With 13 years at Goodwill Arkansas and nearly a decade in the chief executive’s chair, Brian Marsh has overseen a transformative chapter at one of the state’s foremost nonprofits. One of the most prominent achievements during Marsh’s tenure has been the development of The Excel Center®, a tuition-free high school for adults 19 and older and the only setup of its kind in the state. GA currently funds two Excel Centers in Little Rock and Springdale.
“If I were to look at what I feel my legacy will be, it is The Excel Centers,” Marsh said. “There are 300,000 adults in the state of Arkansas without a high school diploma. Being able to change the law here in Arkansas and work with legislators to do that in 2015, to allow them that opportunity, but then opening and now operating two high schools and having more than 400 graduates, I think that is absolutely the best.”
A mechanical engineer by trade, Marsh has learned to tailor his leadership style to suit the singular challenges of nonprofit work. From a heavily prescriptive, systems-based mindset in the earliest days, he later came to embrace an approach grounded in casting a vision, supporting his team members and trusting them to make good decisions as they work toward a common goal. He also emphasized the importance of leading with humility and grace at every level of the organization.
“We’re the first ‘yes’ many people get, so we have a number of employees that don’t have an employment history,” Marsh said. “They don’t really know what it’s like to work and work in a team environment. There’s a lot of grace that has to be given there, and it’s really a learning environment while we’re also working.”
Each stage of Marsh’s career, across engineering, operations and leadership roles, has allowed him to put more tools in his toolbox, he said. Having built up a wealth of insight into what it takes to succeed in the nonprofit space — especially with the unique demands of an organization such as Goodwill Arkansas — he is also able to share that with others around the nation and the world.
“We actually had a hundred individuals from Goodwills across North America come to Arkansas in June to learn different ways to process donated goods more efficiently,” he said. “We were blessed to be able to host that. It’s doing those things to help the organization and the network get better.”
Marsh was recently elected to the executive council for Goodwill Industries International, making him a member of the board of directors. As co-chair and co-founder of the emerging trends task force, Marsh also works alongside a group of Goodwill CEOs from across the nation to keep the organization at the forefront of innovations in workforce development, retail trends and more — all while ensuring individual Goodwill operations stay true to the needs of their local communities.
“It’s making sure that people understand better who Goodwill is,” Marsh said. “How do we stay relevant in our thrift operation, that social enterprise that powers Goodwills across the nation? As far as the messaging, it’s trying to become more consistent state to state, territory to territory so that people hear the message.”
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Goodwill Arkansas
877.372.5151
Goodwill Arkansas was founded in 1927 and has been on a mission to change lives through education, training and employment ever since. Behind the retail operations and donation apparatus is an organization committed to improving the very fabric of communities across Arkansas, leaving legacies of transformation and opportunity in its wake. Over the course of nearly a century, Goodwill has grown tremendously, expanding from just a handful of employees to a team of more than 1,500 people statewide — not to mention tens of millions in economic impact, tens of thousands of individuals served and hundreds of millions of pounds of product kept out of landfills. Much more than a thrift store, Goodwill provides individuals with the opportunity to lead independent, successful and productive lives.
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