On July 6, the Women’s Leadership Academy was honored at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its involvement in the Precious Pantries project. 

The ceremony, which was held outside the Pine Street Community museum, celebrated the addition of three food pantries across Faulkner County. 

“The members of the cohort worked together to design a community impact project from the January retreat which kicked off the six-month-long academy. In those brainstorming sessions, the name of the project was formed, as well as the focus on issues of food insecurity, poverty and lack of accessible supportive resources,” WLA Co-Director Taine Duncan said. 

Pantries are located at the Pine Street CommUnity Museum (1270 Factory St.), the Conway Senior Center (705 Siebenmorgen Rd.) and the Faulkner County Library (1900 Tyler St.). 

The Precious Pantries can hold shelf-stable food like canned goods, boxed cereal and bags of pasta. Other necessities like socks, hygiene products and handouts on community resources can be found in these wooden boxes. 

They are open for re-stock by community volunteers. 

Sponsors that made this project possible include Ace Hardware in Morrilton, Bryan Porterfield, Tiffany Beller, Teresa Hutchinson, Jones Plumbing, UCA Outreach & Community Engagement, UCA Women’s Giving Circle and more. 

The overall installations were completed in partnership with the University of Central Arkansas AmeriCorps, UCA’s BearsServe Leaders and EngageAr.

The Women’s Leadership Academy is a 6-month academy in which women can engage in cultivating leadership skills in the community. Involvement is based on being competitively selected through nominations and interviews. 

“The Women’s Leadership Academy is dedicated to empowering, enriching, and embracing women in our region, facilitating their leadership development. WLA is designed for those who identify as women and aspire to become bold leaders representing greater equity, inclusivity and excellence in their fields,” Duncan said. 

The very first cohort of 15 women graduated on July 12 and come from diverse fields and backgrounds. The community service project they committed to the first time around was the food pantries.

“I was the project lead for the Precious Pantries. My role was to coordinate all of the people and pieces and make sure the project was completed. Several members of the cohort spent a lot of time organizing and collaborating with entities across the city to build and place the pantries where they are today,” WLA member Laura King said. 

King was nominated to join the academy by a friend and member of the Women’s Leadership Network. 

“[Being part of the Women’s Leadership Academy] means being connected to a fantastic diverse group of women leaders who care about their community and want to be an interactive part of building an inclusive community,” King said. “My next goals with WLA would be to stay connected to the inaugural class as well as help pour into future cohorts in some way.”

This was the first cohort for the WLA and they are currently looking for nominations to be interviewed for next year’s group of women. They have hopes of making it a sustainable program so they also seek donations. For nominations or to donate, contact Dr. Shaneil Ealy at [email protected].