Weaver Awards

Northwest Arkansas 2025

Congratulations to the 2025 NWA Weaver Awardees

Some people weave us together. They are the folks most people know and trust, those we count on to get neighbors together when we need to tackle a shared problem or get something done. They welcome everyone and connect us.

This year, we are celebrating 20 of them in Northwest Arkansas.

Weaver Awardees Northwest Arkansas 2025 group photo
  • Portrait of Malath Alarnosi

    Malath Alarnosi

    Fayetteville and beyond

    Malath noticed that many immigrant and refugee women in town were experiencing loneliness and isolation, so she started Arabic Women for Women to help them find connection. She uses art therapy to help participants reconnect with their home countries while building new relationships with neighbors. She’ll use the Award to offer more experiences and new venues.

  • Portrait of Reese Roberts

    Reese Roberts

    Fayetteville

    After the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the restaurant industry in Fayetteville, Reese started the Fayette Independent Restaurant Alliance to bring restaurant professionals together in dialogue, community, and mutual support. She’ll use her Award to broaden awareness and expand membership across the Fayetteville area.

  • Portrait of Nellie Beall

    Nellie Beall

    Fayetteville

    When Nellie moved to NWA, she wanted to share the deep sense of community and connection she felt growing up in Malaysia. In 2014, she started Intersection NWA to walk alongside neighbors going through difficult times. Every Thursday, the community gathers to share a meal, stories, and meaningful relationships. Nellie will use her Award to continue meeting neighbors through food and connection.

  • Portrait of Annie Keller

    Annie Keller

    Fayetteville and beyond

    Annie founded NWA Trans Night, a series of regular events, to address the loneliness and isolation faced by transgender and gender non-conforming folks. These events create spaces where folks can connect and flourish. She’ll use the Award to expand the programming, host more diverse gatherings, and create a network of mutual aid.

  • Portrait of Courtney King

    Courtney King

    Elkins

    Courtney is developing the Elkins Creation Station in rural Elkins to bring youth and their families together so they can experience the intersection of art and nature in their own hometown. She will use the Award to create a permanent space, expand her offerings, and bring more youth into the program.

  • Portrait of Lauren Quetsch

    Lauren Quetsch

    Fayetteville and beyond

    As a clinical psychologist, Lauren has seen the isolation experienced by families of neurodiverse children. She is building spaces based on Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, an evidence-based intervention, where professionals and families come together and share resources, knowledge, and find connections. She will use her Award to expand these spaces of belonging.

  • Portrait of Beatriz Segura

    Beatriz Segura

    Rogers

    Beatriz noticed that when people work with their hands and explore their creativity as a group, they de-stress and form friendships. She founded B Magic Craft Hands to teach the art of traditional Mexican embroidery to folks of all ages as a way to foster belonging and community. She will use her Award to expand the project into new community spaces.

  • Portrait of Abby Hollis

    Abby Hollis

    Fayetteville and beyond

    After art school, Abby came back to Fayetteville and joined Ozark Folkways, an organization that runs community-rooted programs that teach folk arts and fosters community through shared expression and place-based creativity. She will use her Award to expand free and low-cost programming so more neighbors can find connection through folk arts.

  • Portrait of Lisa Bell Henson

    Lisa Bell Henson

    Prairie Grove and Farmington

    In the area where Lisa lives, aging folks lack access to spaces where they can congregate and be together. Many are also suffering from social isolation. As founder of the Whole Health Collective, Lisa is helping elderly folks connect with one another through movement therapy and holistic health. She will use her Award to secure a new space and get new equipment to continue their efforts.

  • Portrait of Sarah Anyieth

    Sarah Anyieth

    Rogers and Bentonville

    After the tornadoes destroyed large parts of Rogers, Sarah started hosting poetry workshops to help neighbors navigate their trauma and grief. These workshops naturally evolved into spaces for neighbors to express their creativity, foster connection, and find mutual support in one another. She’ll use her Award to expand these spaces and support local poets.

  • Portrait of Sam Ash

    Sam Ash

    Fayetteville and beyond

    As a member of the NWA Transcends Task Force, Samson is bringing together neighbors to spaces where they can share, listen, and imagine a Northwest Arkansas where people of all genders are cherished in their full humanity. They will use their Award to create more spaces for neighbors to deepen relationships, counter isolation, and promote mutual care.

  • Portrait of Caitlin Livingston

    Caitlin Livingston

    Rogers

    As a transplant to NWA, Caitlin was missing the parenting and women’s groups that were common in Louisiana. She created a parenting hub at the Wellnest that holds educational and social events for mothers, parents, and teens to build relationships with one another. She will use her award to expand awareness and offer new types of programming.

  • Portrait of Khalid Ahmadzai

    Khalid Ahmadzai

    Fayetteville and beyond

    Khalid’s upbringing in Afghanistan was deeply rooted in community. After relocating to the United States, Khalid opened Rumi Afghan Rugs to share that culture of connection with his neighbors through Afghan art and traditions. He will use his award to organize oral storytelling gatherings where neighbors can find a space for connection.

  • Portrait of Shaheen Lokhandwala

    Shaheen Lokhandwala

    Fayetteville

    Shaheen noticed that entrepreneurs in the creative industries in NWA often lack the support to flourish. She started Mix Mingle Innovate to help creative entrepreneurs connect, collaborate, and share resources to build sustainable businesses. She’ll use her Award to host gatherings where they can share experiences, build relationships, and connect with the larger community.

  • Portrait of Amber Perrodin

    Amber Perrodin

    Springdale

    Amber comes from a long line of storytellers from Springdale who taught her that stories bring folks together. She created the Ozark Story Project to collect recipes, oral histories, poems, and portraits from local folks as a way to foster a deeper sense of community. She will use her Award to offer a new series of community storytelling and food-centered gatherings.

  • Portrait of Rhonda Ellis

    Rhonda Ellis

    Fayetteville and beyond

    As a professional workplace coach, Rhonda understands that our work wellbeing is inseparable from our community wellbeing. She helps businesses in Washington county create more connected workspaces, where folks can build relationships with one another and feel a sense of belonging at work and elsewhere. She’ll use her Award to reach more businesses in NWA.

  • Portrait of Julia Paganelli Marin

    Julia Paganelli Marin

    Fayetteville

    As a writer and a teacher, Julia knows that stories can help bring people together. She started Bee Balm Arkansas, a community writing program, to help folks develop a deeper understanding of themselves, empathy for one another, and stronger relationships across the community. She’ll use the Award to support and expand Bee Balm’s programming.

  • Portrait of Jason Maxwell

    Jason Maxwell

    Centerton

    Jason and his wife initially started a food pantry as a way to give back to the community. However, when they realized the depth of food insecurity in NWA, they created Farm2Families to bring neighbors together to provide food to those in need and offer everyone a place to be seen, heard, and loved. They’ll use the Award to reach more folks in the community.

  • Portrait of K. Angel Horne

    K. Angel Horne

    Fayetteville and Rogers

    While living in Austin, K. Angel attended CreativeMornings, a space where folks meet for breakfast, get to know new people, and learn about creative ideas and businesses. When she moved to Fayetteville, she organized the CreativeMornings Outings program where neighbors can cultivate deeper connections wile exploring the region. With her Award she’ll expand the Outings model.

  • Portrait of Jessica McClendon

    Jessica McClendon

    Fayetteville and beyond

    A few years back, Jessica brought a sewing machine to her classroom and saw her students connect with each other around this art form. She has expanded since and is inviting neighbors of all ages to learn and sew together, creating a supporting environment that fosters relationships. She’ll use her Award to offer classes to more folks in the community.

Why have Weaver Awards?

We all know neighbors who show up, again and again, to make our community better. They seem to know everyone. They inspire us to support each other. They see a need and fill it. They often don’t have big titles or receive grants for their work. We count on them and yet we rarely celebrate how important they are to us.

The NWA Weaver Awards celebrate and publicly recognize them so we all can learn and be inspired by their work. Each receives $5000 to advance their projects that weave a tighter community. A group of neighbors from Washington and Benton counties reviews applications and recommendations and selects 20 Awardees to receive this recognition.

What is weaving?

Weaving is the practice of building meaningful relationships that set the conditions for social trust to grow in communities.

It begins with a simple commitment: to see one another as equal in dignity, even when experiences and viewpoints differ.

Weaving invites people to:

  • Discover what they have in common
  • Learn how their differences can make the community stronger
  • Work side by side toward common good.

Weaving can be formal or informal, and it is characterized by four qualities:

  • Local: It brings together people who share the same neighborhood, town, or region
  • Mutual: It celebrates everyone’s contributions and creates opportunities for everyone to both give and receive
  • Welcoming: It invites people to join as they are
  • Continuous: It builds relationships that deepen over time through ongoing engagement

Who selects the Weaver Awardees?

A local advisory group, made up mainly of Northwest Arkansas community advocates, chose the Awardees. These are people who know the spirit of the community and its neighborhoods. They care about weaving a strong social fabric and they know what it takes.

Community Advisors

  • Lacey Bailey

    Director Excellerate Foundation

  • Irma Chavez

    Founder & Executive Director, Conexión de Negocios Latinos

  • Daniel Bennett

    Professor of Political Science, John Brown University

  • Marson Nance

    Director of Philanthropy, Northwest Arkansas Land Trust

  • Denice Nemec

    Community Advocate

  • Karen Wageman

    Artist, Community Advocate

  • Maria Lanning

    Community Advocate + Relocation Consultant

  • Charli Bradshaw

    Podcaster and Media Entrepreneur

  • Mike Spivey

    President & Chief Executive Officer at Ozark Foundation

  • Katie Lausin

    Community Advocate NWA Food Bank

  • Kelly Dundon

    Social Worker and Community Advocate

  • Theresa James

    Mental Health Professional

  • April Kennedy

    Community Advocate, Weave Community Associate

  • Lyssie Koscheski

    Community Advocate

About Weaving NWA

The 2025 NWA Weaver Awards are run by a local initiative of neighbors called Weaving NWA, which runs several initiatives throughout the year to bring neighbors together and foster connection across NWA.

About Weave: The Social Fabric Project

Weave: The Social Fabric Project is an initiative of the Aspen Institute dedicated to strengthening trust, connection, and belonging in communities across the United States. Weave supports everyday weavers—neighbors who show up for others, bridge divides, and build community. Through storytelling, online learning, community-building programs, and the Weaver Awards, Weave works to repair America’s social fabric from the ground up and lift up the people who are already leading this work in their neighborhoods. Learn more at weavers.org.