CACHE appoints interim president/CEO

Peter Jasso, director of operations for the nonprofit Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange (CACHE), has been named interim president and CEO of the regional arts organization.

Jasso joined CACHE earlier this year after serving as director of the Kansas Film Commission since 2002.

“Peter has more than 20 years of experience in this field, including leading another arts organization – the Kansas Film Commission,” said Brittany Johnson, communications director for CACHE. “Peter is also an artist, he is a filmmaker, and CACHE prides itself on being led by artists.”

Johnson said the CACHE board of directors appointed Jasso to the interim role, with the support of CACHE’s leadership team. Allyson Esposito, the former president and CEO, left CACHE at the end of November for a senior program officer position at Builders Initiative, the philanthropic division of Chicago-based Builders Vision.

Johnson said a search will soon begin for the next president and CEO.

“However, we’re aware of and comfortable with the fact that it might take some time to find and acclimate a new leader,” she added. “We’re confident in Peter’s leadership until that day comes.”

According to CACHE’s website, Jasso is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television and has produced multiple short films and documentaries that screened at festivals, including AFI Fest, an annual program of Los Angeles-based American Film Institute.

In 2012, Jasso was responsible for establishing the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, a state arts agency of the Kansas Department of Commerce that’s focused on the role of arts and culture in community and economic development.

Following are other career highlights:

• Led the writing of a statewide arts plan
• Developed and oversaw 10 new grant categories
• Reestablished partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts and Mid-America Arts Alliance
• Implemented several professional development events and programs, including the Tallgrass Artist Residency, Indigenous Arts Initiative, Arts in Medicine, New Play Lab and New Dance Lab.

CACHE has 15 employees.