the Home Region 2020 strategic investment plan, according to the foundation newsletter.  

She graduated from Northwestern University in 1999 with a degree in communications and from the University of California at Berkley in 2004 with a master’s degree in public policy.