Birkhead to run for Springdale council seat

Kathryn Birkhead. Candidate for Springdale City Council Position 2, Ward 3.
Kathryn Birkhead. Candidate for Springdale City Council Position 2, Ward 3.

A Springdale native with experience in diversity and inclusion announced Friday she will run for City Council.

Kathryn Birkhead will challenge Jeff Watson for Position 2 in Ward 3.

Birkhead worked as director for diversity and inclusion at The Jones Center from 2005 to 2011 and at Northwest Arkansas Community College from 2012 to the present.

"I'm retiring from NWACC at the end of this month, but am eager to stay engaged in this community," Birkhead wrote in an email. "I believe that what I've learned about our residents and their concerns and the people I've come to know can all be put to good use to make Springdale an even better place."

While at The Jones Center, Birkhead led a team that hosted community meetings throughout Springdale. One meeting led to the creation of Springdale Community Garden off East Emma Avenue. She later submitted a grant that resulted in Springdale being selected as one of the cities to receive funding from the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention in 2011, according to a news release.

At Northwest Arkansas Community College, Birkhead has worked with the DREAMers of NWACC and ALPFA of NWACC, two student organizations focused on issues that some Latino students encounter. She has also participated in the Gaps in Services to the Marshallese task force, which advocates for Marshallese and other Pacific Islander residents of Northwest Arkansas, the release stated.

Birkhead has a bachelor of arts and master of arts in Spanish from the University of Arkansas, and taught Spanish at a community college in Colorado.

NW News on 06/25/2016

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