ULI Oklahoma, which serves ULI members in Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas, will be expanding its reach in Arkansas as a result of a generous grant to the ULI Foundation from the Walton Family Foundation.

ULI’s membership in northwest Arkansas currently consists of an advisory board of volunteers. The board was formed in 2016 by a group of real estate professionals in northwest Arkansas committed to bringing the Institute’s land use leadership to more communities in Arkansas. The grant will allow ULI Oklahoma to hire a dedicated, full-time staff representative to support ULI Oklahoma’s growth and serve members in northwest Arkansas.

“With this generous support from the Walton Family Foundation, we plan to significantly increase ULI’s presence in northwest Arkansas,” said ULI Oklahoma Chairman Todd Glass, managing director of investments at Humphreys Capital in Oklahoma City. “We look forward to extending our reach and helping to create thriving, sustainable communities through our members’ work.”

“We are so grateful and excited to have the Walton Family Foundation’s support to expand ULI’s mission and amplify our impact in the northwest Arkansas region,” said Jeremy Hudson, a leading ULI member in northwest Arkansas and chief executive officer of the Specialized Real Estate Group in Fayetteville, Arkansas. “The Walton Family Foundation is the perfect partner for us, because we are aligned in our goals to expand the knowledge base of our land use professionals and encourage coordination between different disciplines to promote smart, sustainable growth in northwest Arkansas.”

“We are very excited about this district council expansion,” said Heidi Sweetnam, senior vice president of ULI’s district council network, which has 55 district councils across ULI’s Americas region. “ULI is only as strong globally as it is locally. The creativity of our district councils has resulted in some of the Institute’s most successful work on improving community livability and sustainability.”