Sen. Shane Broadway is the interim director for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE) and has been with the agency since January 2011. Broadway is a member of Gov. Mike Beebe’s full cabinet as well as the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet, an appointed group of state government leaders charged with creating 21st Century jobs and skilled workers. Broadway’s primary responsibility is oversight of staff whose jobs are to carry out the policy directives of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board (AHECB) and to develop funding recommendations for the state’s 11 public universities and 22 public two-year colleges as well as several other post-secondary entities. In addition, the agency is responsible for distributing approximately $170 million annually from state revenues and lottery funds intended to ease the financial burden of students seeking an education beyond high school. An Arkansas State University alumnus, Broadway served three terms as a representative for Pulaski and Saline Counties, and two terms in the senate. He was elected speaker of the house by his colleagues in 2001. While serving in the General Assembly, Broadway was at the forefront of the legislature’s push to continue improving Arkansas’s educational system, serving on the education committee every term except as speaker of the house in 2001. Creating economic development opportunities to bring jobs to the state has been another focus of Sen. Broadway’s efforts, both as a legislator and as a private consultant. He previously served as chairman of the 15-state Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) – which fosters intergovernmental cooperation among member states – and as chairman of the SLC’s Education Committee. Beebe appointed Broadway to the advisory board of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in 2007. Less   View all posts

Claire Bailey, director of the Arkansas Department of Information Systems (DIS) and Arkansas Chief Technology Officer (CTO), leads more than 250 information technology (IT) professionals responsible for the state network and telecommunications services supporting Arkansas's public services. As CTO, Ms. Bailey is the appointed chairperson for the Arkansas State Technology Council and serves on the board of directors for the Information Network of Arkansas (INA). In 2011, Arkansas.gov was named the nation’s best state web portal and Arkansas.gov received second place honors in the 2010 competition. Government Technology magazine selected her as one of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers in Public Sector Innovation for 2011. Governor Mike Beebe appointed Ms. Bailey to the Arkansas Health Information Exchange Council to advise and assist in the development of a statewide health information exchange for Arkansas. She also serves as a member of the Cyber Infrastructure Task Force, the Connect Arkansas Board, Arkansas Homeland Security Executive Committee, and the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems Board. Ms. Bailey is a member of the Arkansas Interoperable Communications Executive Committee which oversees the Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN). In 2008, AWIN received an award from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) for Outstanding Achievement in Information Technology. Ms. Bailey is a member of the Arkansas InfraGard Chapter, an organization sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to share cyber security information, the Association for Users of Telecommunications and Information Systems, and the Central Arkansas Project Management Institute where she earned certification as a Project Management Professional. Ms. Bailey is an executive committee member of the NASCIO and is president of the National Association of State Technology Directors (NASTD). As director of DIS, Ms. Bailey focuses on providing customer centric services and is leading the creation of a centralized dashboard that enables state agency leaders to monitor the operational status and performance of DIS-hosted services. Under her leadership, DIS became the first state agency to receive the coveted 2011 Governor’s Quality Award for Performance Excellence by the Arkansas Institute for Performance Excellence. DIS earned Achievement Awards from the program in 2008, 2006, and 2005 respectively. Ms. Bailey is a seasoned IT veteran working as a systems analyst at Texas Instruments and as a senior systems analyst at J.B. Hunt Transport. She has worked for the State of Arkansas since 1991. Less   View all posts