Giving businesses the tools to grow leadership and help build a stronger regional community is the core of the Red River Leadership Institute.
The roots of the RRLI began in 2019 when Jim Youngquist, the executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development District, and Chris Brown, then executive director of the Ark-Tex Council of Governments, created an educational tool to promote economic growth in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
“(They) wanted a regional development effort and they liked the idea of it be-ing the Red River and Four States. And who they had in mind was people who cared about regional development. So you’ve got your federal and you’ve got your state, and you’ve got your towns and cities. But what about regional. There’s organizations that care about the regional. So they thought the audience should be both private and public sector and non-for-profit in an audience of about 25,” said George Manning, professor emeritus of psychology and business with Northern Kentucky University.
