Staff

Janet Harris has served as executive director/CEO of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute since 2022 and has been with the Institute since 2016, first as director of programs, followed by a promotion to chief programs and marketing officer in 2018, followed by a two-year term as chief strategy officer.

Harris’ achievements at the Institute include development of strong, collaborative teams, building and executing convening services aligned with the Institute’s mission, and envisioning creative marketing and technology strategies to tell the story of Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller and the Institute’s impact. Specific programmatic achievements include building staff capacity in professional meeting design, facilitating dialogue and deliberation, and creating educational programs that draw on Winthrop Rockefeller’s legacy, including the Institute’s Walks with the Governor workshop. Harris speaks to groups frequently on the history and legacy of Gov. Rockefeller and is trained in facilitation and dialogue.

Before joining the Institute, Harris spent 20 years as a public administration professional in Arkansas holding several executive leadership roles in state government.

Harris holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and a Bachelor of Science in public administration from the University of Central Arkansas. She was named the Distinguished Alumnus for the UCA Department of Political Science in 2016 and is an alumna of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Arkansas, Class XI. She is currently pursuing an Executive Certificate in nonprofit leadership from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

As chief strategy officer, Carder Hawkins is responsible for developing, executing, communicating, and sustaining strategic initiatives that support the mission of the Institute. 

Hawkins comes to the Institute following a 20-year career in state government, which began with serving in the Arkansas Secretary of State’s elections division for more than eight years. He also served as the Arkansas Insurance Department’s chief information officer and as deputy director for the Arkansas Department of Information Systems — a position that oversaw the department’s human resources, legislative affairs, fiscal, procurement, security, enterprise architecture, and IT planning teams. Most recently, Hawkins served as the chief information officer for the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services. 

Hawkins holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with an emphasis in international relations from the University of Central Arkansas. He was also part of the university’s inaugural Community Development Masters class and completed a master’s degree in community development while working full-time at the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office. 

Shawn Cathey serves as the chief financial officer for the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, providing leadership for all financial matters.

Prior to joining the Institute, Cathey held the position of Senior Director of Finance at Winrock International for 21 years. He was responsible for the organization’s finance and accounting functions at Winrock’s headquarters and regional finance offices, with focuses on adding new and enhanced systems processes to Winrock projects, enhanced project reporting, invoicing and project finance staff development. Cathey is a certified public accountant. Prior to joining Winrock, he held various accounting and management positions in rural healthcare.

Cathey holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Arkansas Tech University.

Before taking over leadership of the Institute’s development efforts, Hopper served as director of programs since joining the Institute in 2020. During his tenure, the Institute engaged in a wide variety of areas, including community and economic development, fostering cross-campus research collaboration, rural health, corrections reform, education reform, and civic engagement.

Specific achievements include pioneering hybrid and virtual convening services that allowed the Institute to continue advancing our mission during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating the Education department, expanding the Institute’s ability to teach the Rockefeller Ethic on and off-site, cultivating new partnerships, expanding externally funded programmatic work, and creating a foundation for future success by focusing on staff development and formalizing a structure for our long-term facilitation work. 

Hopper serves as a board member for the Arkansas Chapter of the New Leaders Council and the University of Central Arkansas’s Community Development Institute’s Alumni Advisory board. James is an alumnus of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Arkansas, Class XVI. He holds a bachelor of arts in psychology from Harding University, a master of science in school psychology from UCA, and a graduate certificate in fundraising management from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.