American Red Cross Serving Greater Arkansas

Lori Arnold-Ellis, a central Arkansas native, has spent most of her career working with nonprofits and volunteering for organizations close to her heart. As the Executive Director of the American Red Cross Serving Greater Arkansas, Lori is proud to serve the mission of the Red Cross in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies, large and small.

After graduating from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Lori spent nearly a decade in the United Kingdom, where she developed a passion for communications, public affairs and volunteering. There she worked in communications and marketing for a school, volunteered with a national nonprofit organization and co-founded a local charity dedicated to raising public awareness related to maternal and infant health. Upon returning to central Arkansas, Lori continued working in public health communications at Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care (AFMC) before joining the American Red Cross as Regional Communications Director in 2016. She began serving as Executive Director for Greater Arkansas in 2017.

Lori feels immensely blessed to be a part of an organization that makes a meaningful difference in the lives of others, often on their darkest days, through disaster relief, service to the armed forces, and international services, as well as life-saving blood products and health and safety training. Since joining the Red Cross, Lori has deployed to multiple national disasters, including Hurricanes Irma, Laura and Ian, and the wildfires in California, offering hope and comfort to survivors on the ground.

Lori is also a certified CPR instructor and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) training facilitator. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Little Rock and serves as the Vice Chair for the Arkansas VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster). Whenever she can find the time, Lori enjoys hiking the beautiful trails of Arkansas and reading multiple books at once. She lives in Sherwood with her husband Matt and is raising four children to be the next generation of volunteers.