Hilary Trudell (’12) recently joined Just Communities of Arkansas as the nonprofit’s Chief Executive Officer.
With roots in Central Arkansas dating back more than 60 years, Just Communities of Arkansas is a social justice and equity organization that educates individuals of all ages on the value of diversity. It offers programming, workshops, and trainings for youth, teens, and adults that are designed to build capacity for systemic change.
“Something that has been a theme in my career from working in the arts to working for AmeriCorps to the Human Rights Campaign to my work with the Clinton School of Public Service has been the underlying theme and value of equity, as well as justice,” Trudell said. “I wanted to offer my skills and services and talent to the service of trying to make things more equitable in collaboration with community partners here in Arkansas. Just Communities of Arkansas has been working to make more equitable and inclusive spaces for more than half a century. We started back during the Central High crisis. We’ve come far since then, but there’s still so much more work to be done. Not just in terms of racial equity, but equity across many demographics and ways of life and identities.”
Trudell worked with the Clinton School of Public Service as the school’s Director of Local Programming and Regional Outreach before joining Just Communities of Arkansas. She boasts more than a decade’s worth of experience in public service and the arts, having also worked with the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., as the organizations’ Director for Communities and Volunteer Relations.
In her new role, Trudell said that she is focused on exploring three priorities with the JCA board and the organization’s partners.
“One of those is that there is a healing that needs to happen, and concentrating on how we can create spaces where healing can occur,” Trudell said. “I think the second part of that is creating training and workshops and capacity building for organizations and corporations to really work on their own internal culture and create the most equitable cultures possible for their employees. And then lastly, I think we can’t really fully do this work without working with our young people. Our anti-bullying work is incredibly important to creating equitable inclusive spaces because if our young people grow up with the tools and the values to really appreciate all members of the community and value human dignity, then we’re setting ourselves up better for success in the future.”
Trudell also has a deep background in storytelling. She co-founded The Yarn, a local storytelling nonprofit, and her position with the Human Rights Campaign included teaching the organization’s volunteers how to leverage their stories for recruitment, fundraising, and advocacy. Now, she said that she is excited to embrace the storytelling aspect of Just Communities of Arkansas’s mission and history.
“JCA has been doing amazing work for 60 years,” Trudell said. “But really telling that story, and telling it in a way that Arkansans across the state can connect to and support – it’s something I think we’re going to embrace and really try to tackle this year.”
Trudell’s experiences at the Clinton School span almost a decade, dating back to her time as a student. She has helped the school cultivate public service partnerships throughout the state in leading its Practicum field service work. Through her work as a student, staff member, and professor, Trudell brings a unique set of skills to her new position as CEO.
“I think learning to listen and collaborate within the community that you’re living and working in is key to the longevity and success of any initiative,” Trudell said. “When it comes to equity and inclusion work, we cannot accomplish the goals that we have for that in a silo. I think really listening to the community, what the community needs, what the community wants is going to be key to the organization and really the initiatives that are spearheading our success. I’ve met so many amazing people through the partnerships in Practicum and community engagement work, and I’m going to be relying on those networks to build out the work of JCA even more.”
Additionally, Trudell said she is excited, and hopeful, for an eventual return to in-person activities, as the personal connection it creates lends itself to the strengths of organizations like Just Communities of Arkansas.
“I think that Covid has affected everyone in different ways and I think that we have opportunities to do training and connect with people online, and that opens up our opportunities to connect with people out of state,” Trudell said. “But I’m looking forward to connecting more as a community in person. I think that’s something we are all yearning to do, and I think that community-building is a huge cornerstone of creating equitable and inclusive spaces.”
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