Rusty Foley Named Executive Director at Arizona Citizens/Action for the Arts

Following a national search, Catherine "Rusty" Foley, who had served as the Interim Executive Director of Arizona Citizens/Action for the Arts since September 2010, has been named to the position on a permanent basis by the organization's board of directors.

Foley, a longtime communication and public affairs professional and an active community and civic leader in the Phoenix metropolitan area, will manage the day-to-day operations and strategic direction of the nonprofit statewide arts advocacy organization.

"Our national search was a valuable and important exercise for this organization because it showed very clearly that we had the best possible choice for executive director already in place," said Steve Martin, President, Arizona Citizens for the Arts and Managing Director of Childsplay. "Rusty smoothly and strategically guided the organization through the transition of leadership when our previous executive director left and has established a solid foundation to move forward. And, she is well known and highly respected in the community."

Previously, Foley spent 17 years as Manager of Corporate Affairs in the Public and Communications Services Group at Salt River Project where she managed award-winning advertising, brand management communications and community programs. At SRP, she oversaw advertising, corporate philanthropy, communications and social responsibility research, employee volunteer programs and K-12 education outreach programs.

Under her leadership, the SRP advertising program was recognized three times with the Utility Communicators International "Communicator of the Year" award and SRP's community outreach and volunteer programs twice earned the Points of Light Foundation Award for Excellence in Workplace Volunteerism.

Foley has served on the boards of a variety of arts-related, community and civic organizations including Childsplay, Arizona Theatre Company, Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Foundation for Women, Valley of the Sun United Way and Scottsdale Prevention Institute.

She also is a former chairperson of the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission and Valley Leadership, Inc. She currently is chair of the Experience Matters Consortium Advisory Board, a non-profit group devoted to promoting opportunities for experienced individuals to pursue second careers in paid or unpaid community work.

Foley was a 2006 Phoenix Chamber of Commerce "Athena" Award finalist, and was named Arts in Business Council "Arts Board Member of the Year" in August 2007. In April 2009 she was recognized for her community relations work with The Phoenix Theatre's "Women Who Care" award for outstanding achievement.

Before joining SRP, Foley spent nearly 10 years as a reporter for several Arizona newspapers, including the Phoenix Gazette.

Born in Washington, D.C., she attended grade school and high school in Phoenix and graduated from Arizona State University with a B. S. in Mass Communications. She also is a graduate of Valley Leadership Class VIII, Phoenix; the Public Affairs Council's Public Affairs Institute, Washington, D.C.; the Public Utilities Executive Course, University of Idaho, and the certificate program in Corporate Community Relations at Boston College.