Founding Executive Director
Ron Thompson
Ron Thompson, is a proven strategist in venture development, leveraging 26 years of experience to ignite social change through the arts, engages audiences, and mobilizes capital for investment and philanthropy. Notably, he established Texas’s first nonprofit media advocacy organization to fund advertising and branding strategies that inform, inspire action, and create awareness about local issues. By uniting nonprofits, funders, and creative sector leaders, his work has shaped policy, influenced funding strategies, and driven measurable change to address economic and social challenges.
Currently, Ron leads strategic cultural development in Duncanville, Texas, driving community growth and economic sustainability through arts-based initiatives and placemaking. His work transforms shared spaces into cultural assets, fosters partnerships, and develops funding strategies to ensure lasting impact.
As the founding chair of the Duncanville Arts Commission, Ron worked with the Arts Commission, City Council, and City staff to establish it as the largest commission in the city. He championed the creation of the Duncanville Arts Fund, which the City Council established as an enterprise fund with 15% of Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue allocated annually by policy. He also led the effort to have Armstrong Park designated as a cultural district, which led him to establish the Armstrong Park Cultural District Foundation. As Founding Executive Director, Ron galvanizes stakeholders, develops revenue sources, creates public awareness, and leads the charge to secure state designation by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Ron sponsors the Duncanville Drawing Club and founded the Duncanville Forum on Arts, Culture, and Economy—a nonpartisan platform where candidates for public office share their views on arts and economic policy. He is a member of Texans for the Arts, working with other arts leaders and Texas legislators to ensure robust arts funding. He previously served on the board of the Duncanville Nature Conservancy, helping form the nonprofit and serving as its first Secretary, and on the board of the Duncanville Community Theatre.
