Four Community Members Join Arkansas Children’s Foundation Board of Directors

September 03, 2024

LITTLE ROCK, AR. (Aug. 27, 2024) – Arkansas Children’s Foundation has announced four new members to its board of directors: Trav Baxter, Fadil Bayyari, Angie Staley Johnson and Katie Stephens. They join the 36-member board that represents statewide communities served by Arkansas Children's. Baxter, Bayyari and Johnson were elected to three-year terms that began on January 1, 2024. Stephens, also elected to a three-year term, began her service on July 1, 2024.

Trav Baxter
Baxter recently started his own firm, Baxter Law Group. He provides counsel to individuals and business entities in the areas of estate planning, taxes, trusts, formation and operation of business entities and succession planning. He is a fellow in The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in trusts and estates. Baxter and his wife, Savanna, have two children.

Fadil Bayyari
Bayyari is the founder and CEO of Bayyari Properties and Construction, a real estate development company in northwest Arkansas. He has operated the business for more than 30 years and is a longtime supporter of Arkansas Children’s. He has three children.

Angie Staley Johnson
Johnson served as president of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) Auxiliary Board of Directors in 2022-2023. She is a board-certified pediatric occupational therapist, serves as comptroller for her husband’s company, JPJ Consulting, and previously served on the board of directors of Staley, Inc. She and her husband, Jordan, have three children.

Katie Stephens
Stephens, a lifetime member of the ACH Auxiliary, has been a generous supporter of Arkansas Children’s for several years. During her years as an attorney, her passion for public service led her to provide pro bono legal services through the Center for Arkansas Legal Services. She maintains a commitment to helping others, currently serving on the board of trustees for Episcopal Collegiate School and the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute after previously serving as a board member for several other esteemed organizations across Arkansas. Stephens and her husband, Miles, have four young children.

“We are thrilled to welcome these new board members,” said Fred Scarborough, executive vice president and chief development officer at Arkansas Children's. “Their diverse backgrounds, expertise and community service leadership are invaluable as we advocate and promote a culture of philanthropy throughout Arkansas and beyond. With their passion and dedication, we look forward to achieving even greater success together as we fundraise to support Arkansas Children’s historic expansion.”

Arkansas Children's is building a new generation of care with its multimillion-dollar expansion project, announced in 2023. The plan will expand bed capacity, transform inpatient and outpatient surgical approaches with the addition of an ambulatory surgery center, redesign clinical spaces to promote multidisciplinary care and create an inviting and accessible campus experience.

Over eight years, the health system’s historic expansion will require nearly $318 million in investment for construction at ACH in Little Rock and Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) in Springdale. Phase one of construction on the ACH and ACNW campuses began earlier this year and is scheduled to be completed in 2026. To learn more about the expansion, visit archildrens.org/expansion. To support Arkansas Children's growth, visit archildrens.org/donate or call 800-880-7491 today.

ABOUT ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S

Arkansas Children's is the only health care system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas' 850,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes two pediatric hospitals, a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define and deliver unprecedented child health. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a 336-bed, Magnet-recognized facility in Little Rock operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state's only burn center; the state's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state's only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); and the state's only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Arkansas Children’s is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in seven pediatric subspecialties (2023-2024): Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Pulmonology & Lung Surgery and Urology. Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW), the first and only pediatric hospital in the northwest Arkansas region, is a level IV pediatric trauma center. ACNW operates a 24-bed inpatient unit; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and northwest Arkansas' only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children's since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.