Job Description

The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission (NWARPC) is working to advance long-term regional transportation governance that can support equitable mobility, economic growth, and sustained quality of life across Northwest Arkansas. The FUSE Executive Fellow will explore and define a clear and achievable pathway towards advancing the impact of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Mobility Authority (RMA). This is a two-year fellowship, with Year One focused on discovery, strategy development, and foundational planning, and Year Two focused on deepening alignment, advancing readiness, and embedding sustainable regional governance practices.

Fellowship Dates: October 26, 2026 – October 20, 2028

Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual salary of $95,000. Fellows can also access various health, dental, and vision insurance benefits. This amount is not representative of market-rate salaries for the experienced professionals in our program but is intended as compensation for a year of public service.

ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP

FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to work more effectively for communities. We embed private sector executives in city and county agencies to lead projects that improve public services and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 400 projects in 58 governments across 26 states, impacting a total population equivalent to 1 in 10 Americans.

When designing each fellowship project, FUSE works closely with government partners and community stakeholders to define a scope of work that will achieve substantive progress toward high-priority local needs. Projects address today’s most pressing challenges and opportunities, including affordable housing, economic mobility, climate resilience, public safety, infrastructure, technology, and more.

FUSE conducts a full executive search for each individual project to ensure that the selected candidate has at least 15 years of professional experience, the required competencies for the role, and deep connections to the community being served.

Executive Fellows are embedded in government agencies working with senior leaders for at least one year of full-time work. Prospective responsibilities may include thorough data analytics and research, developing enhanced operations and financial models, building change management and strategic planning processes, and/or building broad coalitions to support project implementation efforts. Executive Fellows are data-driven and results-oriented and able to effectively manage complex projects. They build strong relationships with a broad array of stakeholders, foster alignment within and across various layers of government, and build partnerships between governments and communities.

Throughout the fellowships, Executive Fellows receive training, coaching, and professional support to help achieve their project goals.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Strategic regional governance is critical to ensuring that growth translates into improved quality of life, equitable access to opportunity, and long-term economic resilience. As regions expand, transportation systems increasingly shape residents’ access to jobs, education, healthcare, and essential services. Regions can struggle to deliver infrastructure at the needed scale and pace when transportation planning relies primarily on coordination rather than durable authority. In addition to transportation planning, there are other areas, such as stormwater management and traffic management centers, that see greater benefit when done at the regional scale.

Northwest Arkansas has experienced sustained growth over the past decade, with development patterns, labor markets, and transportation needs that extend well beyond individual municipal boundaries. Cities and regional partners have responded through coordinated planning, philanthropic investment, and shared infrastructure initiatives, with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission (NWARPC) playing a central role in coordination and fund administration. At the same time, the region’s largest and fastest-growing cities sit at the center of key commuting corridors and employment centers and increasingly bear the impacts of regional mobility constraints. While coordination has strengthened regional vision and collaboration, it has also revealed structural gaps that NWARPC is working to address by empowering the Regional Mobility Authority with sustainable funding to deliver and manage transportation systems at a truly regional scale.

The NWARPC will partner with FUSE through a two-year Executive Fellowship to explore a pathway toward stable, long-term regional transportation governance, using transportation as an entry point for broader regional capacity-building. The first year of the fellowship will focus on discovery, strategy development, and foundational planning. In contrast, the second year will deepen alignment, refine proposed structures, and advance readiness for voter consideration. Ultimately, this partnership will position Northwest Arkansas to advance the delivery of regional infrastructure required to support growth and community resilience.

PROJECT APPROACH

Beginning in Fall 2026, the FUSE Executive Fellow will work with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission to explore and advance a pathway toward long-term regional transportation governance in Northwest Arkansas. Through this two-year fellowship, the fellow will help Northwest Arkansas translate sustained regional growth and coordination efforts into a clearer, more accountable governance model that can support transportation investment at scale. The fellow’s work will focus on aligning regional planning, governance design, and public engagement to strengthen equitable access to mobility and long-term economic resilience across the region.

The fellow will begin with 90 days of in-depth discovery and assessment. During this phase, the fellow will conduct a comprehensive listening tour with key stakeholders, including municipal leadership, state transportation officials, philanthropic partners, major employers, and community representatives. This process will reveal insights into current transportation needs, governance constraints, political considerations, and public expectations across the region. The fellow will also conduct a landscape analysis to review existing regional transportation plans, governance structures, funding mechanisms, legal authorities, and prior studies. This analysis will assess how transportation decisions are currently made, supported, and communicated across jurisdictions. In parallel, the fellow will research best practices from comparable regions that have successfully established voter-legitimate regional transportation authorities or similar governance models. Drawing on insights from the discovery phase, the fellow will develop refined project goals, priorities, and anticipated Year One deliverables and present them for review by the NWARPC Policy Committee.

The fellow will then focus on advancing Year One strategies that translate analysis into action. This will include evaluating potential governance and legal models for the Regional Mobility Authority, regional stormwater management governance, and other opportunities for formal regional cooperation. This will include identifying viable statutory pathways and assessing funding, representation, and accountability options. The fellow will work closely with municipal leaders, regional agencies, and legal and policy partners to translate these options into clear frameworks and decision points that support informed regional alignment. Throughout the year, the fellow will support structured engagement with elected officials, regional partners, and community stakeholders to build shared understanding, surface tradeoffs, and strengthen readiness for future collective action.

The fellow will also help develop practical tools and processes that support consistent regional decision-making. This may include outlining governance frameworks, developing public-facing concept materials, and creating a phased roadmap toward potential voter consideration. Where appropriate, the fellow may support early implementation efforts, build momentum, and inform longer-term regional strategies, while remaining flexible as priorities evolve based on ongoing learning.

By the end of Year One, the fellow will have helped establish a clearer foundation for regional transportation governance in Northwest Arkansas, including improved alignment among key jurisdictions, increased clarity around governance and funding options, and stronger regional capacity to advance a voter-legitimate authority. The fellow and City leadership will collaborate to define more specific goals, success measures, and scope for the second year of the fellowship, informed by lessons learned and early progress.

The second year will then focus on deepening implementation, scaling effective strategies, and embedding sustainable governance, engagement, and decision-making practices within the region. By the end of Year Two, the north star of this fellowship is for Northwest Arkansas to be positioned with a clear, publicly credible pathway toward a regional mobility authority that can deliver transportation infrastructure at the scale needed to support equitable mobility, economic growth, and long-term regional resilience.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

By Fall 2027, at the end of Year One, the fellow is expected to have:

• Developed a Regional Transportation Governance Assessment – Worked with City leadership, regional agencies, and key partners to synthesize existing plans, governance structures, funding mechanisms, and legal authorities affecting transportation decision-making in Northwest Arkansas.
• Produced Evaluated Governance and Legal Pathway Options – Defined and assessed viable models for a Regional Mobility Authority or similar entity, including implications for representation, accountability, funding, and voter legitimacy.
• Designed a Regional Alignment and Engagement Strategy – Established a structured approach for engaging municipalities, regional agencies, employers, philanthropic partners, and community stakeholders to support shared understanding and coordinated decision-making.
• Built a Public-Facing Concept Framework and Phased Roadmap – Developed explicit materials and a phased roadmap outlining pathways toward potential voter consideration, including interim actions, decision points, and readiness milestones.
• Established Regional Capacity and Year One Knowledge Transfer Resources – Produced documentation and synthesis materials to support continued regional collaboration and inform deeper implementation in Year Two.

By Fall 2028, at the end of Year Two, the fellow is expected to have supported the following high-level outcomes:

• Institutionalized a Publicly Credible Regional Transportation Governance Pathway – Embedded durable governance frameworks, engagement practices, and decision-making structures that position the region for potential voter authorization.
• Advanced Sustained Regional Implementation and Long-Term Capacity – Strengthened the region’s ability to coordinate transportation investment, secure sustainable funding, and deliver infrastructure that supports equitable mobility and long-term economic resilience.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• Executive Sponsor – Tim Conklin, Executive Director, NWARPC
• Project Supervisor – Tim Reavis, Senior Multimodal Transportation Planner, NWARPC

QUALIFICATIONS

• 15+ years of progressively responsible experience in organizational transformation and change management, from practitioner to enterprise-level leadership.
• Synthesizes complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans.
• Develops and effectively implements both strategic and operational project management plans.
• Generates innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges.
• Respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes.
• Communicates effectively verbally and in writing and excels in active listening and conversing.
• Fosters collaboration across multiple constituencies to support more effective decision-making.
• Establishes and maintains strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, both inside and outside of government, particularly community-based relationships.
• Embraces differing viewpoints and implements strategies to find common ground. Demonstrates confidence and professional diplomacy while effectively interacting with individuals at all levels of various organizations.

FUSE is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply for this position.