Executive Fellow | Strengthening Regional Transportation Governance and Mobility

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.

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.

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.

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  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…