Foundation Board
Members
The MANA Charitable Foundation has appointed board members including staff, community members and business
community members who manage the foundation and develop the
goals. All funds of the foundation are managed by the Fayetteville
Community Foundation.
Xochitl Baxter
Xochitl Baxter
is a Senior Vice President for Arvest Bank in Fayetteville. Her primary job responsibility is
as Area Loan Manager of the Private Banking department. The
Private Banking department of Arvest manages customer relationships
for professional individuals and businesses that require
high levels of service. She began her career at Arvest
Bank in 1992 while attending college at the University of
Arkansas. She graduated from the University with a
BSBA in Finance/Banking in 1996. Xochitl has been an active
member of the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas since 1999. She
previously served on their Board as Treasurer, and has also
been the Chairperson of the Winter Dreams Home Tour. She
is currently serving as a member of the Serve our Shelters
committee, which provides direct support to Children’s
House and Peace at Home Family Shelter. Xochitl
is a 2002 graduate of the Leadership Fayetteville program
and is a member of Central United Methodist Church. She
and her husband, Jason, have two children – Sadie,
age 3, and Max, age 2.
Laureen Benafield, MD
Laureen Benafield, MD,
is a pediatrician at the Northwest Arkansas Pediatric Clinic.
She completed college, medical school and residency at Emory
University in Atlanta, Georgia. While at Emory, she met her
husband Bryan Benafield who is currently an orthopedic surgeon
at Ozark Orthopedics. In addition to working as a pediatrician,
she is involved in the Ozark Komen Foundation and a young
survivor breast cancer group. She enjoys cooking and spends
most of her free time with her two young children Anna
Claire and Robert.
Sarah Faitak, RN
Sarah Faitak is a nurse at The Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas, assisting patients through breast biopsies and diagnostic procedures, performing risk assessments and educating patients interested in genetic testing. A BS Nursing graduate of Indiana University, Sarah has had a wide and varied career, including public health program management, clinic management and research. Sarah has volunteered for the Ozark Komen for the Cure for over 12 years, serving a term as president of the board of directors and several terms as grants chair. She has been selected as delegate for the Global Advocate Summit to be held in conjunction with the Breast Health Global Initiative Consensus Conference in October, 2007 in Budapest, Hungary. Currently, Sarah also sits on the Just Communities of Northwest Arkansas board of directors. Sarah lives in Fayetteville with her husband, Marty and son, Reed, 19. Her son, Tom (24) and his wife Bonnie live in S. Orange, New Jersey
Danna F. Grear, MD
Danna Grear, MD, is a Clinical Breast Radiologist at The
Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas, who has provided 14
years of imaging services in Northwest Arkansas. Dr. Grear
completed her medical degree and residency in Radiology at
the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.
She was involved in the development of the first image-guided
breast biopsy program in Fayetteville. Dr. Grear has been
involved with the Ozark Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation
and the organization of the Multidisciplinary Breast Conference
at the Washington Regional Medical Center. She is a current
member of the Mammography Clinical Image Review for the Arkansas
State Health Department, is a member of the Society of Breast
Imaging and the American Society of Breast Disease. Dr. Grear
lives in Fayetteville with her husband and two children.
Kathy Grisham
Kathy Grisham is the Executive
Director of the Community Clinic at St. Francis House, a
federally qualified Community Health Center, located in Springdale,
providing medical and dental care to the underserved in
Northwest Arkansas. Graduating from the University of Mississippi
with a BA in journalism, Kathy worked on the business side
of numerous newspapers in Mississippi. She worked in marketing and sales for
a local computer and office equipment company before moving
to Arkansas in 1992. In Fort Smith, she worked as the West
coast representative for a national ticketing company. In
1997 she moved to Fayetteville with her family. Acting
as the administrator and then as the director, she has worked
at the Community Clinic since 1998. Active in many community
events, she is on the Board of the Northwest Arkansas Tobacco
Free Coalition and the state-wide Board for the Coalition
for Tobacco Free Arkansas.
Judy Harris
Stephen Johnson, MD
Stephen Johnson, MD, has
been a physician in private practice at the Fayetteville
Diagnostic Clinic for twenty five years, specializing in
General Internal Medicine. He attended
medical school at The University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences in Little Rock and completed his Internal Medicine
Residency there in 1980. That year he also earned certification
by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has
served as President of the clinic and as a member of its
Executive Committee, as well as several positions on medical
staff committees at Washington Regional Medical Center. He
served on the Board of Directors of the North Hills Medical
Park development corporation. Currently, he also serves on
the Governor’s Council of the Arkansas Chapter of the
American College of Physicians and the Admissions Committee
of the University of Arkansas College of Medicine. He now
continues in the full time practice of outpatient and hospital
medicine.
Joe T. Robinson, MD
Joe T. Robinson, MD, is
married to Julia McHaney Robinson. They have two married
children, Finley Robinson, youth pastor at Fellowship Bible
Church in Lowell and Martha Robinson Newman, Social Welfare
major at Northeastern Oklahoma University. Joe T. graduated
from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelors Degree in
English and was a University of Arkansas Medical School graduate
in 1980. He was a resident at Arkansas Children's Hospital
and was the Chief Resident in 1983. Together with Dr. Terry
Payton, he co-founded the Northwest Arkansas Pediatric Clinic.
Joe T. was the Chairman of the Board of MANA for 5 years,
was a Primary Care Representative to PHO from 2003-2005,
and is currently a partner at NWA Pediatric Clinic as one
of 13 Pediatricians. He spends his spare time leading Bible
Study Fellowship at his church.
Larry Shackelford, CPA,
FACMPE
Larry Shackelford is the CEO of Medical
Associates of Northwest Arkansas (MANA). While working
as a senior supervisor at Baird, Kurtz and Dobson CPA’s from 1985 until 1990,
he specialized in healthcare and assisted the physicians
with the development of North Hills Medical Park in Fayetteville.
In 1990, he joined Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic where he
served as Chief Financial Officer, and then in 1995 Northwest
Arkansas Pediatric Clinic where he was Administrator. His
experience and association in these clinics and developments
helped form Medical Services of NWA in 1998. Larry
monitors the business and strategic areas of MANA. His primary
responsibility is to work with the board of directors in
the development and implementation of business policies of
the organization. He directs the administration in the management
of associated medical practices including areas of managed
care contracting and business development. Larry serves
on the board of directors for White River Banks Shares (Signature
Bank), the Washington County United Way audit committee,
and is the treasurer of the Ozark Affiliate of the Susan
G. Komen Foundation. A 1986 graduate of the University
of Arkansas with BSBA in accounting, Larry is a certified
public accountant and has also received fellowship in the
American College of Medical Practice Executives. Larry is
married to Julie Muncy Shackelford and they have two children
Jamie (16) and Reed (13).
Jim Smith
Jim Smith is a partner in the Fayetteville office of Friday,
Eldredge & Clark, the largest Arkansas based law firm.
His practice is largely concentrated in advising companies
and individuals with respect to corporate governance matters,
venture capital and commercial financings, real estate transactions,
entity formation, mergers, purchases, sales and liquidation
of companies and assets, and tax and securities matters,
including private placements of securities. He is a
Certified Public Accountant (registered inactive), a cum
laude graduate of Arkansas Tech University, an honor
graduate of the University of Arkansas School of Law, where
he was a member of the Arkansas Law Review, and
holds an LL.M. (Masters of Law) in Taxation from New York
University. He is an adjunct professor at the University
of Arkansas School of Law where he teaches Securities Regulation. He
also serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the
University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation
and is a member of the Advisory Board of GENESIS Technology
Incubator. He was the co-chairman of the 2004 Arkansas
Venture Forum. He also serves on the Board of Directors
of the Northwest Arkansas chapter of Big Brothers – Big
Sisters.
Kristen Taylor
Kristen Taylor
holds
a bachelor’s
degree in Psychology as well as a Law degree from the University
of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She is a member of the
Arkansas Bar Association but spends her time as a stay at
home mom rather than practicing law. In her free
time she volunteers at her daughters' elementary school
and serves as a board member at the Fayetteville Creative
School. Her husband, Robert Taylor, is a plastic
surgeon at Taylor Plastic Surgery, and they have six daughters.
Debbie White, RN
Debbie White
is the Director of North Hills Endoscopy Center. She received her nursing degree from the University of Arkansas and Bachelors Degree in Organizational Management from John Brown University. She has been working in the healthcare environment for 27 years. In 1988 she joined the staff at Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic and was involved with the development and licensing of the outpatient Ambulatory Surgery Center. Debbie is a graduate of Leadership Fayetteville, has served two terms as an officer of the Arkansas Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and is the Director of North Hills Gastroenterology Endoscopy Center. She is married to Todd White and they have four girls, Haley (21) Whitney (20), Spencer (19) and Landrey (16).
Kathy Zachry
Kathy Zachry is the Director of Laboratory Services for MANA. She came to Northwest Arkansas from Louisiana, where she obtained her BS degree in Medical Technology and worked as a laboratory generalist for eight years. She is certified as a Medical Technologist by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. She began her career at Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic in January, 1976, becoming Laboratory Supervisor 2 years later. During her time at FDC, the laboratory has grown from a small lab serving 7 physicians to a fully-automated, computerized ancillary department serving not only FDC, but all of the MANA-affiliated clinics and other area physician offices.
Kathy manages the day-to-day operations of the MANA laboratory at FDC, as well as business operations for laboratory outreach services to other MANA clinics. She consults with the office managers and laboratory staff at MANA clinics to maintain a high standard of service.
Kathy is a member of the Clinical Laboratory Managers Association, serving on the Outreach Committee of the Arkansas chapter, as well as the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Scientists. She lives in the War Eagle Bend community near Springdale with her husband, Adrian Zachry, and has 2 daughters, Anne and Leslie. |
